Jon Favreau

This article is about the actor and filmmaker. For the speechwriter, see Jon Favreau (speechwriter).
Jon Favreau

Favreau at The Jungle Book Sydney premier at Event Cinema on 31 March 2016
Born Jonathan Kolia Favreau
(1966-10-19) October 19, 1966
Flushing, Queens, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • Actor
  • filmmaker
  • comedian
Years active 1992–present
Spouse(s) Joya Tillem (m. 2000)
Children 3

Jonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau[1] (/ˈfævroʊ/; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor, filmmaker and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers (which he also wrote), Very Bad Things, The Break-Up, and Chef. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys & Aliens, Chef, and The Jungle Book. He also served as an executive producer on The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. His most prominent television role was that of Pete Becker, Monica Geller's boyfriend during season three of the television sitcom Friends. He produces films under his banner Fairview Entertainment. The company has been credited as co-producers in most of Favreau's directorial ventures.

Early life

Favreau was born in Flushing, Queens, New York, the son of Madeleine, an elementary school teacher who died of leukemia in 1979, and Charles Favreau, a special education teacher.[2] His mother was Jewish (of Russian Jewish descent),[3] and his father is a Catholic of Italian and French-Canadian ancestry.[4][5][6] Favreau attended Hebrew school and had a Bar Mitzvah.[7]

Favreau graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1984[8] and attended Queens College from 1984 to 1987,[9] before dropping out. His friend from college, Mitchell Pollack, said that Favreau went by the nickname "Johnny Hack" because of his talent in the game Hacky Sack.[10] He briefly worked for Bear Stearns on Wall Street before returning to Queens College for a semester in early 1988. He dropped out of college for good (a few credits shy of completing his degree),[9] and in the summer of 1988, moved to Chicago to pursue a career in comedy.[11] He performed at several Chicago improvisational theaters, including the ImprovOlympic and the Improv Institute.[12]

Career

Early career

While in Chicago, Favreau landed his first film role alongside Sean Astin as football tutor D-Bob in the sleeper hit Rudy (1993).[13] Favreau met Vince Vaughn – who played a small role in this film – during shooting. The next year, he appeared in the college film PCU alongside Jeremy Piven, and also stepped into the world of television in the 1994 episode of Seinfeld titled "The Fire" as Eric the Clown.[14][15] He then moved to Los Angeles, where he made his breakthrough in 1996 as an actor-screenwriter with the film Swingers, which was also Vaughn's breakthrough role as the glib and extremely confident Trent Walker, a foil to Favreau's heartbroken Mike Peters.[16] In 1997, he appeared on the popular television sitcom Friends, portraying Pete Becker – Monica Geller's millionaire boyfriend who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) – for several episodes.[17] Favreau made appearances in the sketch-comedy series, Tracey Takes On... in both 1996 and 1997.

He rejoined Piven in 1998 as part of Very Bad Things (1998).[18] In 1999, he starred in the television Rocky Marciano, based on the life of the only undefeated world heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano.[19] He later appeared in Love & Sex (2000), co-starring Famke Janssen.[20] Favreau appeared in 2000's The Replacements as maniacal linebacker Daniel Bateman, and that same year he played himself in The Sopranos episode "D-Girl", as a Hollywood director who feigns interest in developing mob associate Christopher Moltisanti's screenplay in order to collect material for his own screenplay.[21][22]

He was a guest-director for an episode of the college dramedy Undeclared in 2001, and Favreau got some screen time as lawyer Foggy Nelson in the 2003 movie Daredevil (2003) (considerably more in the Director's Cut version).[23][24] He also starred in The Big Empty (2003), directed by Steve Anderson. His character was John Person, an out of work actor given a strange mission to deliver a blue suitcase to a man named Cowboy in the desert.[25]

Actor-director

Favreau at an Iron Man photo call in Mexico City, April 2008

In 2001, he made his film directorial debut with another self-penned screenplay, Made.[26] Made once again teamed him up with his Swingers co-star Vince Vaughn. In the fall of 2003, he scored his first financial success as a director of the hit comedy Elf starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, and Peter Dinklage. Also in 2003, Favreau had a small part in Something's Gotta Give (a film starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson); Favreau played Leo, Harry Sanborn's (Nicholson) personal assistant, who visited Harry in the hospital.[27] In 2005, Favreau directed the film adaptation of Zathura. Never to turn his back on acting, Favreau still makes regular appearances in film and television. He reunited with friend Vince Vaughn in the much-hyped hit romantic comedy The Break-Up and appeared in My Name Is Earl as a reprehensible fast food manager. Favreau also made a guest appearance in Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show.[28]

Also in 2005, Favreau appeared as a guest judge and executive representative of Sony corporation in week five of NBC primetime reality TV business show, The Chef. He was called upon to judge the efforts of the show's two teams of contestants, who were assigned the task of designing and building a float to publicise his 2005 Sony Pictures movie, Zathura.

