Owen Wilson

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Birthday:

18 November 1968, Dallas, Texas, USA

Birth Name:

Owen Cunningham Wilson

Height:

179 cm

Self-proclaimed troublemaker Owen Wilson was born in Dallas, to Irish-American parents originally from Massachusetts. He grew up in Texas with his mother, Laura (Cunningham), a photographer; his father, Robert Andrew Wilson, an ad exec; and his brothers, Andrew Wilson (the eldest) and Luke Wilson (the youngest). Expelled from St. Mark's School of Texas (Dallas, TX) in the tenth grade, Wilson finished his sophomore year at Thomas Jefferson School and then headed to a military academy in New Mexico. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he met his future mentor and friend, Wes Anderson. They wrote a screenplay, Bottle Rocket (1996), and sent it to their family friend, screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, who sent it to producer Polly Platt, who gave it to James L. Brooks, who gave the Texans $5 million dollars to make it into a feature film. Despite critical praise, Bottle Rocket (1996) only grossed one million dollars. After making the film, Wilson moved to Hollywood, setting up house with his two brothers and Anderson. Fairly quickly, Owen found himself acting in a series of big budget films, such as The Cable Guy (1996), The Haunting (1999), Anaconda (1997) and Breakfast of Champions (1999). This led to more work, such as Shanghai Noon (2000), Meet the Parents (2000) and Behind Enemy Lines (2001). He's known not only for his nose, which has been broken several times, but also for his 'free wheeling ways' with a script. He co-wrote the film The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) with his oft partner Wes Anderson. He has been romantically linked with singer Sheryl Crow. Show less «

"It's funny how it usually works out that I end up dying. It sort of works out, because by the time I die, I'm usually tired of working on t...Show more »

"It's funny how it usually works out that I end up dying. It sort of works out, because by the time I die, I'm usually tired of working on that particular movie, so I look forward to it." - about how a lot of his characters end up dying. Show less «

"Being in a bathtub with Jackie Chan, I don't know, it has a way of bonding you I'll tell you that. I don't know if there are some weird und...Show more »

"Being in a bathtub with Jackie Chan, I don't know, it has a way of bonding you I'll tell you that. I don't know if there are some weird undertones. It was like we had met in Los Angeles and we didn't have that much to say to each other but, after that bathtub scene, we were great friends. What it really was was that when we'd play off each other, it really was fun. We really did become friends". - on the bathtub scene in Shanghai Noon (2000). Show less «

"The walk off was the most uncomfortable scene for me to shoot, cos I literally have never danced in public or really even in private. I'm n...Show more »

"The walk off was the most uncomfortable scene for me to shoot, cos I literally have never danced in public or really even in private. I'm not a musical person and we had to dance like Michael Jackson and we had to do breakdancing..." - about the walk off scene in Zoolander (2001). Show less «

"Sometimes I stop and think how strange this all is. Something that began as a little idea in Austin, that Wes and I just walked around talk...Show more »

"Sometimes I stop and think how strange this all is. Something that began as a little idea in Austin, that Wes and I just walked around talking about between ourselves, has turned into all this." - on how his career has turned out. Show less «

You can think of Hollywood as high school. TV actors are freshmen, comedy actors are maybe juniors, and dramatic actors - they're the cool s...Show more »

You can think of Hollywood as high school. TV actors are freshmen, comedy actors are maybe juniors, and dramatic actors - they're the cool seniors. Show less «

"I guess a lot of me in the sense is like Dignan, that's my sense of humor. The stuff that Dignan is doing is what I would do. When we test-...Show more »

"I guess a lot of me in the sense is like Dignan, that's my sense of humor. The stuff that Dignan is doing is what I would do. When we test-screened the movie I realized that not everybody laughed where I did. I realized there's not a big audience for my type of humor. Dignan doesn't have self-awareness. Donald J. Trump has none either. When I read "The Art of the Deal" I laughed at that because neither of them realize how funny they are" - about his character Dignan in Bottle Rocket (1996). Show less «

[Talking about his relationship with Sheryl Crow and his relationships with women in general]: "Going out with someone who's doing the same ...Show more »

[Talking about his relationship with Sheryl Crow and his relationships with women in general]: "Going out with someone who's doing the same thing as you, who's in the public eye, can be a problem... You want a break when you come home. You don't want someone with the same issues as you maybe reminding you of stuff you don't like in yourself. That being said, I don't think being in the spotlight had anything to do with me and Sheryl not working out. The story of our relationship is the same story I've had with most of my relationships. I was lucky enough to find a great girl and, because of my lack of... focus, the relationship went south". Show less «

We spent so much time together that I can remember us being in our teens and our dad saying we should try to find some other friends because...Show more »

We spent so much time together that I can remember us being in our teens and our dad saying we should try to find some other friends because he thought we were our own lowest common denominator when we got together. - on his brothers. Show less «

Acting is more fun than writing. Writing is harder, more like having a term paper.

