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.
Career
Pine's first acting role was in a 2003 episode of
ER; the same year, he also appeared in episodes of
The Guardian and
CSI: Miami. In 2004, he appeared in
Why Germany?, a short film, and in
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Pine was one of several love interests of
Anne Hathaway's character in the film, which was released in August of that year to a strong box office. In 2005, Pine appeared in an episode of the series
Six Feet Under, as well as in
Confession, an
independent film that was released directly to video, and
The Bulls, another short film.
Pine appeared in the
made-for-television film
Surrender, Dorothy which aired in early 2006. He also played Jake Hardin in the American film
Just My Luck, a romantic comedy in which he starred opposite
Lindsay Lohan who played Ashley Albright. The film was released on May 12, 2006. Later that year Pine appeared in the comedy
Blind Dating and in the action film
Smokin' Aces. In 2007 he starred opposite
Scott Wolf in the Los Angeles production of
Neil LaBute's play "Fat Pig" and won raves for his depiction of a competitive, alpha-male friend.
For his portrayal of real-life Napa Valley vintner
Bo Barrett in the 2008 film
Bottle Shock, Pine sported hippie-length blond locks.
In 2007, Pine turned down a role in a
film adaptation of White Jazz, under production but unreleased as of late 2009, in order to accept the part of
James T. Kirk in the 2009
Star Trek, which was released to critical and viewer acclaim in May of that year. That same month, he made a brief appearance promoting the film on
Saturday Night Live with co-stars
Zachary Quinto and
Leonard Nimoy. During the rest of summer 2009 he appeared in the Los Angeles production of the Beau Willimon play "Farragut North."
In September 2009 his film
Carriers was released at last (after being filmed in 2007). His other upcoming films include
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (voice work only) and the independent film
Small Town Saturday Night.
Pine was rumored to be the leading man in the upcoming
Green Lantern film, but eventually lost the role to
Ryan Reynolds.
In fall 2009, Pine began filming the
Tony Scott and
Mark Bomback action film
Unstoppable, in which he stars as a young
train conductor who helps a veteran
railroad engineer stop an unmanned, half-mile-long runaway freight train carrying toxic liquids and poisonous gases that is set to wipe out a nearby city.
Pine is currently in talks to team up with director
D.J. Caruso on the film
The Art of Making Money early next year.
On October 13, 2009,
Paramount Pictures confirmed that Pine is in talks to play CIA analyst
Jack Ryan in a reboot of
Tom Clancy's novels.
He would be the fourth actor to play Jack Ryan, after
Alec Baldwin (
The Hunt for Red October),
Harrison Ford (
Patriot Games and
Clear and Present Danger) and
Ben Affleck (
The Sum of All Fears).
Filmography
