Sling Blade

Background:

Award-winning actor mostly known for his motion picture work Lucas Black was shoot to prominence at age 14 playing Billy Bob Thornton's only friend, Frank Wheatley, on the sleeper hit “Sling Blade” (1996), which was also directed and scripted by Thornton. For his bright performance, he took home a Saturn Award, a Young Artist Award and a YoungStar Award. Prior to the success, he was known by TV audience as an abruptly orphaned North Carolina youngster on the short-lived series “American Gothic” (1995-1996). Black continued to acquire big screen success with awe-inspiring performances in Antonio Banderas's directorial debut, “Crazy in Alabama” (1999), the Western “All the Pretty Horses” (2000, again directed by Billy Bob Thornton), the sport-themed “Friday Night Lights” (2004) and “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift” (2006), the sequel of the successful street-racing films “The Fast and the Furious” (2001) and “2 Fast and 2 Furious” (2003). Other film credits include “The X-Files” (1998), “Cold Mountain” (2003), Sam Mendes' “Jarhead” (2005) and “Legion,” which is expected to be released in 2009.

Down-to-earth Black has kept his private life as a private. In addition to sports, he enjoys outdoor activities such as fishing and archery. As of 2003, the Alabama native has left his hometown for Columbia, Missouri.

Lucky

Childhood and Family:

Lucas York Black was born on November 29, 1982, in Decatur, Alabama, to Jan Black, an office worker, and Larry Black, a museum worker. He has two older siblings, Lee and Lori. Growing up in Speake, Alabama, he attended Speake High School in Alabama and played for his high school football team, the Speake Bobcats, as a nose/left guard, until he graduated in May 2001. Aside from football, the passionate outdoors man is also a basketball, baseball and golf enthusiast.

Lucas, whose nickname is Lucky, was a model for Calvin Klein when he was a teenager.

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift

Career:

A sports buff, Lucas Black started acting in school plays when he was in the first grade. Without any formal trainings, the 11-year-old boy broke into the big screen with a small role as Ebb in the drama film “The War” (1994), by Jon Avnet and starring Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood. The project only received moderate success, but it did put the young actor under the radar of casting agents who suggested him for the starring role of Caleb Temple, the son of Gary Cole's Sheriff Lucas Buck, on the CBS new supernatural series “American Gothic.” A cult favorite, the show debuted in September 1995 and throughout its one-season ran, received several nominations, including an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and a Saturn nomination for Best Genre Television Series. Black himself was nominated for a YoungStar for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama TV Series in 1997.

Black's big breakthrough arrived when actor/director/writer Billy Bob Thornton tapped him to play Frank Wheatley on the motion picture drama “Sling Blade” (1996), which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. As the only friend to the puzzling Karl Childers (played perfectly by Thornton), young Black offered touching, guarded performance that contradicted to his age and was handed a Saturn for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, a Young Artist for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor, a YoungStar for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film as well as a Chlotrudis nomination for

Best Supporting Actor. He also shared a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Later that same year, Black appeared with Alec Baldwin, James Woods, Whoopi Goldberg and William H. Macy in Rob Reiner's drama, “Ghosts of the Mississippi” (1996), playing Burt DeLaughter.

Also an occasional model for Calvin Klein throughout his teen years, Black revisited television after the demise of “American Gothic” in a guest role of Dr. Noah Fielding on “The Son Also Rises,” a 1997 episode of the David E. Kelley noted series “Chicago Hope” (1994-2000), which starred Adam Arkin and Hector Elizondo. He followed it up with a starring role as Connor Strong on the family-oriented made-for-TV film “Flash” (also 1997), from which he received a Young Artist nomination for Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series - Leading Young Actor. He resumed his movie career in the following year by taking a small part in the big screen version of “The X-Files,” opposite stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

After voicing Randy on “Our Friend, Martin” (1999), an animated film which was directly released for video, Black's film career enjoyed another boost when he landed the lead role on the independent drama “Crazy in Alabama” (1999), opposite Melanie Griffith and David Morse. Although it was not a box office hit, the project gained some notice for being the directorial debut of Spanish-born actor Antonio Banderas. Portraying Peter Joseph 'Peejoe' Bullis, Black netted a YoungStar nomination for Best Young Actor/Performance in a Motion Picture Drama and a Young Artist nomination for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor. Before “Crazy in Alabama,” Black was considered for a part in the highly boasted film, “The Horse Whisperer” (1998), but he turned down the role after being asked to change his clearly Southern accent. He said, “If you have to change something about you to be in a part, I don't think it's easy to do. You should just pick the part where you can just be yourself.”

2000 saw Black reunite with Billy Bob Thornton for the Western movie “All the Pretty Horses,” in which he was cast along side Matt Damon and Henry Thomas. He impressively played the supporting role of Jimmy Blevins and netted a Las Vegas Film Critics Society nomination and a Young Artist nomination for his work in the film. Still in that same year, he made his second TV-movie outing on “The Miracle Worker,” a remake of William Gibson's classic play. In 2003, Black joined the cast of the Civil War ensemble “Cold Mountain” that included Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland and Natalie Portman, among others. There he portrayed young Oakley.

Next up for Black, he was cast in the starring role of Vernon, an autistic piano player, opposite William Lee Scott as Wesley, on the drama/music “Killer Diller,” which debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival in March and May 2004, respectively. It was in 2004 that the gifted performer could be seen working again with Billy Bob Thornton on the football drama “Friday Night Lights,” which were jointly directed by Peter Berg and Josh Pate. On the based-on-book film, Black played quarterback Mike Winchell, while Thornton was cast as his coach, Gary Gaines. He then starred as Nat Banyon on the thriller “Deepwater” (2005), scripted and helmed by David S. Marfield, and teamed up with Jake Gyllenhaal in the Sam Mendes-directed “Jarhead” (2005), in which he portrayed a marine named Kruger.

In 2006, Black starred as Sean Boswell in the third sequel of the well-liked street-racing film franchise “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,” for director Justin Lin, who followed in the footsteps of fellow filmmakers Rob Cohen and John Singleton, who previously sat on the director's chairs for “The Fast and the Furious” (2001) and “2 Fast and 2 Furious” (2003), respectively. While the film was a moderate success, the actor was praised for quickly seized the franchise made famous by previous stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. As for his acting, he was nominated for a Teen Choice for Movies - Choice Breakout (Male).

Currently, the 26-year-old actor is filming the action/horror film “Legion,” scheduled for 2009 release. He will play Jeep Hansen, opposite Dennis Quaid as Bob Hanson, Paul Bettany as Michael, d Kate Walsh as Sandra Anderson and Tyrese Gibson as Kyle Williams.

Awards:

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn, Best Performance by a Younger Actor, “Sling Blade,” 1997

• Young Artist: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor, “Sling Blade,” 1997

• YoungStar: Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film, “Sling Blade,” 1997