Chris Klein Biography

CHRIS KLEIN

Date of Birth: March 14, 1979

Born in Chicago, Chris Klein moved to Omaha at the age of thirteen. In high school, he excelled as an outside linebacker for his football team and starred in several school stage productions, including the role of Tony in West Side Story.

When director Alexander Payne was scouting for a location for Election, he bumped into Klein coming out of the weight room (he pumped iron for two hours every other day). After an audition for Payne, and only four weeks into his first semester at Texas Christian University where he was studying dramatic arts, Klein received the offer to play a lead role in Election, that of the good-hearted jock Paul Metzler. Delivering a fine-tuned debut performance, Klein provided the film's moral soul, which perfectly balanced with Reese Witherspoon's overzealous overachiever. Soon after, he landed his second role in the wildly anticipated American Pie. Described as a modern Porky's crossed with Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Pie was about a group of young males who pledge to lose their virginity before the prom. The film received tremendous pre-release buzz and quickly became one of the biggest hits of the summer of 1999. And while Election was a critical success, American Pie had the potential to rocket its cast of largely unknowns to stardom.

Klein starred as Oz, another good-hearted jock. Instead of being in search of an office, he pursued Mena Suvari's angelic choir girl, Heather. Their relationship gave the film a central heart that balanced out the outrageous humor and Klein received outstanding notices for his work.

His third film was Here on Earth (2000), starring alongside Leelee Sobieski and Josh Hartnett. Klein played a spoiled rich kid who has to stay in a small town to fix damage he's caused while driving recklessly. Unfortunately, the film was panned, as was Klein's next one, Say It Isn't So (2001), despite star power such as Sally Field. Klein played it safe for his next film, American Pie 2 (2001), returning to the film genre that had brought him fame. The sequel grossed even more at the box office than the first film. However, his next project, Rollerball (2002), was a flop both with critics and the public. Klein took a supporting role in We Were Soldiers (2002), which starred Mel Gibson and did respectably at the box office.

Opting not to appear in the third American Pie instalment, Klein instead took on a role in The United States of Leland (2004), about a teenager who commits a seemingly senseless murder. But in 2012, he rejoined his American Pie co-stars for the series' fourth instalment, American Reunion. He most recently starred in Authors Anonymous (2014).

Chris was engaged to Katie Holmes of Dawson's Creek in December 2003 after four years of dating, but it was called off in March 2005. He also dated Ginnifer Goodwin for two years, but they broke up in December 2008.

Filmography:

Authors Anonymous (2014)
American Reunion (2012)
Caught in the Crossfire (2012)
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay (2009)
Play Dead (2008)
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
Hank and Mike (2008)
New York City Serenade (2007)
Day Zero (2007)
The Good Life (2007)
American Dreamz (2006)
Just Friends (2005)
The Long Weekend (2005)
Expats (2005)
The United States of Leland (2004)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Rollerball (2002)
American Pie 2 (2001)
Say It Isn't So (2001)
Here on Earth (2000)
American Pie (1999)
Election (1999)