Yes, sometimes people get irritated, starting with my brother Luke in BR. He would get pissed at me, like, 'Why don't you just say the lines...Show more »

Yes, sometimes people get irritated, starting with my brother Luke in BR. He would get pissed at me, like, 'Why don't you just say the lines that you wrote?'" - on whether or not his improvisational skills bother fellow actors. Show less «

"Ben, for example, is kind of a moody guy, and you kind of have to put on the kid gloves because you never know which Ben is going to show u...Show more »

"Ben, for example, is kind of a moody guy, and you kind of have to put on the kid gloves because you never know which Ben is going to show up on set" - on Ben Stiller. Show less «

I can't think of a movie I wish I'd acted in, but there are movies I wish I'd written.

Not Shakespeare. In college I took a Shakespeare class because I was an English major, and they had a Summer program called Shakespeare at W...Show more »

Not Shakespeare. In college I took a Shakespeare class because I was an English major, and they had a Summer program called Shakespeare at Winedale, which is out in the German Hill country in Texas , where you go out and live for two months and then you perform three plays at the end of that time. And people from Austin drive out and see it. I was supposed to be one of the two gentlemen of Verona . And I got out there and I just could not stand being out there. There were also so many lines to memorize that it was just overwhelming for me. So I ended up going home and I got an F. Show less «

A buddy movie has to have that beat where one buddy doesn't show up. They hit the same beats as romantic comedies.

At about the same age as I was interested in petrified wood, I was just fascinated with this dumb idea that we only used 10 percent of our b...Show more »

At about the same age as I was interested in petrified wood, I was just fascinated with this dumb idea that we only used 10 percent of our brains. I was always thinking, Man, if I could only use 20... Show less «

I'm not going to play a guy with MS or a guy in a wheelchair. I can play a dramatic character, certainly, but I'm not the real chameleon-typ...Show more »

I'm not going to play a guy with MS or a guy in a wheelchair. I can play a dramatic character, certainly, but I'm not the real chameleon-type actor who, you know, changes his voice and everything. Show less «

Actually, to be honest, a shotgun wedding might be the way to go for me. You can't stay at the party forever. At some point, you have to tak...Show more »

Actually, to be honest, a shotgun wedding might be the way to go for me. You can't stay at the party forever. At some point, you have to take stock and ask yourself, 'What am I doing here?' Show less «

To me, being cool is just the opposite of living. It's about not getting too worked up about anything, by being 'Nyah, nyah, nyah,' and no b...Show more »

To me, being cool is just the opposite of living. It's about not getting too worked up about anything, by being 'Nyah, nyah, nyah,' and no big deal. I can't stand that. It's such a jaded, clichéd posture to take. I get real enthusiastic about stuff. It's what I think is life-affirming. Show less «

I thought that I'd be married by the time I was 30 and be starting a family, but it just hasn't worked out that way. I think that there's so...Show more »

I thought that I'd be married by the time I was 30 and be starting a family, but it just hasn't worked out that way. I think that there's something about being in Hollywood. I don't know if I'm shallow, but you want to make sure that you make the right choice because you know that it's forever and I didn't realize that I have such a strong scientific side that demands that I experiment with and compare women. 2005. Show less «

"The studio said Bottle Rocket (1996) was their worst-testing movie in history, so I looked into the marines. Maybe I was influenced by An O...Show more »

"The studio said Bottle Rocket (1996) was their worst-testing movie in history, so I looked into the marines. Maybe I was influenced by An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Or those marine commercials - they were so cool! Like a Led Zeppelin song come to life, full of people pulling swords from rocks and fighting lava monsters!". Show less «

"The director made that decision not to use my butt...I don't know how to interpret that." - on having a body double for a scene in You, Me ...Show more »

"The director made that decision not to use my butt...I don't know how to interpret that." - on having a body double for a scene in You, Me and Dupree (2006). Show less «

(On what he enjoys most about being an actor) "I was reading some Bob Dylan interview where he said, 'It beats nine-to-five. It beat it yest...Show more »

(On what he enjoys most about being an actor) "I was reading some Bob Dylan interview where he said, 'It beats nine-to-five. It beat it yesterday, it beats it today, and it will beat it tomorrow.' That's how I feel. I just thank God that I'm able to make a living doing something that I can have a good time doing, and be creative." Show less «

I think there is a middle-child syndrome. I don't know quite what it is, but I think I suffer from it.

