|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Paul William Walker IV (born September 12, 1973) is an American actor and former fashion model. He became known during the early 2000s, after starring in several major Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and Varsity Blues. Tall and athletic, with blond All-American good looks, Paul Walker accelerated into the public eye in the 2001 surprise hit "The Fast and the Furious," and although his star did not rise as dramatically as his co-star Vin Diesel's, Walker has developed as a reliable, attractive leading man. Walker was born in Glendale, California, the son of Cheryl A. (née Crabtree), a former fashion model, and Paul William Walker III, a retired general contractor. He has two younger brothers, Caleb and Cody, and a younger sister, Ashlie. Walker has Irish and German ancestry and was raised a Mormon, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a conservative household. He grew up in Glendale and the nearby Sunland district of Los Angeles, and attended The Carden-Lee School and the Alfred Nobel School. Walker had a career on television long before his film work began. He actually began as a toddler in commercials for Pampers before segueing to guest roles on programs including "Highway to Heaven" (as a mentally-challenged youth in a two-part 1986 episode) and such sitcoms as "Charles in Charge", "Growing Pains" (ABC) and, for the 1986-87 season in the regular role of Diana Canova's teenaged son in the syndicated series "Throb.” The young actor took time off for school, making less frequent guest appearances (i.e., a 1991 episode of "Who's the Boss"). He returned to the small screen in 1993 with a recurring role on the CBS soap "The Young and the Restless" and during the 1994-1995 season was seen in the short-lived CBS sitcom "The Boys Are Back" as a retired couple's college bound son whose older brothers move back into the family home. Walker made his big screen starring debut in Disney's "Meet the Deedles" (1998), making use of his background in surfing and various extreme sports for this movie chronicling the adventures of free-spirited twins mistaken for park rangers in Yellowstone National Park. That same year he had a featured role in "Pleasantville" as Skip, an earnest basketball player trapped in a black-and-white sitcom world who quickly converts to color with 1990s girl Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) as his missionary. His classic jock-next-door look made him well suited for this part, as well as his role in the box-office success "Varsity Blues" (1999). As football quarterback Lance Harbor, the actor did a fine job of tracing the fall of the injured local hero who has little left when his high school football career is sidelined. Next he appeared as Freddie Prinze Jr.'s callous friend and rival in "She's All That" (also 1999). Walker turned in an impressive comedic performance as a popular creep who refuses to forget a bet he makes with school golden boy Zack (Prinze) to turn awkward, unpopular Laney (Rachael Leigh Cook) into the prom queen, even as it becomes obvious that Zack is falling for her. He would also be seen that year as Claire Danes' boyfriend in the drama "Brokedown Palace", in which Danes and Kate Beckinsale play Americans imprisoned in Thailand for drug smuggling. After working with journeyman director Rob Cohen on the B-level thriller "The Skulls" (2000), co-starring opposite Joshua Jackson as an elite collegiate who is part of a secret, sinister fraternity. His breakthrough came in 2001 when he starred opposite Vin Diesel in the highly successful action film The Fast and the Furious, which established Walker as a notable film star and leading man. His other 2001 film, Joy Ride, received very positive reviews by critics. Subsequently, Walker played the lead role in a number of action-adventure films, the most financially successful of which was 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). Walker was also originally set to star in the film S.W.A.T. (2003), but left the project and was replaced by Colin Farrell. In 2002, he was chosen by People Magazine as one of the "50 most beautiful people in the world". Walker was again tapped by Cohen when the director was casting his next film, "The Fast and the Furious," a high-octane action thriller in which Walker plays a detective infiltrating a ring of street-racing car thieves led by Vin Diesel. The film, which debuted with little fanfare or expectation, became a surprise hit: Diesel was proclaimed a superstar, Cohen became an A-list director and Walker became a hot commodity. Another competent auto-focused thriller, "Joyride" (2001), added a bit of extra luster to Walker's action hero sheen, but before he could establish himself firmly in other roles he returned—without Diesel or Cohen—to head the cast of the sequel "2 Fast, 2 Furious” (2003). After playing one in a group of scientists who travel in time to 14th century feudal France with no way to get home in the big budget bomb “Timeline” (2003), Walker appeared in the Christmas drama, “Noel” (2004), Chaz Palminteri’s directorial debut about five people who discover new meaning about their lives and each other one Christmas Eve. He then starred in the treasure hunting thriller, “Into the Blue” (2005), opposite Jessica Alba, playing one of four divers who discover a legendary shipwreck with millions in gold at the bottom of the sea which happens to be next to a crashed plane full of illicit cargo. The divers make a pact to keep their discovery quiet, but soon learn that the drug dealers are hot on their trail. Despite the interesting premise and appealing cast, “Into the Blue” was scorned by critics. Walker next starred in “Running Scared” (2006), an over-the-top thriller about a low-level mafia thug (Walker) who gets embroiled in a cop killing. Despite the non-stop action that pushed the envelope and reached new lows, “Running Scared” was a veritable bomb at the box office. Walker faired much better with his next feature, “8 Below” (2006), a schmaltzy adventure yarn about a team of sled dogs forced to find their way across the Antarctic wastelands after being abandoned by a group of explorers. Next Walker was set to be see in “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006), Clint Eastwood’s historical drama about a man trying to reconstruct the events of his father’s involvement as one of six soldiers who raised the American flag in Iwo Jima near the end of World War II. In February 2006, Walker starred in two films; Running Scared, an action thriller, and Eight Below, an adventure set in Antarctica. Eight Below, a family-friendly Disney film inspired by a true story, opened in first place at the box office, grossing over $24 million during its first four days. The film received positive reviews and was considered a success for Walker, whose most recent films, including Timeline and Into the Blue, were financial and critical failures. Walker filmed Running Scared in 2004, wanting to participate in a darker-edged film; the film's director, Wayne Kramer, has commented that the film's character is closer to Walker's own personality than any of his previous roles. In fall 2006, Walker portrayed US marine Hank Hansen in Flags of Our Fathers, a war movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Currently, Paul has finished up filming the independent film The Heaven Project, which he is also producing, and is now filming The Fast and the Furious 4 scheduled for a 2009 summer release. Walker has studied several martial arts forms including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 9 in which he is a purple belt. Walker resides in Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach, California. He has a daughter, Meadow Rain (born November 4th 1998) from a former girlfriend (Rebecca); she lives with her mother in Hawaii.[citation needed] One of his close friends is actor Scott Caan, who appeared alongside Walker in several films, including Varsity Blues and Into the Blue. He also formed a close friendship with Tyrese Gibson during the filming of 2 Fast 2 Furious. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Celebrities Guide 
| WhoABC
Home : Disclaimer
: Terms
: Privacy
Policy : Contact
Us : Links All original content Copyright Celebrities Guide, WhoABC.com © 2004 - 2008. All Rights Reserved |