James Spader

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Birthday:

7 February 1960, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Birth Name:

James Todd Spader

Height:

178 cm

James Todd Spader was born on February 7, 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of teachers Jean (Fraser) and Stoddard Greenwood "Todd" Spader. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover with director Peter Sellars; he dropped out in eleventh grade. He bused tables, shoveled manure, and taught yoga before landing his first roles. Spader's first major film role was as Brooke Shields' brother in the romance drama Endless Love (1981). Spader graduated from television movies to Brat Pack films, playing the scoundrel. In Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), he played a sexual voyeur who complicates the lives of three Baton Rouge residents. This performance earned him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival and led to bigger and more varied roles. His best known role is the colorful attorney Alan Shore on the David E. Kelley television series The Practice (1997) and its spin-off Boston Legal (2004).He won 3 prime time Emmy Awards in the Best Actor, Drama category for playing the same character Alan Shore in two different television series 'The Practice' and 'Boston Legal' out of the 4 nominations he received for the same between the years 2004-2008. He also received a Golden Globe and several Screen Actor Guild Award Best Actor nominations for reprising this role. Show less «

If I don't need the money, I don't work. I don't mind going to somebody and saying, "Okay, this is how much money I need to pay my bills for...Show more »

If I don't need the money, I don't work. I don't mind going to somebody and saying, "Okay, this is how much money I need to pay my bills for the next six months. If you pay me that, I'll do the film.". Show less «

(Why did he accept the lead in Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)?): I took the film because I was interested in doing that part. Looking at wo...Show more »

(Why did he accept the lead in Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)?): I took the film because I was interested in doing that part. Looking at work as stepping stones is something I don't have any time or energy for. It seems a shame to look at your work as some sort of means to an end, because the end is death, you know? The means is the flesh and blood, so you'd better enjoy it. F--- the end. Show less «

If I don't need the money, I don't work. I'm going to spend time with my family and friends, and I'm going to travel and read and listen to ...Show more »

If I don't need the money, I don't work. I'm going to spend time with my family and friends, and I'm going to travel and read and listen to music and try to learn a little bit more about how to be a human being, as opposed to learning how to be somebody else. Show less «

Studio people are afraid of Crash (1996). It makes a statement about whoever releases the film. Miramax took a lot of flak for releasing Kid...Show more »

Studio people are afraid of Crash (1996). It makes a statement about whoever releases the film. Miramax took a lot of flak for releasing Kids (1995). The same will happen for whoever releases Crash (1996). Show less «

I have my own artistic sensibilities and Crash (1996) complements them. It is a provocative, challenging, disturbing film made for adults. I...Show more »

I have my own artistic sensibilities and Crash (1996) complements them. It is a provocative, challenging, disturbing film made for adults. It's not a skeleton in the closet for me. Show less «

(on his sadomasochistic scenes in the movie Secretary (2002)): I did something in that scene that I'd never done in a film before but that's...Show more »

(on his sadomasochistic scenes in the movie Secretary (2002)): I did something in that scene that I'd never done in a film before but that's been the case with so many of my movies. Show less «

You just want to work. I like playing character roles and I do not mind being a real son-of-a-bitch, or embarrassing myself. But as you go a...Show more »

You just want to work. I like playing character roles and I do not mind being a real son-of-a-bitch, or embarrassing myself. But as you go along you begin to realize that the work has a criterion and as your choices get broader you start cutting out the things that are not worth the time. On the whole I have been lucky; I do not look back with a huge amount of distaste for the work I have done. Show less «

Acting is a great way to make a living, especially when I consider what my alternatives were and probably still are. I mean, you are only ma...Show more »

Acting is a great way to make a living, especially when I consider what my alternatives were and probably still are. I mean, you are only making movies. It is a lot less pressure than being a surgeon; although it seemed like the only other thing that I was qualified for was manual labour. Show less «

Sometimes with people their work is the most important thing to them, and sometimes the work enables you to do other things that are more im...Show more »

