Chris Klein

Biography: Chris Klein was born on March 14, 1979 to Fred and Terese Klein in the town of Hinsdale, Illinois. The Kleins (Fred, Terese, Chris, sister Debbie and brother Tim) moved to Omaha, Nebraska, when Chris was thirteen. Even at a young age, Chris was interested in acting - he starred in school plays and made amateur indie shorts with his friends. Chris was lucky enough to be spared from teen angst, as one of his most notable qualities even today is his deep love and appreciation for his family. Says high school friend Nathan Wills, "Chris's family is the closest I've ever seen to a well-functioning family in America." In high school, Chris was linebacker for the football team, state finalist in the freestyle 400-meter relay, and even "Mr. Millard West." Although he did first meet Alexander Payne in high school, it wasn't until he was a freshman at Texas Christian University (planning to major in history and economics) that Payne called him and asked him to be in Election. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Chris is probably best known for his role in 1999's hit comedy American Pie. Although Pie was only his second major motion picture, he went on to snag starring roles in the drama Here on Earth, the lewd comedy Say It Isn't So, and John McTiernan's remake of the action film Rollerball. Klein burst onto the professional acting scene straight out of high school, when he landed the role of jock Paul Metzler in the dark comedy Election (1999). The now ubiquitous story of Klein's "big break" is that he was discovered by Election director Alexander Payne while leaving the weight room at his high school (Millard West), where Payne was scouting locations in which to film the movie. Klein's latest project is a Vietnam War epic based on the book We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, where he shares the screen with such actors as Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, and Greg Kinnear.


Favorites
COLOR orange
MOVIE Harvey
TV SHOW Malcolm in the Middle, Looney Tunes
ACTOR Jimmy Stewart
ACTOR (contemporary) Tom Cruise
ACTRESS Jodie Foster
AUTHORS J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Kurt Vonnegut
BOOKS Slaughterhouse-Five, The Sun Also Rises, The Hobbit
MUSICAL Les Misèrables
PLAY Tea and Sympathy
RESTAURANT The Reel Inn (Malibu, CA)
HOBBIES "Anything outdoors," reading, playing video games
MUSIC GENRE Classic rock
BANDS Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Doors.… Expand