Favreau also has a TV series called Dinner for Five which airs on the cable TV channel IFC. On April 28, 2006, it was announced that Favreau was signed to direct the long awaited Iron Man movie.[29] Released on May 2, 2008, the film was a huge critical[30] and commercial[31] success, solidifying Favreau's reputation as a director.

Iron Man was the first Marvel-produced movie under their alliance with Paramount, and Favreau served as the director and an executive producer. During early scenes in Iron Man, Favreau appears as Tony Stark's loyal friend, and driver, Happy Hogan. He also wrote two issues of a planned mini-series for Marvel Knights titled Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas, that debuted in September 2008 before being cancelled in November 2008.[32] Favreau also directed the film's sequel, Iron Man 2.[33] in 2008 he played Denver in Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn.

Favreau with Robert McCurdy, Cole Dabney, Jaime Presley after press junket interview for I Love You, Man at SXSW 2009

Favreau was the third director attached to John Carter of Mars, the film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' swashbuckling space hero. While he did not ultimately direct it, he did have a cameo in the film, as a bookie.

Favreau co-starred in 2009's Couples Retreat, a comedy chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort, which he also wrote. The film saw him reunited with co-star Vince Vaughn, and Kristin Davis played his wife.[34]

He voices the character Pre Vizsla, the leader of the Mandalorian Death Watch, in the episodes of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Favreau said in December 2010 that he would not direct Iron Man 3, opting to direct Magic Kingdom instead. He also remained an executive producer of director Joss Whedon's The Avengers.[35][36]

In July 2011, Favreau was featured in a YouTube video by visual effects artists Freddie Wong and Brandon Laatsch (known on YouTube as the popular channel, "freddiew"), in a spoof of his then-upcoming summer film, Cowboys & Aliens. He lent the movie's iconic gauntlet prop to Wong & Laatsch for use in the short.

Favreau at the Austin, Texas premiere of I Love You, Man, March 13, 2009

Favreau has shown interest in directing a film adaptation to Christian Gossett's The Red Star.

Favreau directed the pilot for the NBC show Revolution, and also served as one of the show's executive producers, alongside J. J. Abrams.

In 2013, he shot a pilot for a TV series based on the novel About a Boy, but set in San Francisco.[37] He also directed the Destiny trailer "The Law of the Jungle" and the 2016 film The Jungle Book, for Walt Disney Pictures, which was released on April 15, 2016.[38] PETA awarded the director their "Innovation in Film" award for his use of CGI to animate animals in The Jungle Book.[39]

Personal life

Favreau married physician Joya Tillem on November 24, 2000. The couple have three children: a son, Max, born July 25, 2001, and two daughters, Madeleine, born April 2003, and Brighton Rose, born August 2006. Tillem is the niece of lawyer/talk show host Len Tillem.[40]

Favreau credits the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with giving him "...a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance."[41]

Filmography

Further information: Jon Favreau filmography
Favreau at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International
Films directed by Favreau
Title Release date Studio Budget Gross
Made July 13, 2001 Artisan Entertainment $5 million $5 million
Elf November 7, 2003 New Line Cinema $33 million $220 million
Zathura November 11, 2005 Columbia Pictures $65 million $64 million
Iron Man May 2, 2008 Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios $140 million $585 million
Iron Man 2 May 7, 2010 Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios $200 million $623 million
Cowboys & Aliens June 29, 2011 Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios $163 million $174 million
Chef May 9, 2014 Open Road Films $11 million $46 million
The Jungle Book April 15, 2016 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Fairview Entertainment $175 million $714.5 million