There's that great quote from Beckett, I think, 'He had an abiding sense of melancholy that sustained him through brief periods of joy.' I l...Show more »

There's that great quote from Beckett, I think, 'He had an abiding sense of melancholy that sustained him through brief periods of joy.' I like that, because I'm definitely an up-and-down person. Show less «

(Before meeting with James L. Brooks about Bottle Rocket (1996)) Luke and I had a punching fight. I had scratch marks down my face. I had to...Show more »

(Before meeting with James L. Brooks about Bottle Rocket (1996)) Luke and I had a punching fight. I had scratch marks down my face. I had to get on the plane. It's really emotional fighting your brother. We were crying a little bit on the flight. We went to the meeting. It was such a heavy vibe from us, they didn't even ask us what had happened to our faces. Show less «

It was maybe easier for my dad to be around Luke. They had more of a connection. Luke looked like my mother and of course, Andrew was the ol...Show more »

It was maybe easier for my dad to be around Luke. They had more of a connection. Luke looked like my mother and of course, Andrew was the oldest. My dad and I would butt heads. Show less «

It's that middle brother syndrome. The older child has a very clear identity, and the baby gets a lot of attention. The middle brother is a ...Show more »

It's that middle brother syndrome. The older child has a very clear identity, and the baby gets a lot of attention. The middle brother is a little bit in no-man's land. That might give you a little bit of sensitivity, a feeling that you're not clearly on the winning team, you know? Show less «

I think of myself as a doom person. I'm a worrier. But I like the idea of being an optimist. Maybe I'm the kind of optimist who deep down kn...Show more »

I think of myself as a doom person. I'm a worrier. But I like the idea of being an optimist. Maybe I'm the kind of optimist who deep down knows it's not going to work. Show less «

I don't feel like I'm a hundred times happier. Can't we petition someone to make it so that outside stuff is the key to happiness? I'm tired...Show more »

I don't feel like I'm a hundred times happier. Can't we petition someone to make it so that outside stuff is the key to happiness? I'm tired of people always saying, 'It's gotta come from you!' Can't it come from, like, a new pair of shoes? Show less «

I don't like caring what other people think, but I do. There's a freedom when you meet someone who doesn't care, who is just themselves in a...Show more »

I don't like caring what other people think, but I do. There's a freedom when you meet someone who doesn't care, who is just themselves in all situations. I had the way I was with my friends, and then my personality with adults, and that's continued a little bit. To just be yourself, and not try to sell anything, or make a good impression, that's something worth striving towards. Show less «

The image - being from Texas, the slacker, surfer thing - you don't think of that and see a worrier, an angst-ridden person, I know that. Al...Show more »

The image - being from Texas, the slacker, surfer thing - you don't think of that and see a worrier, an angst-ridden person, I know that. Also, I'm reasonably polite and that puts people at their ease, so they think you are too. Show less «

I've started to notice that, as you get older, mental health is as fragile as physical health. I've never had a breakdown, but you can reall...Show more »

I've started to notice that, as you get older, mental health is as fragile as physical health. I've never had a breakdown, but you can really get sideswiped by stuff like depression. I'm an up-and-down person. That's one thing that girlfriends would complain about. I'm inconsistent, not romantic enough. Show less «

[on filming Midnight in Paris (2011)]: I really didn't know, to be honest, whether it was working. This fantastical element when I go on my ...Show more »

[on filming Midnight in Paris (2011)]: I really didn't know, to be honest, whether it was working. This fantastical element when I go on my walks at midnight into this other world. I had my doubts because a lot of the people that I meet are iconic people from history. Who's going to play them? How's that going to work? But then I see the movie and it works. It's one of the best things in the movie. It was great. Show less «

[on being cast in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)] Sometimes you work on a movie and you're not quite sure. You sense some anxiety in the di...Show more »

[on being cast in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)] Sometimes you work on a movie and you're not quite sure. You sense some anxiety in the director, that they're not sure exactly what they want. But with Wes [Anderson] you know he's definitely steering the ship and doing exactly what he thinks is best for the movie. Show less «