Aaron Eckhart

Birth name: Aaron Edward Eckhart
Date of birth: 12 March 1968
Place of birth: Cupertino, California, USA
Nickname: Aaron
Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m) 

Famous Quote: “A film has its own life and takes its own time. I can think of films that I’m producing right now that are extremely hard hitting, graphic films, that nobody necessarily wants to see, graphic in terms of violence, of adult content and racial and historical subject matter. I would love to get great performances from actors as a director, because that’s what I’m always looking for, a director that’s going to help me go places I’ve never been before.” 

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Aaron Eckhart
c/o Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof Fishman Llp
10100 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90067, USA  

Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is a Golden Globe-nominated American film actor. He has played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of movies, and has won awards for his role as a sociopathic ladies’ man in the independent Neil LaBute film In the Company of Men (1997). A handsome blonde performer capable of transforming himself as the role requires, Aaron Eckhart first caught moviegoers’ attention in his film debut as the unctuous businessman Chad in college classmate Neil LaBute’s wicked black comedy “In the Company of Men” (1997). Playing off his chiseled good looks, the California native etched a memorably villainous character, one minute seductive and charming, the next sadistic and cruel. In Eckhart’s skillful portrayal, Chad emerged as a fully-rounded, if deeply flawed, human being.

Eckhart, was born in Cupertino, California, and is the youngest of three sons born to Mary M. (Lawrence) Eckhart, a children’s book author and poet, and James C. Eckhart “Jim Senior,” a computer executive. Aaron’s older brothers are James Lawrence Eckhart (born August 29, 1963) and Adam Eckhart (born October 23, 1966). He had a Latter Day Saint upbringing.

As a teenager, he lived with his family in England and Sydney, Australia. He took three years off after high school to surf in Hawaii and to serve a mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France and Switzerland. He enrolled as a film major at Brigham Young University, graduating in 1994. Eckhart was engaged to actress Emily Cline, but separated from her in 1998. He bought a motorcycle after learning to ride one for Erin Brockovich (2000).

He was in a romantic relationship with SHeDAISY’s Kristyn Osborn from 2006-2007. Eckhart appears in the country group’s video, “I’m Taking the Wheel” and makes out with Osborn at the end of the clip. Osborn is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The couple has since parted ways.

His father is a computer executive, his mother is a children’s book author, and he has two brothers. Was raised in Cupertino, California and as a teenager, lived with his family in England and Sydney, Australia. Was engaged to actress Emily Cline, but separated from her in 1998. Bought a motorcycle after learning to ride one for Erin Brockovich (2000). Took three years off after high school to surf in Hawaii and to ski in France. Enrolled as a film major at Brigham Young University, graduating in 1994. Eckhart spent part of his formative years living in England, and, after dropping out of high school, in Sydney, Australia. Eventually earning his high school equivalency, he enrolled at Brigham Young University where he met future collaborator LaBute. 

Following graduation, Eckhart joined the ranks of unemployed actors in Manhattan until he enjoyed a taste of success with a beer commercial that cast him as a construction worker. Returning to California, he began landing small roles, including a turn as Samson in the 1993 CBS special, “Ancient Secrets of the Bible, Part II”. After his star-making turn in “In the Company of Men”, the actor was offered an opportunity to demonstrate his astonishing range and versatility in LaBute’s “Your Friends and Neighbors” (1998). Cast as an overweight, impotent and unhappily married man, Eckhart was virtually unrecognizable

Was Darren Aronofsky’s choice for James Gordon for the doomed Batman: Year One project. Frequently cast by director Neil LaBute. Appears in The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones, who preceded him in the role of Two-Face. Has played a character named “Nick” in four films: Thursday (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), Thank You For Smoking (2005), No Reservations (2007). One of 115 people invited to join AMPAS in 2007. Appears in The Dark Knight (2008), the first film in the new Batman series to feature The Joker. Prior to that, he appeared in The Black Dahlia (2006), in which a major plot element is the film The Man Who Laughs (1928), which provided the inspiration for The Joker.

Eckhart was gleefully provocative in “Thank You for Smoking” (2006), playing a spokesman and lobbyist for Big Tobacco who spins and schemes his way through a maze of overzealous health advocates and opportunistic politicians while defending the rights of smokers. Eckhart’s brash performance in Jason Reitman’s satire earned big laughs at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, generating enough buzz for a good showing in its theatrical release. After a cameo in Neil LaBute’s “The Wicker Man” (2006), Eckhart starred in “The Black Dahlia” (2006), Brian De Palma’s take on James Ellroy’s complicated and richly-textured noir thriller about two hard-edged cops (Eckhart and Josh Hartnett) who descend into obsession, corruption and sexual degeneracy as they investigate the brutal murder of would-be actress Elizabeth Short, who was found tortured and vivisected in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. 

