Jesse Bradford (born May 28, 1979) is an American actor. He began his career as a
child actor at the age of five and received two
Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film nominations for his performances in ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an ...
'' in 1993 and ''
Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog'' in 1995.
Early life
Bradford was born Jesse Bradford Watrouse in
Norwalk, Connecticut
, image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 230px
, map_caption = Location in Fairfield County and Connecticut
, coordinates ...
, the only child of actors Terry Porter and Curtis Watrouse, who appeared in commercials, soap operas, and industrial films. His mother also played his character's mother in ''
Hackers'' (1995). Bradford's cousins are Jonathan Svec (a member of the bands
Splender and Edison) and
Sarah Messer
Sarah Messer (born 1966) is an American poet and author. She was raised in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in the Hatch Homestead, a house built in the 17th century that was the subject of her book ''Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New ...
, a writer and poet. He began acting at the age of eight months, appearing in a
Q-Tip commercial. At his parents' encouragement, Bradford began modeling and auditioning for acting roles; his first film appearance was as
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
's son in ''
Falling in Love'' (1984).
He graduated from
Brien McMahon High School, where he was a self-described geology nerd. He was
Homecoming King
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia.
...
, captain of the
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...
team, and was voted "best looking" and "favorite actor" by his high school class (although he was not in the drama club). He went on to attend
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
, from which he graduated in 2002 with a degree in film.
Career
As a child actor, Bradford starred in the well-reviewed films ''
Presumed Innocent'' (1990), ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an ...
'' (1993) and ''
Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog'' (
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...
). Subsequently, he has had several notable roles in
motion pictures, including ''
Romeo + Juliet'' (
1996) and ''
Bring It On'' (
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
), playing the romantic interest.
In 2002, he appeared as the lead in two films — ''
Clockstoppers'' and ''
Swimfan
''Swimfan'' is a 2002 American teen psychological thriller film directed by John Polson and written by Charles Bohl and Phillip Schneider. Starring Jesse Bradford, Erika Christensen, and Shiri Appleby, the film is about a high school swimming sta ...
''. He also had a minor role as
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
intern
Ryan Pierce for nine episodes during the fifth season of ''
The West Wing''.
Bradford played the role of
Rene Gagnon in the 2006 film ''
Flags of Our Fathers'', based on the
book of the same name by
James Bradley. The film is about the
Battle of Iwo Jima and was directed by
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
-winning
director Clint Eastwood. In 2009, Bradford was cast as one of the leads in ''
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell'', based on
Tucker Max's best-selling
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this phys ...
.
Bradford was in the main cast of the short-lived NBC courtroom drama series ''
Outlaw
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
'' in 2010.
In 2016, he was in three episodes of ''
Code Black''.
Personal life
In December 2020, Bradford announced on Instagram they were expecting a baby girl due 2021.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Jesse
1979 births
Actors from Norwalk, Connecticut
Male actors from Connecticut
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Columbia University alumni
Nightclub owners
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors