Jason Biggs
Jason Biggs | |
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Biggs in March 2012, at the American Reunion premiere in Sydney, Australia. | |
Born |
Jason Matthew Biggs May 12, 1978[1] Pompton Plains, New Jersey |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1983βpresent |
Spouse(s) | Jenny Mollen (m. 2008) |
Jason Matthew Biggs (born May 12, 1978) is an American actor best known for his role as Jim Levenstein in the American Pie series of teen comedy films and the current voice of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and plays Larry Bloom in Orange Is the New Black.
Early life and education
Biggs was born in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock Township, New Jersey. His mother, Angela (nΓ©e Zocco), is a nurse, and his father, Gary Louis Biggs, is a shipping company manager.[2][3][4] Biggs' father is of English and Italian descent and Biggs' mother is of Sicilian descent. His last name is derived from his English ancestry.[3] He was raised Roman Catholic.[5]
He grew up in Hasbrouck Heights and attended Hasbrouck Heights High School there.[6][7] Biggs had success in tennis while in high school.[8] Biggs attended Montclair State University for three weeks before dropping out.
Career
Biggs began acting at the age of five. In 1991, he made his television debut in the short lived Fox network series Drexell's Class. He also made a one-off HBO special, The Fotis Sevastakis Story, but due to licensing arguments, it was never aired. That same year, Biggs debuted on Broadway in Conversations with My Father, which helped pave the way for him to participate in the daytime soap opera, As the World Turns. He was nominated for the award of Best Younger Actor at the daytime Emmy Awards for his role.
Biggs attended New York University briefly from 1996β1997, but soon afterwards, he returned to pursue acting. And so he would be seen again in another short lived television series, 1997's Camp Stories. He then starred in American Pie, which went on to become an international hit that has spawned three sequels (also starring Biggs) and four spinoffs (that did not star Biggs). After that, Biggs accepted starring roles in movies such as Loser in 2000, and others. He appeared in the 2002 Broadway production of The Graduate as Benjamin Braddock alongside Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone. In 2003, Biggs appeared as Jerry Falk in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Anything Else. In the 2004β2005 season Biggs portrayed an Orthodox Jew in Daniel Goldfarb's comedy, Modern Orthodox, staged at Dodger Stages theater in New York City. In 2006, Biggs was seen in the MTV reality show Blowin' Up with Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone which led to his participation in a hip-hop recording with Bay Area rapper E-40. Biggs returned to the stage in the fall of 2008 in Howard Korder's Boys' Life at New York City's Second Stage Theatre.
Biggs has appeared in several other films, including Texas Rangers, Scary Movie and Over Her Dead Body. In 2010, Biggs made his literary debut by contributing "Scratch-and-Sniff," a poem about growing up in New Jersey, to the anthology What's Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey (Word Riot Press, 2010), alongside writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Perrotta, Robert Pinsky, Gerald Stern and J. Robert Lennon.
Biggs reprised his role as Jim Levenstein in American Reunion, which was released on April 6, 2012. In the summer of 2012, Biggs took a job voicing Leonardo on Nickelodeon in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Biggs also plays the cowbell in the supergroup Yukon Kornelius.
Personal life
Biggs has stated in interviews that he is sometimes cast as an explicitly or implicitly Jewish character, as he was in American Pie (other examples include his roles in Saving Silverman, Prozac Nation, Anything Else, and Orange is the New Black), though he is not Jewish himself.[5][9][10]
In January 2008, he became engaged to his My Best Friend's Girl co-star, actress Jenny Mollen; they married on April 23, 2008.[11] He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. In July 2013, Biggs and Mollen announced they were expecting their first child.[12]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991β1992 | Drexell's Class | Willie Trancas | Series regular; 14 episodes |
1994β1995 | As the World Turns | Pete Wendall | Nominated β Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (1995) Nominated β Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer (1995) |
1997 | Total Security | Robbie Rosenfeld | 7 episodes |
2002 | Off Centre | Rick Steve | Episode: "The Good, the Bad and the Lazy" |
2004 | Frasier | Dr. Hauck | Episode: "Goodnight, Seattle: Part 2" |
2005 | Will & Grace | Baby Glenn | Episode: "The Hole Truth" |
2006 | Blowin' Up | Himself | Episode: "The Break-Up" |
2009 | Happiness Isn't Everything | Jason Hamburger | CBS pilot; Producer |
2011 | Mad Love | Ben Parr | Main Cast & Producer; 13 episodes |
2012βpresent | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Leonardo | Main Cast; Voice |
2012β2013 | The Good Wife | Dylan Stack | 2 episodes |
2013βpresent | Orange Is the New Black | Larry Bloom | Main Cast; Satellite Award for Best Cast β Television Series (2014) |
Year | Title | Artist | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Teenage Dirtbag | Wheatus | Title character |
References
- β "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly (1207) (Time Inc.). May 18, 2012. p. 29.
- β Jason Biggs profile at FilmReference.com
- β 3.0 3.1 Kevin Pollak interview: KPCS Jason Biggs #145, at 32 minute mark
- β http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/northjersey/obituary.aspx?n=assunta-biggs-susan-furno&pid=144047623
- β 5.0 5.1 "A Nice Not-Jewish Boy"
- β McKinley, Jesse. "THEATER; Bye, Bye 'American Pie'; Mrs. Robinson Is Calling", The New York Times, March 31, 2002. Accessed March 3, 2008. "Unlike that character, Mr. Biggs was proving to be a pretty normal teenager, playing high school tennis and holding a series of menial jobs (flower delivery boy, sandwich maker, kitchen staff at a hospital). In 1996, he graduated from Hasbrouck Heights High School and started at New York University, where he enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences."
- β TeenHollywood.com β Jason Biggs is Hot
- β Della Cava, Marco R. (July 25, 2000). 'Pie'+in+the+sky+Huggable+Jason+Biggs+is+on+a+roll+after+losing+his+cinematic+virginity&pqatl=google "Acting dreams no longer 'Pie' in the sky Huggable Jason Biggs is on a roll after losing his cinematic virginity". USA Today.
- β Jason Biggs profile at Times Online
- β http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2012/1109/1224326339931.html
- β Jason Biggs gets hitched!
- β Gonzalez, Maricela (July 18, 2013). "Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen to be first-time parents". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
External links
- Jason Biggs at the Internet Movie Database
- Jason Biggs at AllRovi
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