William Emerson "Will" Arnett (born May 4, 1970) is an
Emmy Award-nominated
Canadian-born
actor known for his role as
George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II (pronounced
Job, like the
biblical figure)
[Weisman, Jon. "Will Arnett", Variety, 2004-06-10. Retrieved on April 12, 2007.] on the
FOX comedy
Arrested Development. Since his success on
Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major film roles. He recently played supporting roles in the comedy films
Semi-Pro,
Blades of Glory, and
Hot Rod. He starred in 2006's
Let's Go To Prison and 2007's
The Brothers Solomon. Arnett has also done work as a voiceover artist for commercials, films, television programs, and video games.
Early life
Arnett was born in
Toronto,
the son of Alexandra and E. James Arnett, a corporate lawyer, and brewer among many other occupations.
[Will Arnett Biography (1970-)]["Will Arnett - TV IV", TV IV, 2007-02-25. Retrieved on April 12, 2007.] In Toronto, he attended
French-speaking schools.
[Will Arnett - Biography", Internet Movie Database, 2007-04-12. Retrieved on April 12, 2007.] He still speaks French, but has stated that he is not currently fluent in the language.
[On Conan O'Brien he stated that he dubs his own voice in the French versions of his movies and TV shows. Arnett stated this on his November 22, 2006, appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien] He graduated from
Leaside High School and briefly attended
Lakefield College School in
Lakefield,
Ontario.
["Will Arnett", Notable Names Database, 2007-04-22. Retrieved on April 22, 2007.] He attended
Concordia University in
Montreal for a semester, but dropped out. When he was a teenager, Arnett's mother encouraged him to pursue an acting career and he began to audition for commercials in Toronto. He decided that he really enjoyed acting and that it was something that he wanted to do with his life. At age 20, in 1990, Arnett moved from Toronto to
New York in order to study acting at the
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
[Chun, Wing. "The Will Arnett Interview, Page 2", Television Without Pity, 2005. Retrieved on April 12, 2007.] He began appearing in plays in New York and his first acting role was in the
Felicity Huffman independent film
Erie, which was filmed on the
Erie Canal.
[Chun, Wing. "The Will Arnett Interview, Page 4", Television Without Pity, 2005. Retrieved on September 30, 2007.]
