Jeremy Sumpter
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Jeremy Robert Myron Sumpter (born February 5, 1989) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the title role in the 2003 film version of Peter Pan.
Ů==Biography==
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[edit] Early life
Sumpter was born in Monterey, California to Gary Sumpter and Sandra Johnson. His siblings, twin Jessica and younger sister Jennifer, are also actresses. He was raised in the small town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, until he was eleven, before moving to Lexington, Kentucky, where he modeled and won IMTA's Pre-Teen Male Model of the Year award in 2000. Soon afterward, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he currently resides.
[edit] Career
In July 2002, Sumpter, then thirteen years old, was selected for the role of Peter Pan, breaking the long-standing tradition of young women playing the part in stage and live-action film adaptations of the story. During filming (fall of 2002), he grew eight inches (from 5 ft 0 in to 5 ft 8 in), requiring some filming and staging tricks to conceal his height in scenes filmed late in production. Sumpter did nearly all of his stunts for Peter Pan himself. To prepare, he says he practiced sword fighting as much as five hours a day, as well as training in gymnastics and lifting weights. While filming in Australia, he supplemented his training with cricket and surfing. The $140 million-budgeted film opened in December of 2003, but did poorly, possibly due to reports of its more "adult" treatment of the J. M. Barrie story and competition at the box office from the highly-anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Nevertheless, the positive exposure led to a lead role in Clubhouse, a short-lived TV series about a teenager's love of baseball, co-starring Dean Cain. Following Clubhouse, Sumpter won the lead role in the Lifetime TV film Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life, playing a high school swimming champion who develops an addiction to internet pornography.
Sumpter spent the summer of 2005 in Oregon filming the comedy The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, which will be theatrically released in 2007. Sumpter just finished filming the independent film An American Crime, where he portrays Coy Hubbard.
[edit] Personal life
Sumpter, who is homeschooled, enjoys surfing, as well as basketball, football, baseball, snowboarding, tennis, soccer, hiking, swimming, rollerblading, golf, and watching storm clouds. He has been cast in numerous athletic roles, including Local Boys (surfing), Peter Pan (sword fighting), Clubhouse (baseball), Cyber Seduction (swimming). In October 2005, Sumpter competed in his first celebrity golf tournament: the Eddie Money Golf Tournament in Northern California. His team placed 3rd out of 24 teams.
[edit] Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | An American Crime | Coy Hubbard | |
| 2006 | The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang | Gavin Gore | |
| 2005 | Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life | Justin Petersen | |
| 2003 | Peter Pan | Peter Pan | |
| 2002 | Frailty | Young Adam |
[edit] Awards
- Saturn Award (winner) 2004 Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Peter Pan.
- Young Artist Award (winner) 2004 Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Peter Pan.
- Saturn Award (nomination) 2003 Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Frailty.
- Young Artist Award (winner) 2002 Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special - Leading Young Actor for Just A Dream.
