Spy Kids 3

Background:

American actor and hip-hopper Bobby Edner has made a name for himself as one of Hollywood's most prolific and versatile young performers. Entering the business in the mid-1990s, he has already had a number of movie and television credits to his resume not to mention his appearances on various national commercials. Edner picked up a Young Artist Award for his guest turn in “Step by Step” (1997) and the nominations in “Touched by an Angel” (1999), “Charmed” (2001) and “Do Over” (2002). He was also nominated for the Young Artist Awards in the Best Leading Young Actor category for his work in the TV movies “The Day the World Ended” (2001) and “The Trial of Old Drum” (2002) and in the Best Young Ensemble in a Feature Film category in the last sequel of the Spy Kids trilogy “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” (2003, also sang the soundtrack “Heart Drive”). Other feature film credits include Albert Brooks' “The Muse” (1999), the award-winning indie “The Penny Promise” (2001), Joe Dante's “Haunted Lighthouse” (2003) and “Welcome to Paradise” (2007).

In the hip-hop scenes, Edner is probably most famous for his his dancing homage to Michael Jackson in the Alien Ant Farms remake video of “Smooth Criminal” (2001), which became the second most requested videos on MTV. Used the name “Bob-e,” Edner is now working on a music album with his boy band group, Varsity.

The young thespian is set to play the lead role of Jeremy Parker in the forthcoming “A Date with Destiny” (2008).

Edner cites Ed Norton, Martin Lawrence, Charlize Theron and Cameron Diaz as his favorite actors. He loves watching the movies “"A Knights Tale,” “Bad Boys 2” and “Pirates of Caraïbes” and the television show “Friends” and “Just Shoot Me.” The pop/hip-hop and rap fan idolizes such singers as Justin Timberlake, Eminem and 50 Cent and mentions “Where is the Love,” “Crazy in Love” and “Shake Ya Tailfeather” as songs he likes to listen to.

Bubba

Childhood and Family:

Bobby Edner was born Robert Charles Edner on October 5, 1988, in Downey, California. He is the son of Bob Edner and Cindy Trent and older brother of actress Ashley Edner (born on December 17, 1989).

An excellent student, Bobby, whose nicknames are Bubba and Bud, has a 4.0 grade points in average. He is a passionate golfer and played basketball for Hollywood Knights Celebrity team. In addition to sports, he also write songs and enjoys spending time with his friends and family.

A Date with Destiny

Career:

Californian native Bobby Edner started doing television commercials at age 7 with gigs for Intel, “Big to Small,” and Good Humor Ice Cream. He moved on to become a guest star two years later when he landed a part in a 1997 episode of the Patrick Duffy/Suzanne Somers comedy series “Step by Step” called “Too Many Santas.” His performance on the show won a 1999 Young Artist for Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series-Guest Starring Young Actor.

After the auspicious debut, Edner found himself getting guest roles in a string of television shows like “Ellen,” “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” “Baywatch,” “Profiler,” “Chicago Hope” (all 1998), “ER,” “The Pretender,” “Seven Days” and “Martial Law” (all 1999). His one episodic-turn as Jimmy Avery in “Touched by an Angel” in 1999 even garnered the young actor a Young Artist nomination. Edner made his television movie-bow opposite Emilio Estevez in the Steven Brill comedy “Late Last Night” (1999), where he was cast as the stranger danger boy. It was also in that same year that he had his first taste of acting in front of the big screen cameras in Albert Brooks' “The Muse,” which starred the writer/director himself and Sharon Stones. To that point, Edner had also done many TV advertisements, among them were for Alaska Airlines, Buick, Atlantic Gas, HoneyBaked Ham, Puffs and Bissell.

In the early 2000s, Edner remained active on the small screen doing guest spots in such series as “Then Came You,” “Titus,” “The Amanda Show,” “Providence,” “Mad TV,” “The Agency,” and for his portrayal of Ari in an episode of the Aaron Spelling-produced hit “Charmed” in 2001, he was nominated for a Young Artist nomination for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Guest Starring Young Actor. Still in 2001, he portrayed Kevin Hitchcock on the film “Dumb Luck” (2001), along side Scott Baio and Tracy Nelson, costarred with Jay Acovone in the 12-minute short “The Seventh Sense,” the spoof of the highly-successful Bruce Willis vehicle “The Sixth Sense,” and provided his vocals for the animated film “Monsters, Inc.” In the independent film “The Penny Promise” (2001), which won the Best Feature Comedy awards at the 2001 Burbank International Children's Film Festival and the 2002 International Family Film Festival, Edner was cast along side Scott Christopher and Jennifer Capo as Dustin Farnsworthy. He was nominated for a Young Artist for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Special - Leading Young Actor in the TV movie remake of “The Day the World Ended” (HBO, 2001). Starring opposite Nastassja Kinski and Randy Quaid, he held his own playing Ben Miller, a prodigious kid with powers.

Following guest appearances in “7th Heaven,” “The Chronicle,” “Philly,” “The Division,” Edner starred as the young Charlie Burden on “The Trial of Old Drum” (2002), a based-on-true story TV movie directed by Sean McNamara. Delivering a fine acting, he picked up a Young Artist nomination for Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama) - Leading Young Actor. He revisited TV as a guest star in “JAG,” “Birds of Prey,” “Judging Amy,” “Samurai Jack” and earned his next Young Artist nomination for his part as Larry Nachman in the comedy series “Do Over” (all 2002).

In the next year, Edner did a voice-over for the Disney animated sequel “The Jungle Book 2,” which also featured voices from John Goodman, Haley Joel Osment and Mae Whitman. In the Joe Dante-helmed “Haunted Lighthouse” (2003), he had the chance to portray the unusual character of a ghost named Edgar. Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Rachel Hunter, Matt Weinberg and Sara Paxton also acted in the 3 dimensional movie. Also in 2003, Edner joined Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara for the third and last installment “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over,” directed and written by Robert Rodriguez. Playing Francis, The Brain, he co-won a 2004 Young Artist nomination for Best Young Ensemble in a Feature Film. In addition to acting, he also sang “Heart Drive” for the movie soundtrack and performed the song with costar Alexa Vega at the movie's world premiere in Austin, Texas.

Edner played Justin Smith in a 2004 episode of “Veronica Mars” and three years later, he returned to the cinematic industry to portray the son of Crystal Bernard in the drama/family “Welcome to Paradise” (2007).

The 20-year-old versatile actor will star as Jeremy Parker in the comedy/romance “A Date with Destiny” (2008).

In addition to his movie, television and commercial work, Edner is a professional hip-hop artist. Thanks to his dancing homage to Michael Jackson in the Alien Ant Farm cover of “Smooth Criminal,” he became an instant star in 2001 and the video became one of the most requested videos of the year in MTV. Currently, Edner, who was an original member of the musical group “NLT,” joins a boy band group called “Varsity,” which signed to the Capital Music Group/ Virgin label. He is the youngest member of the group.

Awards:

• Young Artist: Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Guest Starring Young Actor, “Step by Step,” 1999