Ben Foster

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He has a face that is easily recognizable due to his sizable body of work, and he is known among his peers to be one of the most talented actors of his generation. He is one of those actors that comes on the screen and commands the attention of anyone watching his films. He enhances the performances of the fellow actors that he shares scenes with, and yet his name is not widely known. Ben Foster is his name and acting is the game at which he excels.Ben was raised by two parents he describes as hippies, and they encouraged their two boys to be free spirits. When Ben was four, the family moved from Boston to a small town in Iowa, where he quickly became acquainted with the community theaters. He soon discovered that acting was his niche in life, and by the age of twelve he had written, directed and starred in a local play that won second place in an international competition. At the age of fourteen, Ben attended the Interlochen Theater Arts Summer Program in Michigan and decided that he wanted to pursue acting full time.At 16, Ben dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles. He was lucky enough to get noticed right away, and he found himself starring in the Disney television show, Flash Forward. Over the next few years he had smaller roles in critically acclaimed television shows like Freaks and Geeks and Boston Public as well as Family Law and You Wish. However, it was ultimately the big screen that called out to him and it became the forum in which he has gained the respect and recognition of peers and critics alike.Ben made his film debut in the little seen thriller, Kounterfeit. Three years later he starred in the drama, Liberty Heights, alongside Adrien Brody. His performance as a Jewish teen that begins a taboo relationship with a black girl was highly praised and a series of film roles quickly followed. Over the next several years Ben was featured in such films as Get Over It with Kirsten Dunst and Shane West, The Laramie Project with Clea DuVall and Camryn Manheim, Big Trouble with Tim Allen, The Punisher with Thomas Jane and Hostage with Bruce Willis. In 2003, he returned to television with a recurring role on the hit series, Six Feet Under.2006 was a banner year for Ben, as it marked the start of film roles that garnered international attention and showcased his acting abilities to the fullest. Ben starred alongside Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake in the feature film, Alpha Dog, where he played Jake Mazursky, an intense, drug fueled young man whose psychotic tendencies result in the kidnapping and eventual death of his younger brother. He was also immortalized as a superhero in X-Men: The Last Stand, where he starred as mutant, Angel, alongside Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.In 2007, Ben starred with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the western, 3:10 to Yuma, and he played an out of towner with a dangerous secret in the vampire thriller, 30 Days of Night. Recently, Ben shot the independent film, Birds of America, which also stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Lauren Graham and Matthew Perry. The film was shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In April, he is due to begin shooting The Messenger, where he plays a young officer in the Army who falls in love with a soldier's widow. No matter what projects Ben does in the future, he is sure to turn in an amazing performance every time. His dedication and talent sets him apart as one of the most extraordinary young actors in Young Hollywood, and the team here thinks that Ben is destined to be on the stage one day accepting an Oscar for a role that only he could make his own.