 Owen
Cunningham Wilson was born on November 18, 1968 in Dallas, Texas, to a
photographer mother and advertising executive father. With his two brothers,
Luke and Andrew, he enjoyed a typical American boyhood. He attended St. Marks
School of Texas until the tenth grade when he was kicked out for being a
troublemaker. He finished off the year at Thomas Jefferson High School in
Austin, then went on to attend a New Mexico military academy. After he graduated
from there, he attended college at the University of Texas at Austin and
graduated in 1991 with a major in English.
In college, Owen signed up for a playwriting class, where he met Wes Anderson.
"I didn't know what I was going to do, maybe advertising?" he told
Icon Magazine in 1998. "I guess movies seemed impossible. It seemed so far
away and difficult to break into." During the course, they sat together in
the corner but didn't converse much. Then Anderson had a play produced and asked
his classmate to be in it. The young Texans hit it off, liked the same
moviemakers - namely Terrence Malick, the Coen brothers, John Huston and Roman
Polanski - and wrote stories and a play.
The two wrote a short film, Bottle Rocket, basing it in part on their
experiences as college roommates. Anderson was working as a movie-house
projectionist, while Wilson toiled in a burger joint. Their script about guys
with lots of energy and the urge to do something emerged from their own
unfocused lifestyle. At first, Anderson and the Wilsons tried to shoot a
full-length feature but ran out of cash. They ended up making a 16mm
black-and-white short instead. Thanks to family friend and screenwriter L.M. Kit
Carson, the amusing, 13-minute demo landed at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival
and in the hands of Polly Platt, a producer who worked for Gracie Films, the
production company headed by James L. Brooks. Platt showed it to Brooks and he
was very impressed with the 13-minute tape. Intrigued, the producers flew to
Dallas and visited the boys in their one-bedroom apartment. After meeting with
Wilson and Anderson ("He came by our apartment, and I think he was shocked
by our living conditions," Wilson told the New York Times in 1996. "I
think that actually helped us."), Brooks agreed to produce the film and Bottle
Rocket, the story of some middle-class guys who try to pull off a major
heist, became a full-length feature. Although the movie failed to make a profit,
it enjoyed a cult following, particularly due to the Wilson brothers' onscreen
charm. Owen began to appear in small roles in films, first The Cable Guy,
as a date-from-hell, and Anaconda, where he played Gary Dixon, a
documentary sound man devoured by the titular monster. Two more supporting roles
followed, as a member of Bruce Willis' crew in Armageddon and as Ben
Stiller's drug-addled friend in Permanent Midnight.
Wilson and Anderson collaborated again in 1998 with Rushmore, the critically
acclaimed comedy about a teenage boy whose grades are terrible even though his
school spirit is high. This time round, mainstream America caught on to the
delightful hi jinks of this merry band of funnymen. The film even garnered some
Oscar talk for co-star Bill Murray. Wilson's profile behind the camera got a
boost as well, as a member of a ghost chasing group in The Haunting. He
gave a breakthrough performance as a mild-mannered and amiable serial killer in
Hampton Fancher's The Minus Man. In this summer's Shanghai Noon,
Owen Wilson plays Roy O'Bannon, Jackie Chan's sidekick.
Meanwhile, Wilson and Anderson are at work on another script about a family of
geniuses and the Wilson brothers still live together in Los Angeles. And despite
all of his success, Owen Wilson remains humble. "Sometimes I stop and think
how strange this all is," he explains to Texas Monthly. "Something
that began as a little idea in Austin, that Wes and I just walked around talking
about ourselves, has turned into all this."
Facts:
Birth Name: Owen Cunningham Wilson
Birthplace: Dallas, TX
Birthdate: November 18, 1968
Age: 31 years old
Education: Thomas Jefferson High School, Austin, Texas
Graduated from a military high school in New Mexico
University of Texas at Austin (BA in English, 1991)
Debut: (Film) Bottle Rocket, 1996
Occupation: Actor, Writer, Producer
Significant Other(s): Sheryl Crow, musician, singer, actress; met during filming of The Minus Man
Family: Father: Robert Wilson, advertising executive; operated public TV station
Mother: Laura Wilson, photographer
Brother: Andrew Wilson, actor; appeared in Bottle Rocket
Brother: Luke Wilson, actor; costarred in Bottle Rocket, Home Fries and Rushmore
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