Nick Stahl Biography

Date of Birth: December 5, 1979

When he was just four, Nick Stahl decided he wanted to be an actor after his mother took him to see a play. Born in Harlington, Texas and raised in Dallas, he began acting in community theater and commercials. His first professional acting role came at the age of ten playing Robert Urich's son in the TV movie Stranger at My Door (1991), filmed in Austin, Texas. A role in another TV movie, A Woman With a Past, followed. He was next chosen by Mel Gibson to star opposite him in Gibson's directorial debut, The Man Without a Face (1993). The role earned Stahl a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Youth Actor Co-Starring in a Motion Picture Drama.

His next role was in the TV movie Incident in a Small Town (1994), starring Walter Matthau, followed by another feature film, Safe Passage (1994), in which he played Susan Sarandon's son. In Disney's Tall Tale (1995), he played a boy who travels back in time to the American west and meets the legends he's heard about. He played a young soldier in The Thin Red Line(1998) starring Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, James Caviezel, George Clooney and Nick Nolte. The film not only was a huge success at the box office but was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Set in 19th century Russia, Stahl played Kirsten Dunst''s romantic love interest in All Forgotten (2000). In the critically-acclaimed In The Bedroom (2000), he played a teen who falls in love with an older married woman (played by Marisa Tomei). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Next up for Stahl was The Sleepy Time Gal (2001) opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Martha Plimpton, but the film was only given a limited release. In Bully (2001), Stahl played a teenager whose bullying ways prompt his friends to plot his murder.

Stahl took over the role of John Connor in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. He followed that up with his first recurring role in a TV series, playing a mysterious 18-year-old fugitive who is taken in by a carnival as it travels across the Oklahoma Dust Bowl in the 1930s in the HBO TV series Carnivale. He can also be seen in the 2012 thriller 388 Arletta Avenue about a young couple being watched around the clock by a mysterious stalker.

In June 2009, Stahl married actress Rose Murphy and they had one daughter together, Marlo. The couple separated in January 2012 and entered a bitter custody battle for their child. Rose requested sole legal and physical custody of Marlo and was only willing to allow her husband supervised visitation rights and on the condition that he stayed away from drugs and alcohol for at least 24 hours before the visits. Things escalated when in May 2012, Stahl was reported missing for over a week. Despite reports that he had taken off before, many expressed concern, Rose included, over his unknown whereabouts. Four days after Rose filed the missing persons report, Stahl sent an email to friends saying he was fine and that he was checking into rehab.

Filmography:

388 Arletta Avenue (2012)
Afghan Luke (2011)
The Speed of Thought (2011)
On the Inside (2011)
Kalamity (2010)
Dead Awake (2010)
The Chameleon (2010)
Burning Palms (2010)
Meskada (2010)
Everything Will Happen Before You Die (2010)
My One and Only (2009)
Sleepwalking (2008)
Quid Pro Quo (2008)
How to Rob a Bank (2007)
The Night of the White Pants (2006)
Sin City (2005)
Twist (2003)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Bookies (2003)
Taboo (2002)
Bully (2001)
The Sleepy Time Gal (2001)
In the Bedroom (2001)
All Forgotten (2000)
Sunset Strip (2000)
Soundman (1999)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Disturbing Behavior (1998)
Eye of God (1997)
Tall Tale (1995)
Safe Passage (1994)
The Man Without a Face (1993)