Benjamin A. Foster (born October 29, 1980) is an American actor. His films include ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher mad ...

'' (2004), '' X-Men: The Last Stand'' and ''

Alpha Dog ''Alpha Dog'' is a 2006 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foste ...

'' (both 2006), ''

30 Days of Night ''30 Days of Night'' is a three-issue vampire comic book miniseries written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by American company IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property. The series takes place ...

'' (2007), '' The Messenger'' and ''

Pandorum ''Pandorum'' is a 2009 science fiction horror film directed by Christian Alvart, produced by Robert Kulzer, Jeremy Bolt and Paul W. S. Anderson (the latter two through their Impact Pictures banner), and starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foste ...

'' (both 2009), '' The Mechanic'' (2011), ''

Contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

'' (2012), ''Kill Your Darlings'' and ''

Lone Survivor ''Lone Survivor'' is a 2013 American action drama film based on the 2007 nonfiction book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent ...

'' (both 2013), '' The Program'' (2015), ''

Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ...

'' (2016), and ''

Leave No Trace Leave No Trace, sometimes written as LNT, is a set of ethics promoting conservation of the outdoors. Originating in the mid-20th century, the concept started as a movement in the United States in response to ecological damage caused by wilderne ...

'' (2018). He has won an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

for portraying Tanner Howard in '' Hell or High Water'' (2016). He also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin in '' Six Feet Under'' (2003–05).

Early life

Foster was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on October 29, 1980, the son of restaurant owners. He has described his parents as "free-spirited,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

-protesting hippies". He has a younger brother, Jon, who is also an actor. In 1984, the Foster family relocated to Fairfield, Iowa when their Boston home was broken into by robbers while they were present. Foster was raised

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

His paternal grandparents were Celia (Segal) and Abraham Foster, who was a prominent judge and politician in Boston; their families emigrated from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. As a youth he attended Interlochen Arts Camp and studied theatre there.

Career

Foster began working as an actor when he was 16 years old. In 1996 and 1997, he starred in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

television series ''

Flash Forward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

''. His first major film role was in the 1999

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...

film, ''

Liberty Heights ''Liberty Heights'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. The film is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. The film portrays the racial injustices experienc ...

'', which

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

described as an "outstanding bigscreen debut." In 2001, he acted in the film '' Get Over It''. Foster also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin (22 episodes) in the HBO original series, '' Six Feet Under''. After appearing in the films '' 11:14'' and ''

'', Foster appeared in ''

Hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

'' with

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 90 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in ''Grumpy Old Men ...

, and Michelle Horn. In 2006, Foster appeared in '' X-Men: The Last Stand'' as the comic-book hero Angel / Warren Worthington III. In the crime thriller ''

'', he played the character Jake Mazursky and added

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

drops to his eyes to simulate the appearance of a drug addict in the film. In 2007, he played cold-blooded killer and outlaw Charlie Prince in the

Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

'' 3:10 to Yuma''. In February 2013, he was cast to replace

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf ( ; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and 2002 and won a Dayt ...

in the Broadway play ''

Orphans An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages, such as Swedis ...

'' as his first theater performance. In May 2014, it was announced that he would star opposite

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...

and

Vanessa Kirby Vanessa Nuala Kirby (born 18 April 1987 or 1988) is an English actress and producer. She rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series ''The Crown'' (2016–2017), for which she won the Bri ...

Benedict Andrews Benedict Andrews (born 1972) is an Australian theatre and film director, based in Reykjavík. Born in Adelaide in 1972, he was educated at Flinders University Drama Centre. His first feature film '' Una'' (an adaptation of '' Blackbird'' by Da ...

' new production of ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

in London. The same production closed on September 19, 2014 and transferred to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 2016, opening at St. Ann's Warehouse in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Foster played

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

in the biopic '' The Program'', and co-starred in the fantasy adventure ''

'', released in June 2016. Also in 2016, Foster appeared in '' Hell or High Water'' as the dangerous Tanner Howard, opposite

Chris Pine Christopher Whitelaw Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–2016) and Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' ...

and

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

. He reunited with director Barry Levinson to make '' The Survivor'' in 2021. Foster was acclaimed for his roles and has received numerous awards nominations. Foster has often received praise from critics for his "intense" and "unhinged" performances in numerous films. Film critic

Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and filmmaker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for ''New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as w ...

described Foster in 2016 as "one of those actors who makes even a bad film worth seeing. Sometimes he suggests the film you'd rather be watching."

Personal life

Foster was in a relationship with German actress

Antje Traue Antje Traue (; born 18 January 1981) is a German actress. She started performing in plays as a sixteen-year-old in 1997, made her first screen appearance in the 2000 German film ''Verlorene Kinder'', and appeared in her first English-language ro ...

, his co-star in the movie ''

''. Traue revealed in an interview that she had moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and lived with Foster until their relationship ended around 2010. Foster began a relationship with actress

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress, producer and director. She has received accolades including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for eight Primetime Emmy Awards. Wright first gained attention for her role ...

in early 2012. They became engaged in early 2014, but called off their engagement on November 12, 2014. Foster and Wright reconciled in early 2015; however, on August 29, 2015, they announced they were ending their second engagement. In October 2016, Foster announced his engagement to actress

Laura Prepon Laura Prepon ( ; born March 7, 1980) is an American actress and television director. She rose to fame with her role as Donna Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006). She is also known for portraying Alex Vause in the Net ...

. Prepon gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Ella, in August 2017. Foster and Prepon married in June 2018. Their son was born in February 2020. Ben Foster filed for divorce from Prepon on November 12, 2024, citing “irreconcilable differences”. During a custody battle, Prepon accused Foster of being an alcoholic. After filming of the movie ''

Here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

'' ended, five members of the cast and crew got tattooed with the letters T.I.A., which stand for "This is Armenia". Foster practices transcendental meditation.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Stage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Ben 1980 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Scottish descent Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male winners Jewish American male actors Living people Male actors from Boston Male actors from Iowa People from Fairfield, Iowa 21st-century American Jews