References

  1. ↑ "Jonathan Kolia Favreau". Intellius.com
  2. ↑ Jewel, Dan (November 25, 1996)."Swing and a Hit". People. vol. 46, #22.
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGgiW6glZJ4
  4. ↑ Ryan, James (October 13, 1996). "A Hollywood Scene He Knows Too Well". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Pfefferman, Naomi (December 26, 2003). "A Gift From Santa's Jewish Helpers". JewishJournal.com.
  6. ↑ Stack, Peter (October 18, 1996). "Jon Favreau's `Swingers' -- It's a Guy Thing". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ↑ "The Arty Semite". Forward.com blog.
  8. ↑ Austin, Ben (August 5, 2011). "Jon Favreau ('84) Succeeds Again With Cowboys & Aliens". The Bronx High School of Science Alumni Association & Endowment Fund.
  9. 1 2 Suter, Bob (Fall 2006). "Lighting Up the Arts: Extraordinary Queens College Alumni Who Have Gone on to Successful Careers in the Arts" (PDF). Q Magazine. Queens College.
  10. ↑ Bowles, Scott (May 7, 2010). "Favreau's a Comic-Book Hero"'. USA Today. pp. 1D-2D.
  11. ↑ "Jon Favreau" Retrieved 10 August 2015
  12. ↑ Gillette, Amelie (March 7, 2006). "Jon Favreau". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  13. ↑ Hayes, Britt (June 4, 2013). "See the Cast of 'Rudy' Then and Now". ScreenCrush. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  14. ↑ Richardson, Seth (July 14, 2014). "‘PCU’ 20 Years Later: 5 Ways The Film Predicted The Future". The Daily Caller. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  15. ↑ Rothman, Michael (July 5, 2014). "On 'Seinfeld's' 25th Anniversary: 25 Actors You Forgot Were on the Show". ABC News. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  16. ↑ Buchanan, Kyle (August 17, 2011). "Nostalgia Fact-Check: How Does Swingers Hold Up?". Vulture. New York. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  17. ↑ Dockterman, Eliana (December 29, 2014). "8 Actors Who Got Their Start on Friends". Time. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  18. ↑ Travers, Peter (November 25, 1998). "Very Bad Things". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  19. ↑ Angulo, Sandra P. (May 14, 1999). "Jon Favreau takes a swing at Rocky Marciano". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  20. ↑ Costa, Maddy (22 September 2000). "Lots more Mr Nice Guy". The Guardian. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  21. ↑ Sauter, Michael (December 1, 2000). "The Replacements". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  22. ↑ VanDerWerff, Todd (August 11, 2010). "The Sopranos: "D-Girl"/"Full Leather Jacket"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  23. ↑ Ng, Philiana (March 13, 2011). "'Undeclared' Creator Judd Apatow: It Was a Weird Moment for Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  24. ↑ McNary, Dave (February 22, 2002). "Daredevil has partner in Favreau". Variety. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  25. ↑ "The Big Empty (2003)". The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  26. ↑ Giroux, Jack (May 12, 2014). "How Jon Favreau Made "Chef" His Own Flavor of Ice Cream". Film School Rejects. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  27. ↑ Foundas, Scott (December 4, 2003). "Review: ‘Something’s Gotta Give’". Variety. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights -- Hollywood To The Heartland". TV Guide.
  29. ↑ Kit, Borys (April 28, 2006). "Marvel Studios outlines slew of superhero titles". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 13, 2006. Retrieved April 29, 2006.
  30. ↑ Yamato, Jen (May 1, 2008). "Iron Man is the Best-Reviewed Movie of 2008!". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  31. ↑ "Iron Man (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  32. ↑ "Behind the Scenes of Iron Man with Director Jon Favreau". page 2, About.com
  33. ↑ Finke, Nikki (July 9, 2008). "So What Was All The Fuss About? Marvel Locks in Jon Favreau For 'Iron Man 2'". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  34. ↑ "Trio of Ladies Going on Couples Retreat". TV Guide. October 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 15, 2008.
  35. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (December 14, 2010). "No Favreau? 10 Directors Who Could Take Over 'Iron Man 3'", TheWrap.com. WebCitation archive.
  36. ↑ "Jon Favreau Will Not Direct Iron Man 3". "Vulture" (column). New York. December 14, 2010. Retrieved on December 14, 2010.
  37. ↑ "NBC Pilot Filmed in San Francisco". Nbcbayarea.com. 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
  38. ↑ "Disney Sets Release Dates for Alice in Wonderland 2 and The Jungle Book". comingsoon.net. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  39. ↑ Jack Shepherd,"The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau receives award from PETA for using 'stunning cruelty-free CGI' animals," The Independent, 7 April 2016.
  40. ↑ Len Tillem Program (On air discussion). KGO radio, San Francisco. December 29, 2008.
  41. ↑ Boucher, Geoff (May 5, 2008). "Jon Favreau is the action figure behind 'Iron Man'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2008.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jon Favreau.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.