Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964)
is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy ''
Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy ''
The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama ''
Friday Night Lights'' (2004), the action thriller ''
The Kingdom'' (2007), the superhero comedy-drama ''
Hancock'' (2008), the military science fiction war film ''
Battleship'' (2012), the war film ''
Lone Survivor'' (2013), the disaster drama ''
Deepwater Horizon'' (2016), the
Boston Marathon bombing drama ''
Patriots Day'' (2016), the action thriller ''
Mile 22'' (2018), and the
action comedy ''
Spenser Confidential'' (2020), the latter five all starring
Mark Wahlberg. In addition to cameo appearances in the last six of these titles, he has had prominent acting roles in films including ''
Never on Tuesday'' (1989), ''
Shocker'' (1989), ''
The Last Seduction'' (1994), ''
The Great White Hype'' (1996), ''
Cop Land'' (1997), ''
Corky Romano'' (2001), ''
Collateral'' (2004), ''
Smokin' Aces'' (2006), and ''
Lions for Lambs'' (2007).
In television, Berg created the
ABC series ''
Wonderland'' (2000). He developed the
NBC series ''
Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011), adapted from his film, earning two
Primetime Emmy Award nominations. As an actor, he is best known for his role as Dr. Billy Kronk on the
CBS medical drama
A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...
''
Chicago Hope'' (1995–1999).
Early life
Berg was born on March 11, 1964
in New York City, the son of Laurence "Larry" Berg, a US Marine, and Sally (née Winkler) Berg. Berg's father was Jewish, as was his maternal grandfather. His mother was Christian.
Through his mother, Berg is a second cousin of writer
H. G. Bissinger, whose book ''
Friday Night Lights'' provided the basis for Berg's film and TV series of the same name. His mother co-founded a nonprofit directory of youth-focused charities named Catalog for Giving, and worked at a psychiatric hospital when Berg was growing up.
He has a younger sister, Mary.
Peter was a student in the Chappaqua School System. After graduating from
The Taft School in 1980,
Berg attended
Macalester College in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
, where he majored in theater arts and theater history and graduated in 1984.
Berg later moved to Los Angeles to pursue his film career.
[
]
Career
In his early days in Los Angeles, Berg worked such jobs as a prop assistant and a driver. Berg acted in '' 21 Jump Street''[ and later in '' Never on Tuesday'', '' Miracle Mile'', ''Race For Glory'', '' Shocker'', '' Heart of Dixie'', ''Tale of Two Sisters'' and '' Going Overboard'' in 1989.] He acted in ''Genuine Risk'' in 1990[ and in '' Late for Dinner'' and '' Crooked Hearts'' in 1991.][ In the early 1990s, he appeared in '' Fire in the Sky'' '' Aspen Extreme'', ''Across the Moon'' and '' F.T.W.''.][
In 1992, Berg gained recognition for playing a World War II soldier in the film '' A Midnight Clear''.][ In 1998, Berg made his feature directorial debut with '' Very Bad Things'', a black comedy starring Jon Favreau, Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern, and Leland Orser. The film, which was shown at the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals, received mixed critical reception. In 2000, he created '' Wonderland'', an edgy dramatic television series set in an asylum. While the ABC show received rave reviews and garnered a cult following, it failed to deliver ratings and was quickly canceled.][
In 2003, Berg directed the action comedy '' The Rundown''. Starring ]Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...
and Seann William Scott, the film received mixed reviews from critics and disappointed at the box office, only grossing $80 million of its reported $85 million budget.
In 2004, Berg began work on his third directorial effort, '' Friday Night Lights'', a football film based on ''The 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 ...
'' bestseller written by Buzz Bissinger. In 2006, Berg developed and became executive producer of NBC's Peabody and Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
-winning drama '' Friday Night Lights'', which takes inspiration from the book and Berg's film of the same name, but features an original storyline and new characters.
Berg appeared alongside Tom Cruise in the Robert Redford directed war film '' Lions for Lambs'' (2007) as Lt. Colonel Falco. Berg followed up in 2007 with directing '' The Kingdom'', a Michael Mann-produced action-political thriller set in Saudi Arabia, starring Academy Award winners Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper, also with Jennifer Garner whom Berg met when he appeared on the television series '' Alias''.
