-> 

v

Just because you have a family in show business doesn’t mean that all of your roles are simply going to fall into your lap. Ultimately, you have to earn your way to becoming an A-lister, and that’s what Jason Patric did during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Even now as we enter the 2020s, Patric is still going strong with some memorable recent performances under his belt.

 -> 

v

Patric was born into a famous family. His grandfather, after all, was legendary comedian Jackie Gleason. Patric’s father Jason and mother Linda were both actors, so it was natural that Patric would follow in that direction. He was born on June 17, 1966 in Queens, New York, growing up in New Jersey. Early on, Patric pursued the acting path and was performing on stage as a teenager before branching out.

In 1985, Patric had his first on-screen acting role when he was cast in the television film “Toughlove”. The following year, Patric made his big screen debut in the science fiction film “Solarbabies”. Another year later, and Patric had one of his more memorable roles. He starred alongside the likes of Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland and many more in “The Lost Boys”, which became a financial success and is still remembered more than 30 years later.

 -> 

v

To round out the 1980s, Patric had a role in “The Beast”, and was then extremely busy in the early 1990s. To start the decade, he had three films which included “Frankenstein Unbound” and “Denial”, as well as a brief return to TV for a short movie. His only other TV role during the 1990s was a hosting gig on the long-running “Saturday Night Live”.

Early on in his career, Patric avoided family questions. “I don’t want to talk about my family and stuff like that,” he said. “It just doesn’t matter, you know? It doesn’t pertain. It’s just interesting food for thought, but cheap. It’s an extra paragraph, and once you get it, it’s an identification. I don’t want that. It’s the character or the work that’s important.”

 -> 

v

Patric continued to focus on his film career during the 1990s. He starred in the films “Rush”, “Sleepers” and “Speed 2: Cruise Control”. The final of those three films was panned critically, with Patric earning a Razzie nomination. In the years that have followed, Patric has said that it’s one of his least favorite roles that he’s accepted, and perhaps at the bottom of his list.

This role was followed up with “Incognito” and “Your Friends & Neighbors” before Patric went away from the big screen for four years. He had films in the early 2000s with movies including “Narc”, “Shortcut to Happiness” and “Walker Payne”, playing the title character. The first decade of the new millennium wrapped up with “Expired” and “My Sister’s Keeper”.

 -> 

v

So far in the 2010s, Patric has added several more film roles. This includes “The Losers”, “The Outsider” and “Rise of the Lonestar Ranger”. He also returned to television with the series “Wayward Pines” and the small screen film “The Girl in the Bathtub”. His most recent films came with “The Yellow Birds” and “Home Invasion”, and Patric will appear in the upcoming “Runt”.

Patric has had some relationships that have made the news during his career, as well. For a brief period, he dated A-lister Julia Roberts, which he was asked about to the point where he became frustrated in interviews. “There are certain aspects of my personal life that have nothing to do with the movie (I’m in),” he said. “I like to keep the plate as clean as possible. Roles succeed on their own. It’s important to carry as little baggage as possible into the theater. I try to draw from as pure a place as I can. It’s about the character, not about me. I don’t want to draw attention to myself.”

 -> 

v

Patric then began a relationship with Danielle Schreiber. The two had split and gotten back together multiple times for 10 years without getting married, having a child along the way. Patric made news in recent years when he fought for custody, which was not initially granted as the child was born via in vitro fertilization and the two weren’t married.

“I’ve been in a lot of relationships,” Patric said. “I was always worried about having a child...But I was with someone, and I was at a certain age, (with) someone that I trusted and I loved. And so I said, ‘Well, we can try this route.’” He added that “I’m going to fight ‘til I’m dead to see (my son)...It breaks my heart. And he has a room in my house, and I don’t open the door...I’ve forgotten what his voice sounds like.”

“I really tried to make movies I wanted to see,” Patric has said about his career. “I thought that if I was good enough, somebody would always need me.” This means that Patric doesn’t really celebrate himself as an actor, though. “I don’t like people who use the press to advance themselves in a way that they haven’t earned as an actor, performer or director,” he said, adding that “When actors talk about research, they’re just patting themselves on the back.”

Patric doesn’t really do the big budget films anymore like he did back in the day. “I don’t find movies interesting,” he admitted. “Mostly I do films that mainstream Hollywood wouldn’t touch...You can take a handful of dollars, a good story, and people with passion and make a movie that will stand up against any $70 million movie.” He continued by saying, “I don’t have a problem with fame. I got into this business intending to be very successful, but I wanted it to be at my price...I never turned down a movie because they wouldn’t give me enough money.”