Christopher Whitelaw "Chris" Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an
American actor. He has appeared in the romantic comedies
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and
Just My Luck, as well as the action film
Smokin' Aces. His most notable role to date is that of
James T. Kirk in the science fiction film
Star Trek.
Personal life
Pine was born in
Los Angeles,
California to
Robert Pine and
Gwynne Gilford; he also has an older sister, Katherine. His father was an actor who appeared in
CHiPs as the sergeant Joseph Getraer. His mother was an actress and is now a practicing psychotherapist. His maternal grandparents were
Anne Gwynne, a
Hollywood actress, and Max M. Gilford, a Hollywood attorney.
He has stated in an interview that he is "probably
agnostic".
He is of
Welsh and
Jewish descent on his mother's side.
Pine received a
bachelor's degree in English from the
University of California, Berkeley in 2002
and while he was there studied English at the
University of Leeds in
England for one year.
After graduation, he studied at the
American Conservatory Theater in
San Francisco.
