Ben Foster, born 1980, turns 33 today. One of the most valuable and underappreciated actors of his generation, Foster has had an excellent 2013, starring in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and playing Willam S. Burroughs in Kill Your Darlings. And in 2014, he’ll be in the military thriller Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg, and play both Lance Armstrong and painter Keith Haring in biopics.
Foster’s upcoming work is reflexive of his past work, which is diverse and widespread. He dropped out of high school to come to Hollywood at 16 and spent a year as the lead on the mid-90’s Disney Channel show Flash Forward. He appeared as Eli on the cult favorite Freaks and Geeks in 1999, but his first major film role was in one of the most cruelly underrated teen films of recent years, Get Over It! where he played Berke Landers, a high school guy looking to win back his true love by acting in a musical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The cast also featured Martin Short, Kirsten Dunst, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Colin Hanks, Sisqo, Ed Begley Jr. and Swoosie Kurtz, which should be more than enough reasons to head to Netflix Instant and watch it right now.
Besides Get Over It! Foster appeared as Russell on HBO’s Six Feet Under, Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand, the villains Charlie Prince in 3:10 to Yuma and The Stranger in 30 Days of Night, and Glenn on My Name is Earl. He was nominated for a Gotham Award for his performance as a soldier who delivers the news of KIA’s to family members in The Messenger, and appeared alongside Jason Statham in The Mechanic. But seriously, go watch Get Over It!
Other birthdays today:
Gabrielle Union, actress (41)
Winona Ryder, actress (42)
Rufus Sewell, actor (46)
Dan Castellenata, actor (56)
Richard Dreyfuss, actor (66)
