Biography - Billy Crudup

Billy Crudup has insisted on multiple occasions that he doesn’t want to be a movie star. Unfortunately for him, when you’re born with enormous acting talent, not to mention eye-poppingly statuesque features, stardom may prove difficult to avoid.

The “Almost Famous” star was born in Manhasset, New York on July 8, 1968, and was raised in Florida and Texas. Crudup received a bachelor’s degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before moving to New York City where he continued his dramatic education at New York University’s famed Tisch School of the Arts. He received a Master of Fine Arts from the school in 1994, and soon appeared on the New York stage in Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia”, for which he won an Outer Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Newcomer. Crudup has returned to the stage frequently in his professional career, most notably for an off-Broadway revival of “Bus Stop” in 1996 (where he met his future girlfriend Mary-Louise Parker) and 1998’s “Oedipus” with Frances McDormand Recently he starred in the hugely popular Tom Stoppard piece "Coasts of Utopia" in New York.

Crudup’s first film role was in the indie “Grind”, which was shot in 1994 but didn’t make it to the screen until 1997. By that time Crudup had already appeared in “Sleepers” with Brad Pitt and Jason Patric, Woody Allen’s “Everyone Says I Love You”, and in a major role in 1997’s “Inventing the Abbotts”. Crudup turned down an audition for “Titanic”, an unsurprising move for the typically blockbuster-shy star, and starred in Robert Towne’s Steve Prefontaine biopic “Without Limits”. The thoughtful film made little noise at the box office, though Crudup received rave reviews for his powerful performance as the legendary runner.

Roles in popular indie favorites followed, including “Jesus’ Son”, “The Hi-Lo Country”, and “Waking the Dead”. In 2000, after Brad Pitt rejected the role to do “Fight Club”, Crudup played fictional 70s rock star Russell Hammond in Cameron Crowe’s pseudo-autobiographical “Almost Famous”. The gorgeously realized period drama featured terrific performances from Crudup, Kate Hudson, and newcomer Patrick Fugit, and is arguably Crowe’s best film to date. Crudup anchored the film with an intense performance, at turns hilarious and heart-warming. Though the film wasn’t successful in its theatrical run, it has since become a smash on DVD due to long-lasting word of mouth.

Crudup has since appeared in “Charlotte Gray” with Cate Blanchett, Tim Burton’s touching “Big Fish”, and 2004’s “Stage Beauty”, where the actor met his current girlfriend Claire Danes whilst filming the underrated drama. He is currently on screen breaking his own rules in the Tom Cruise blockbuster “Mission: Impossible 3”, and will soon appear in the long-awaited Robert De Niro project “The Good Shepherd” and alongside Mandy Moore in “Dedication”.