Sometimes with people their work is the most important thing to them, and sometimes the work enables you to do other things that are more important to you. I probably am closer to that. Show less «

[2005] I've had a lazy career, sometimes one film a year, sometimes none. I'm walking around in the street and doing this other thing, livin...Show more »

[2005] I've had a lazy career, sometimes one film a year, sometimes none. I'm walking around in the street and doing this other thing, living, that I'm much more interested in. I just do some acting on the side. Show less «

I played cops and robbers and pirates and all the rest when I was a kid, but I didn't want to grow up and be an actor and play cops and robb...Show more »

I played cops and robbers and pirates and all the rest when I was a kid, but I didn't want to grow up and be an actor and play cops and robbers and pirates. I wanted to grow up and be that, be cops and robbers and pirates. Show less «

I grew up a Red Sox fan. I grew up going to Fenway Park and the Museum of Fine Arts and the Science Museum and Symphony Hall and going to th...Show more »

I grew up a Red Sox fan. I grew up going to Fenway Park and the Museum of Fine Arts and the Science Museum and Symphony Hall and going to the Common, walking around. My whole family at different times lived and worked in Boston. Show less «

[1990] You know, when you choose to make your living as an actor, it's all fine and good to look at it as some kind of artistic endeavor. At...Show more »

[1990] You know, when you choose to make your living as an actor, it's all fine and good to look at it as some kind of artistic endeavor. At its best, it is that. But the fact is, most of the actors out there don't earn $3 million a picture and can't afford to take two years off between films and look for the right thing. Most of us are tradesmen. Acting for me, is a passion, but it's also a job, and I've always approached it as such. I have a certain manual-laborist view of acting. There's no shame in taking a film because you need some money. No shame in taking a film because you have always wanted to visit China. I was thinking about this last night as I was driving home. I started to go back through the different films I've done, and the television movies I've done and I started to think about why I chose them at that time. And I realized, every single film I've ever done I've taken because of the money. Every single one. I'm not ashamed to say that. Show less «

[1990] I had real trouble, actually, for a long time, getting people to hire me. My anxiety used to manifest itself in strange ways. I'd go ...Show more »

[1990] I had real trouble, actually, for a long time, getting people to hire me. My anxiety used to manifest itself in strange ways. I'd go in to read for some innocent, vulnerable character, and the feedback would be, "Well, we met Jimmy... and he scared us.". Show less «

[1995] I'm not eager at all to present my life out there for public consumption. I like to do one or two films a year and then do what is ab...Show more »

[1995] I'm not eager at all to present my life out there for public consumption. I like to do one or two films a year and then do what is absolutely obligatory in terms of promoting them. My life outside of films is vital to me. Show less «

[on doing Stargate (1994)] I didn't have a great knowledge of this genre. The only demand I was putting on the picture was that my paycheck ...Show more »

[on doing Stargate (1994)] I didn't have a great knowledge of this genre. The only demand I was putting on the picture was that my paycheck came in and that I had fun making it. It seemed like it would be rather light-hearted. And it was. I'm not a big fan of films that take themselves seriously. Show less «

[on his menial jobs before acting] I drove a truck for a while for a meat packing plant. I shoveled manure at the Clarmont Riding Academy in...Show more »

[on his menial jobs before acting] I drove a truck for a while for a meat packing plant. I shoveled manure at the Clarmont Riding Academy in New York. Mopped floors for a while. I uploaded railroad cars and trailers at a warehouse. I wasn't really qualified for anything else. Show less «

When you're a kid running around playing make-believe, everything is changing from moment to moment - and a TV show is like that too. That's...Show more »

When you're a kid running around playing make-believe, everything is changing from moment to moment - and a TV show is like that too. That's what I got into the business for! I like to know just enough to do the job. Show less «

I've always loved antiheroes. Those were the characters I was drawn to growing up, and if I'm equipped to play a hero at all, it's certainly...Show more »

I've always loved antiheroes. Those were the characters I was drawn to growing up, and if I'm equipped to play a hero at all, it's certainly an antihero! Show less «