Berg directed the 2008 film '' Hancock'', starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman, that grossed over $600,000,000 million worldwide.
Berg directed a Hulu commercial featuring Alec Baldwin, which both ''The New York Times'' and ''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' named best spot of Super Bowl XLIII. In 2009, Berg directed a two-hour pilot movie for the Fox television series '' Virtuality''. Even though the show was not picked up for a full season, the pilot was released on DVD exclusively through Best Buy. Berg also directed the ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
documentary '' 30 for 30: Kings Ransom'' in 2009. Berg also co-wrote the film '' The Losers'' (2010).
Berg also directed the science-fiction action film '' Battleship'' (2012), a live-action adaptation of the board game, and the war film '' Lone Survivor'' (2013), an adaptation of Marcus Lutrell's book of the same name. '' Variety'' writer Justin Chang said Berg delivered "his most serious-minded work to date with ''Lone Survivor''." The following year, Berg acted as producer on the 2014 film '' Hercules'', which he was originally slated to direct before being replaced by Brett Ratner.
In 2013, Berg created the opening animation sequence for ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's '' Monday Night Football'', the 80-second graphic featured Darth Vader, Pac-Man, President Ronald Reagan and football highlights of 44 years.
In 2014, he directed the first two episodes of HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's '' The Leftovers''.
In 2015, Berg launched the nonfiction studio Film 45 to complement his fiction studio Film 44.
In 2016, Berg directed the film '' Deepwater Horizon'', based on the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Berg replaced director J. C. Chandor, who had exited the film due to creative differences. That same year, he directed CBS Films' '' Patriots Day'', about the Boston Marathon bombing, and the following year directed the action thriller '' Mile 22''. All three films starred Mark Wahlberg.
In 2017, Berg directed an ambitious commercial for '' Hyundai'', which was recorded after the kickoff of Super Bowl LI and aired right after the game. His Film 44 company was recently signed to a first look deal with Netflix, which saw the release of his most recent film '' Spenser Confidential'', the director's fifth collaboration with Wahlberg.
In 2019, Berg directed a historic commercial for the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
, "...football fans witnessed another milestone moment with the premiere of the NFL's Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
commercial entitled ''The 100-Year Game''. The two minute ad, which kicked off the celebration of the NFL's 100th season garnered the No. 1 spot in '' USA Today''s Ad Meter with the publication describing it as "a tour de force starring an assemblage of many of the greats of NFL history."''
In 2024, Berg announced he was working on a film based on the book " The Mosquito Bowl".
Personal life
In 1993, Berg was married to Elizabeth Rogers; they have one child and divorced in 1998.
In July 2015, Berg criticized ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's decision to honor Caitlyn Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award by sharing a what people believe was transphobic meme on Instagram, where he posted a Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
photo of Army veteran and double amputee Gregory D. Gadson alongside one of Jenner. The meme's caption said: "One man traded 2 legs for the freedom of the other to trade 2 balls for 2 boobs. Guess which man made the cover of '' Vanity Fair,'' was praised for his courage by President Obama, and is to be honored with the 'Arthur Ashe Courage Award' by ESPN?" After being criticized for the meme, Berg later said: "I have the utmost respect for Caitlyn Jenner and I am a strong supporter of equality and the rights of trans people everywhere. I also believe that we don’t give enough attention to our courageous returning war veterans, many of whom have sacrificed their bodies and mental health for our country and our principals--principals that include the freedom to live the life you want to live without persecution or abuse."
Filmography
Film
Acting roles
Television
Acting roles
Music video
Awards and nominations
See also
* Directors with two films rated "A+" by CinemaScore
References
External links
*
Peter Berg's KCRW Guest DJ Set
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Peter
Taft School alumni
1964 births
Jews from New York (state)
Jewish American male actors
American people of Jewish descent
Male actors from New York City
American male film actors
Film directors from New York City
American male television actors
American television directors
American male television writers
American television writers
Living people
Macalester College alumni
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American showrunners
Screenwriters from New York (state)
American action film directors
American music video directors