Thomas Jane (Actor)

Thomas Jane at a special screening of The Punisher in New York City. (Photo: Matthew Peyton / Getty Images)

About Thomas Jane

An impossibly handsome, blond actor, with piercing green eyes and a strong cleft chin, Thomas Jane first caught the attention of moviegoers in 1997 as Beat writer Neal Cassady in the Sundance-screened, Cinemax-aired indie "The Last Time I Committed Suicide" and a memorable supporting role as a cocaine addict who concocts a plot to rob a drug dealer in "Boogie Nights". By that time, though, the actor had already amassed an intriguing and eclectic resume. Having been raised in Virginia and his native Maryland, Jane was a 17-year-old high school senior when he was "discovered" by two Indian producers searching for a light-haired young man to star in a Romeo and Juliet inspired love story to be shot in Madras, India. Offered the part, he dropped out and took the gig. Although he reportedly could have pursued his career in Bollywood, Jane returned to the USA, reportedly to reunite with his girlfriend in Maryland.

He didn't stay put for long, though. Bitten by the bug, the aspiring thespian relocated to Los Angeles the following year. Once in Southern California, he found the going a bit tough, reportedly enduring homelessness in pursuit of his art. Gradually, Jane landed roles with local theater companies (going on to co-found The Space Theater). He broke into American films with a small role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (billed as Tom Janes). Other bits followed (including the 1993-filmed "At Ground Zero" in which he was billed as Tom Elliott, which some sources indicate may be this private performer's real name). Following a three-year hiatus, he resumed his career with a role in "The Crow: City of Angels" (1996), now billed as Tom Jane. After his breakthrough parts in 1997 (including a turn as a prisoner in "Face/Off"), Jane saw his stock in Hollywood begin to rise. 1998 found him playing an ex-drug dealer whose past catches up with him in "Thursday" (which featured a difficult-to-watch sequence in which he is raped by Paulina Porizkova's demented moll) and a gay man who falls in love with a bisexual porn star in the triangular romance "The Velocity of Gary (Not His Real Name)". A part in Terrence Malick's lyrical epic "The Thin Red Line" (also 1998) ended up mostly edited out of the final cut.

Jane next landed his first high profile studio lead as a shark wrangler in "Deep Blue Sea" (1999). Suddenly, his attractive visage was being featured in magazines and he was being touted as the next big thing. While he demonstrated he could handle a romantic lead opposite Elisabeth Shue in "Molly" (also 1999), few bothered to check out that opus when it played at the multiplexes. He barely registered in a cameo as the young incarnation of Philip Baker Hall's game show host in "Magnolia" (1999), but the actor delivered a nice turn as a hotheaded detective assisting the cool Morgan Freeman in a murder investigation in "Under Suspicion" (2000). The small screen actually provided Jane with one of his best roles, real-life Yankee baseball legend Mickey Mantle in "61*" (HBO, 2001). Writer-director Billy Crystal told TV writer Bart Mills of the New York Daily News (April 22-28, 2001): "Tom couldn't play baseball - not even close. He couldn't catch or throw, and left-handed he couldn't hit an underhand toss." Crystal hooked the actor up with Reggie Smith and in less than two weeks, his abilities were up to par.

Continuing his ascent to stardom, Jane next graced the big screen as part of a romantic triangle opposite Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie in the period thriller "Original Sin" (2001). He followed up with starring roles opposite Samantha Morton in "Plain Jane" (lensed 2001), based on a short story by playwright Arthur Miller, and Cameron Diaz in the romantic comedy "The Sweetest Thing" (2002). After a stint in the ensemble of the dreadful Stephen King-Lawrence Kasdan collaboration "Dreamcatcher" (2003), Jane was cast in the role that seemed poised to define him as a major movie star, as the lead in the comic book adaptation "The Punisher" (2004). As former cop Frank Castle, whose family is obliterated before his eyes by a vengeful money launderer (John Travolta), Jane was the ultimate Extreme Superhero, toting a gun, a skull t-shirt and an anguished scowl. The actor, who went on a liquid diet and hard-core exercise regime to bulk up for the role, played the part with extreme seriousness and intensity despite some campy trappings and ultimately delivered a tremendously watchable performance that was better than the otherwise flimsy storyline deserved. Jane was set to star in "The Mutant Chronicles" (lensed 2006), a sci-fi action thriller based on the role-playing board game about a 23rd-century soldier who must save humanity from an army of underworld necromutants.

Notes

"... Action and horror can be dangerous for actors - the audience has to be right with you. If for one moment the audience thinks the action isn't real, it all goes out the window. They are tough pictures to make, but when they work, they're great." - Thomas Jane quoted in Interview, August 1999

"I guess I'll be another ten-year overnight success." - Jane to Empire, November 1999

"I've always known [acting] is what I'd do with my life, that I was exceptional at it. I have a great love for what I do and I'm continually getting better at it, and I'm going to be around for a long, long time. It's interesting to see the business, [how] the machine that surrounds the acting profession becomes aware of people as they come up." - Jane quoted in The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 3, 2000

"That's the great thing about being an actor: getting a chance to live as other people, in so many different places. The traveling is so essential to the growth of a talent. It expands your worldview, and it deepens your understanding of the human condition." - Jane quoted in Interview magazine, August 2004

"When I met with Tom [about appearing in "Deep Blue Sea"], I saw a 90s Steve McQueen. There's something mysterious and closed-in about him, but at the same time something incredibly charming and sexy." - director Renny Harlin quoted in Detour, August 1999

On his gallery of eccentric roles and his own bout of homelessness, Jane told Premiere (September 1999): "Characters who walk on the other side are reminders that life is bumpy. As much as we try to follow the white lines, shit happens, and we can be thrown off into an embankment."

Thomas Jane was arrested in the early morning of March 17, 2008 for a DUI. It was reported that Jane was stopped in his Maserati for driving at "an extremely high rate of speed" in Kern County, Calif. Jane was sentenced to a year's probation after pleading no contest in to a solo count of driving under the influence.