Jesse Bradford (born May 28, 1979) is an American actor. He began his career as a

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

at the age of five and received two

Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film The Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film is one of the Young Artist Awards presented annually by the Young Artist Association to recognize a young actor under the age of 21, who has delivered an outst ...

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 Am ...

'' in 1993 and '' Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog'' in 1995.

Early life

Bradford was born Jesse Bradford Watrouse in Norwalk, Connecticut, 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 Splender was an alternative rock band from New York City. The band consisted of lead vocalist Waymon Boone, bassist James Cruz, drummer Marc Slutsky and lead guitarist Jonathan Svec. The band spawned two albums, ''Halfway Down The Sky'' and ''To ...

and Edison) and Sarah Messer, 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'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, 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 ...

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 Manhatt ...

, 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), ''

'' (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 str ...

). Subsequently, he has had several notable roles in

motion pictures A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, including ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

'' ( 1996) and ''

Bring It On Bring It On may refer to: Books * ''Bring It On'' (book), by Pat Robertson * ''Bring It On!'' (manhwa), a romance manhwa by Baek Hye-Kyung Film and stage * ''Bring It On'' (film series), an American series of teen comedy cheerleading films capit ...

'' (

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 S ...

), playing the romantic interest. In 2002, he appeared as the lead in two films — '' Clockstoppers'' and '' Swimfan''. 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 NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

intern Ryan Pierce for nine episodes during the fifth season of ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

''. 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 James Bradley (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of th ...

. 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 ind ...

-winning

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Clint Eastwood. In 2009, Bradford was cast as one of the leads in ''

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell ''I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell'' is a book of autobiographical short stories about sex and drinking adventures written by Tucker Max. It was a ''New York Times'' #1 bestseller and made the Best Seller List each year from 2006 to 2011. It has ...

'', based on

Tucker Max Tucker Max (born September 27, 1975) is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website ''TuckerMax.com'', which has received millions of visitors since Max lau ...

'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 physi ...

. Bradford was in the main cast of the short-lived NBC courtroom drama series '' Outlaw'' 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

* * {{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