Jon Heder
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Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout lead role as the title character of the comedy film ''
Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...
'' (2004). He also voiced the character in the Fox animated series of the same name (2012). Heder has had starring roles in the comedy films '' The Benchwarmers'' (2006), '' School for Scoundrels'' (2006), '' Blades of Glory'' (2007), '' Mama's Boy'' (2007), '' When in Rome'' (2010), ''
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'' (2014), and '' Ghost Team'' (2016). He also had starring roles in the drama films '' For Ellen'' (2012) and '' Walt Before Mickey'' (2015). Heder had starring voice roles in the animated film '' Surf's Up'' (2007) and its sequel, '' Surf's Up 2: WaveMania'' (2017), as well as '' Thelma the Unicorn'' (2024). He had a main voice role on the
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animated series '' Pickle and Peanut'' (2015–2018).


Early life

Heder was born on October 26, 1977, in
Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...
, the son of Helen (née Brammer) and physician James Heder. He has an
identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
brother, Dan; an older sister, Rachel; an older brother, Doug; and two younger brothers, Adam and Matt. He is of Swedish descent, and is a nephew by marriage of former NFL player Vai Sikahema. When he was about two years old, he and his parents moved to
Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...
. He attended Walker Middle School in Salem and graduated from South Salem High School in 1996, where he was a member of the swim team and drama club. He is also an Eagle Scout, and served as a Scoutmaster in 2010. A 2002 alumnus of
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
, Heder worked on the short animated film ''Pet Shop''. While attending BYU, he befriended Jared Hess and starred in Hess' short film '' Peluca'', which was later expanded into ''
Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...
''.


Career

The 2004 comedy feature ''
Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...
'', filmed in Preston, Idaho, earned $44.5 million. In June 2005, Heder received the MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance and Breakthrough Male Performance for the role. On October 8, 2005, he hosted ''
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'' with musical guest Ashlee Simpson. Heder and his film co-star Efren Ramirez filmed a series of commercials to promote the 2005 Utah State Fair, and reprised their roles in a self-parody sketch, "Napoleon Bonamite", on the animated series ''
Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...
''. In 2005, Heder had a supporting role as a clerk in a
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bookstore in the
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
'' Just like Heaven''. In 2006, he appeared in the comedy film '' The Sasquatch Gang;'' and had a starring role with
Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider ( ; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor and comedian. He rose to prominence as a cast member on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (1990–1994), where he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Following ...
and David Spade in producer
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...
's '' The Benchwarmers'' (2006), a comedy about three men making up for lost chances by creating their own Little League
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
team. Also in 2006, Heder was the voice of the character Skull in the animated film '' Monster House'', and starred in the comedy '' School for Scoundrels'', opposite
Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...
and Jacinda Barrett. He co-starred in 2007 with Will Ferrell in the well-received '' Blades of Glory'' (2007) where, as in many of his films, he plays an absurd, slapstick caricature—this time, one of two rival figure skaters who must team up in a pairs competition. Heder's second turn at voice acting came in 2007 when he voiced Chicken Joe, a surfing chicken, in the animated film '' Surf's Up''. His first foray into web television was the 2008 web series '' Woke Up Dead,'' which he produced and starred in. The live-action, sci-fi comedy thriller follows Drex, a USC student who wakes up underwater in the bathtub one morning and suspects he may be dead. Heder and his twin brother, Dan, star together as villains in the fourth installment of the popular internet martial arts comedy series '' Sockbaby''. Heder's performance in '' When in Rome'' was praised by ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' critic A. O. Scott: "Jon Heder as a goofy street magician is the funniest of the bunch." Heder voiced Napoleon Dynamite in the Fox Network animated series ''
Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...
'', which debuted in January 2012. In 2013, Heder appeared in the music video for " On Top of the World" with numerous other Utah-based actors and musicians, and in 2014 he appeared in the music video for the
Chromeo Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from soul music, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco and funk. As of 2024, the band h ...
song "Old 45s". In January 2017, Heder reprised his role as Chicken Joe in '' Surf's Up 2: WaveMania'', the direct-to-video sequel to ''Surf's Up''. In 2022, it was announced that Heder would star in the comedy film ''Plan B'', alongside
Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...
and Shannon Elizabeth. In 2024, Heder reunited with Hess in '' Thelma the Unicorn'', an animated film starring Brittany Howard.


Personal life

Heder served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan, and speaks Japanese fluently. Heder has been married to Kirsten Bales since 2002, having met her while attending Brigham Young University. They are members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
and have four children.


Filmography


Film


Television


Web


Video games


Music videos


References


External links

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One of Jon Heders first projects

Snopes article debunking the myth of his death



Jon Heder on The Hour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heder, Jon 1977 births Actual play performers Male actors from Colorado Male actors from Salem, Oregon American male film actors Latter Day Saints from Colorado Latter Day Saints from Oregon Brigham Young University alumni Identical twin male actors Living people Actors from Fort Collins, Colorado American twins South Salem High School alumni 21st-century American male actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American people of Swedish descent People from Saugus, Santa Clarita, California American male television actors American Mormon missionaries in Japan American male comedians Comedians from Colorado Comedians from Oregon American identical twin actors