Christian Slater

Christian Slater - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Christian Slater

Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopathic high school student, in the satire Heathers (1989).

This profile of Christian Slater covers Early Life and Family Background, 1977–1990: Early success, 1991–1999: Box office success, 2000–present: Television roles, Mr. Robot and Personal Life.

In the 1990s Slater starred in several big-budget films, including Young Guns II (1990), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Broken Arrow (1996), and Hard Rain (1998) as well as cult films like Gleaming the Cube (1989), Pump Up the Volume (1990) and True Romance (1993). He has had roles in other notable films, including The Name of the Rose (1986), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), Windtalkers (2002), Alone in the Dark (2005), Bobby (2006), He Was a Quiet Man (2007), Nymphomaniac (2013), The Wife (2017), We Can Be Heroes (2020), and Blink Twice (2024).

He received critical acclaim for playing the title role in the USA Network television series Mr. Robot (2015–2019): it earned him the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, and additional nominations for that award in 2017 and 2018. For his role as Mulgarath in fantasy series The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024), Slater received the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performer.

In addition to his live-action roles, Slater has had an extensive voice-acting career, with roles including Pips in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Slater in Archer (2014–2023), Ushari in The Lion Guard (2016–2019), Rand Ridley in Inside Job (2021–2022), and Floyd Lawton / Deadshot in the DC Animated Movie Universe.

Early Life and Family Background of Christian Slater

Slater was born on August 18, 1969, in New York City, the son of Michael Hawkins (born Thomas Knight Slater), an actor also known as Michael Gainsborough; and Mary Jo Slater (née Lawton), an actors’ agent turned casting executive and producer. He has a maternal half-brother, Ryan Slater, who also became an actor. His great-uncle was radio personality Bill Slater.

He attended the Dalton School, the Professional Children's School, and the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

1977–1990: Early success of Christian Slater

Slater played his first television role at the age of eight, on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. Following a run on Ryan's Hope, he made his Broadway debut as the lisping Winthrop Paroo opposite Dick Van Dyke in the 1980 revival of The Music Man. Additional Broadway credits include Copperfield, Merlin, Macbeth, Side Man, and The Glass Menagerie. He also performed in London's West End in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Swimming with Sharks.

Slater made his big-screen debut in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985), playing Billie Jean's brother Binx. The film had been expected to be a big hit, but fell short at the box office. It has since gained a cult following. His career improved with a role in The Name of the Rose (1986), playing alongside Sean Connery. Slater played Connery's apprentice monk, and they investigated a series of murders at a Benedictine abbey. Slater next played Junior Tucker in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988).

At the age of 18 Slater played the dark character J.D. In the 1989 film Heathers alongside Winona Ryder. Slater was chosen for the part over many other actors, including Brad Pitt, and his performance drew a comparison with a young Jack Nicholson. Slater also starred in Gleaming the Cube and appeared in Beyond the Stars (both 1989). After Heathers, Slater had offers to play other troubled youths, including a rebellious teen in Pump Up the Volume (1990) and a wild gunman in Young Guns II (1990). In the latter, Slater acted alongside Emilio Estevez, Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland.

1991–1999: Box office success

In 1991 Slater was cast as Will Scarlett in the Hollywood big budget production of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves alongside Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman and Alan Rickman. The film was a commercial success, taking US$390 million worldwide, and Slater became one of the major A-list stars of the 1990s. With Slater being a big Star Trek fan (in addition to his mother, Mary Jo Slater, serving as the casting director for the film), he accepted a cameo role in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, shortly after playing Charlie Luciano in the crime drama Mobsters. The following year, he expanded his film genre and starred in the comedy Kuffs opposite Milla Jovovich. In 1993, Slater again stretched his acting skills, playing opposite Marisa Tomei in Untamed Heart and playing Clarence Worley in True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino, which received many rave reviews. In his review of True Romance, Roger Ebert gave the movie 3 stars out of 4 and said, "the energy and style of the movie are exhilarating. Christian Slater has the kind of cocky recklessness the movie needs." In the same year, he was the first choice for the role of Eric Draven in the movie The Crow, directed by Alex Proyas.

He gained the role of the interviewer Daniel Molloy in Interview with the Vampire (1994) after the death of his friend River Phoenix, who was originally cast. Slater later donated his earnings from the film to Phoenix's favorite charities. He played the character of Lewis in the romance film Bed of Roses in 1996 opposite Mary Stuart Masterson, then that of Riley Hale in the big-budget John Woo film Broken Arrow (1996), which also starred John Travolta. In 1998, Slater appeared in crime movie Hard Rain alongside Morgan Freeman. The same year, he also starred in the dark comedy Bad Things opposite Cameron Diaz.

2000–present: Television roles, Mr. Robot

Since 2000 Slater has mixed TV work with leading roles in mainly lower budget films, along with supporting roles in a few mainstream productions. He appeared in the successful The West Wing and Alias TV series. He was also part of Hollywood films, including Bobby and 3000 Miles to Graceland. He has also worked as a voice-over artist in productions, including the character of 'Pips' in the successful Australian-American animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Jet Fusion in an episode of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and narrating TV documentaries, including Prehistoric Planet and Dinosaur Planet. Slater also voiced the character John Watson a.k.a. "Wonko the Sane" in BBC Radio 4's production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Slater), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.