Though Eckhart gave a strong performance as an ex-pugilist-turned-homicide detective nicknamed Mr. Fire, audiences were left cold by De Palma’s empty direction. Meanwhile, Eckhart was cast to star in Alan Ball’s untitled directorial debut, an adaptation of Alicia Erian’s novel “Towelhead” about a 13-year-old girl fending off sexual obsession by a bigoted Army reservist under the oppressive eye of her Lebanese father during the 1991 Gulf War. 

Eckhart’s next project was Thank You for Smoking, in which he played Nick Naylor, a tobacco lobbyist who researched the link between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. Eckhart said that he felt challenged playing the role: “You have to say these words that are crazy, and yet do it with a smile on your face and have the audience like you. At one point, I’m doing a talk show with a kid who’s dying of cancer, and he’s going through chemotherapy and the whole thing, and I spin it so the anti-smoking people are the bad guys and I’m the good guy, and I’m this guy’s best friend. I mean, it’s whacked out.” The film was screened at a special presentation at the 30th annual Toronto International Film Festival in 2005.

It had a limited release in March 2006 and was released worldwide the following month. For his performance, Eckhart received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. A contributor of USA Today wrote that he gave a “standout, whip-smart performance” citing that as Nick Naylor he kept him “likable even in his cynicism.” In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer review of the film, it was reported that “Under his chummy but compassionless smile” Eckhart radiated charm and “Naylor’s true joys: manipulating arguments, steering debate, cooking words.”

In this same year, he starred with Helena Bonham Carter in Conversations with Other Women (2006). While promoting this film, Eckhart revealed that he wishes not to be typecast or repeat himself, saying he does not want to play any more villains. He appeared in the 2006 film noir The Black Dahlia—based on a real 1947 crime—as Sergeant Leland “Lee” Blanchard, a detective investigating the murder of Elizabeth Short, later dubbed the “Black Dahlia”. The film premiered at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival. Reception for the movie was mixed, but many critics enjoyed Eckhart’s performance; Time Out magazine praised Eckhart and co-star Hillary Swank for their performances, writing “…both [are] great in their secondary roles.”

Internationally viewed as a sex symbol, he was named one of People magazines 100 Most Beautiful People in 2006. The following year, Eckhart was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He starred in No Reservations (2007), a remake of the 2001 German romantic comedy Mostly Martha. He starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones as an up-and-coming hotshot chef. The film was met with mixed reviews and was unfavorably compared to the original film. Eckhart starred in the 2008 comedy Meet Bill, in which he played the eponymous character, a sad executive working at his father-in-law’s bank. He gained 30 pounds and donned a fat suit for the role.

Also in 2008, Eckhart portrayed the comic book character Harvey Dent/Two-Face in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins. Nolan’s decision to cast Eckhart was based on his portrayal of corrupt characters in the films In the Company of Men, The Black Dahlia, and Thank You For Smoking. He noted in his depiction of the character that “he is still true to himself. He’s a crime fighter, he’s not killing good people. He’s not a bad guy, not purely”, while admitting “I’m interested in good guys gone wrong.”

The Dark Knight was a big financial and critical success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America. With revenue of $1 billion worldwide, it became the fourth highest grossing film of all time, and the highest grossing film of Eckhart’s career. Roger Ebert opined that Eckhart did an “especially good job” as his character in the feature, while Premiere magazine also enjoyed his performance, noting that he “makes you believe in his ill-fated ambition … of morphing into the conniving Two-Face.”

Following the success of The Dark Knight, Eckhart next appeared in Alan Ball’s Towelhead (2008), an adaption of the Alicia Erian novel of the same name, in which he played a Gulf War Army reservist who sexually abuses his 13-year-old Arab-American neighbor.The film was screened under the name Nothing is Private at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. When he was first approached for the role, Eckhart revealed that he did not want to play a “pedophile”. When asked about the sex scenes, Eckhart said: “Those were difficult times …. The way I did it was to really trust Alan. It was in the words. I really trusted Summer Bishil, and I tried to get her to trust me, to build a relationship when we were doing physical scenes. We’d really rehearse them mechanically, and I’d say, ‘OK, I’m going to put my hand here, I’m going to do this.’ … I think I found it more difficult.” Towelhead was critically and financially unsuccessful.

He next co-starred with Jennifer Aniston in the romantic drama, Love Happens, released in September 2009, as a motivational speaker coming to terms with his own grief. The movie received ambivalent reviews, with a contributor of the Orlando Sentinel reporting that Eckhart plays “broken” for the whole movie. The following year, he starred alongside Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole (2010) an adaption of David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2005 drama of the same name. The feature premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

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