John Francis Daley (born July 20, 1985) is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and musician. He is known for playing high school freshman
Sam Weir on the
NBC comedy-drama ''
Freaks and Geeks'' and
FBI criminal profiler Dr.
Lance Sweets on the crime drama series ''
Bones'', for which he was nominated for a 2014 PRISM Award. He plays keyboards and sings for the band Dayplayer.
In cinema, Daley is known for his collaborative work with
Jonathan Goldstein as a film-making duo. The pair have worked on various projects together. Daley and Goldstein's first work together was initially based in comedy where they were co-screenwriters for ''
Horrible Bosses
''Horrible Bosses'' is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jenn ...
'' (2011), co-writers for ''
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' (2013), co-story writers for ''
Horrible Bosses 2'' (2014), and co-wrote/co-directed the fifth film in the
''National Lampoon's Vacation'' film series, ''
Vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific fes ...
'' (2015). The duo were co-story writers and co-screenwriters for ''
Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017), the latter with
Jon Watts
Jonathan Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American filmmaker. His credits include directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', and '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''. He was ...
,
Christopher Ford,
Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and they co-directed the 2018 comedy ''
Game Night''.
Early life
Daley was born in the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
suburb of
Wheeling, Illinois, to R.F. Daley, an actor, and Nancy Daley, a piano teacher.
His father is of
Irish Catholic background, while his mother is
Jewish. He grew up in
Nyack, New York, where he played Danny in Nyack Middle School's production of ''
Grease.''
Career
Daley began acting when he was cast as "Young Tommy" in the U.S. and international tours of the
Broadway hit ''
The Who's Tommy''. He played Sam Weir, protagonist of the "Geeks", in the television series ''
Freaks and Geeks'', and since then he has worked continuously in television, including series such as ''
The Geena Davis Show'', ''
Boston Public'', ''
Regular Joe'', ''
Kitchen Confidential'', ''
Judging Amy
''Judging Amy'' is an American legal drama television series that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character (Brenneman) is a judge who serves in a ...
'', and ''
Spin City''. He was #94 on
VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
In 2001, he co-directed a short film titled ''What Babies Do.'' He also wrote and starred in the comedy short ''Friday Night.'' In 2005, he appeared in the film ''
Waiting...'' and in the
Fox sitcom ''
Kitchen Confidential''. In 2007, Daley joined the cast of the Fox drama series ''
Bones'', portraying psychologist
Lance Sweets. He co-wrote the season six episode "The Truth in the Myth" with his writing partner
Jonathan Goldstein. Sweets was ultimately killed in the season 10 premiere; ''Bones'' executive producer Stephen Nathan said Sweets was killed because Daley wanted time off to direct a movie, and he was concerned that Daley's absence would be too long, especially if the directing job led to other jobs.
Daley was also featured in the music video for "Mercy Kiss" by
Abandoned Pools
Thomas Edward Walter (born October 30, 1970) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his alternative rock band, Abandoned Pools, as well as being the former bassist and one of the founding members of Eels.
Early years and the E ...
.
In 2011, Daley and his writing partner
Jonathan M. Goldstein wrote the
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...
''
Horrible Bosses
''Horrible Bosses'' is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jenn ...
''. In 2013, Daley co-wrote ''
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' with Goldstein; Daley also has a cameo in the film as a paramedic. In 2013, the two were hired to write ''Call of the Wild'' for
DreamWorks Studios. John plays Ben House in ''
Rapture-Palooza
''Rapture-Palooza'' (also known as ''Ecstasy'') is a 2013 American supernatural comedy film written by Chris Matheson and directed by Paul Middleditch. The film stars Anna Kendrick and John Francis Daley as a young couple who battle their way ...
''. Daley went on to write the story for the
sequel to ''Horrible Bosses''.
Daley and Goldstein co-wrote and co-directed the 2015 film ''
Vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific fes ...
'', the latest installment of the
''National Lampoon's Vacation'' film series, starring
Ed Helms
Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Off ...
and
Christina Applegate.
Daley and Goldstein wrote the screenplay for the 2017 film ''
Spider-Man: Homecoming'' with four other screenwriters, and were both considered to direct before
Jon Watts
Jonathan Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American filmmaker. His credits include directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', and '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''. He was ...
was hired.
Daley and Goldstein directed the 2018 black comedy ''
Game Night'', based on a screenplay by Mark Perez. The film, starring
Jason Bateman and
Rachel McAdams, "earned a raft of glowing reviews for its whip-smart script, energetic performances, and deliberate avoidance of modern comedy's ubiquitous tropes," and grossed $117 million at the worldwide box office, versus a $37 million budget. While Daley and Goldstein did not receive screenwriter credit, they later said they rewrote "almost all of the original script's dialogue, totally overhauled the characters — most notably a creepy cop portrayed by
Jesse Plemons
Jesse Plemons (; born April 2, 1988) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a career breakthrough with his major role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He subsequ ...
— and comprehensively reworked the original script's third act."
In 2018, it was announced that the duo were set to direct a film adaptation of
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
'
''The Flash'' for their
DC Extended Universe, but it was announced in July that they have left the project. Despite this, both Daley and Goldstein received story by credit alongside the film's screenwriter,
Christina Hodson.
In July 2019, it was announced that Goldstein and Daley were entering early negotiations to direct the reboot of ''
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'' (2023). In January 2020, it was announced that, in addition to directing the film, Goldstein and Daley were also writing a new draft of the screenplay.
Filmography
Short films
Feature films
Television
Acting roles
Film
Television
References
External links
*
Interview with Daley"Mercy Kiss" music videoby
Abandoned Pools
Thomas Edward Walter (born October 30, 1970) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his alternative rock band, Abandoned Pools, as well as being the former bassist and one of the founding members of Eels.
Early years and the E ...
, featuring Daley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, John Francis
1985 births
Male actors from Illinois
American people of Irish descent
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
Comedy film directors
Jewish American male actors
Living people
People from Wheeling, Illinois
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
People from Nyack, New York
Jewish American writers
Male actors from New York (state)
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Screenwriters from Illinois
Sony Pictures Animation people
21st-century American Jews