Jason Patric

1.1. Birth and family

Born as John Anthony Miller III on June 17, 1966, in Queens, New York City, Jason Patric is the eldest son and middle child of actor and playwright Jason Miller (born John Anthony Miller Jr.) and actress Linda Miller (born Linda Mae Gleason). His maternal grandfather was the renowned actor and comedian Jackie Gleason. He has an older sister named Jennifer, a younger brother named Jordan (who passed away on January 10, 2024), and a half-brother, actor Joshua John Miller. Patric's ancestry is predominantly Irish, with some German heritage.

1.2. Education

Patric spent his formative years growing up in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. During his schooling, he attended Cavallini Middle School and the all-boys Catholic institution, Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Later, he relocated to California, where he continued his education at Saint Monica Catholic High School in Santa Monica, California.

2.1. Early career and breakthrough

After completing his education, Patric began his acting career with a role in the television drama Toughlove, starring alongside Bruce Dern. The following year, he was cast in the science fiction film Solarbabies (1986), where he appeared with actors such as Peter DeLuise, Jami Gertz, Lukas Haas, James LeGros, and Adrian Pasdar. He later reunited with Gertz in the 1987 film The Lost Boys and with Dern in After Dark, My Sweet (1990). In 1988, he co-starred with George Dzundza and Stephen Baldwin in The Beast.

His breakout role came in 1987 as the teenage vampire Michael Emerson in Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys. The film achieved both critical and commercial success. Patric's appearance in the film drew comparisons to The Doors' lead vocalist Jim Morrison, and he was considered for the role of Morrison in the 1991 biographical film The Doors, a role that ultimately went to Val Kilmer.

2.2. Major film roles

Patric has taken on a variety of significant roles throughout his film career. In 1993, he starred alongside veteran actors Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall as 1st Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood in the historical drama Geronimo: An American Legend. He was also cast in The Thin Red Line, though his scenes were ultimately cut from the final release. Notably, he turned down the lead role in the 1993 film The Firm, which was subsequently played by Tom Cruise. Patric earned strong critical acclaim for his portrayals of undercover narcotics officers in the films Rush (1991) and Narc (2002). Other notable film appearances include Sleepers (1996), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), The Alamo (2004), My Sister's Keeper (2009), and The Losers (2010).

2.3. Stage and television work

Beyond his film career, Jason Patric has also made significant contributions to theatre and television. In 2005, he appeared on Broadway as "Brick" in a revival of Tennessee Williams' classic play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, performing opposite Ashley Judd, Ned Beatty, and Margo Martindale. He later returned to Broadway in 2011, co-starring with Brian Cox, Chris Noth, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jim Gaffigan in a revival of his father Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, That Championship Season. The play ran from February 9 to May 29, 2011.

In 2012, Patric began filming the Civil War-era movie Copperhead, but was removed from the project by director Ronald F. Maxwell several weeks into the shoot due to "refusing to take instructions." He was replaced by Billy Campbell. His television work includes hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1994, appearing as himself in an episode of Entourage in 2008, and a main role as Dr. Theo Yedlin in the second season of the series Wayward Pines in 2016. He also appeared in the television film The Girl in the Bathtub in 2018.

2.4. Filmography

2.5. Televisionography

4.1. Relationships and legal disputes

Patric's relationships have drawn public attention, particularly his involvement with actress Julia Roberts. Days after Roberts canceled her wedding to Patric's The Lost Boys co-star and best friend, Kiefer Sutherland, in June 1991, Patric and Roberts began dating. Sutherland had initially invited Patric to the wedding but later uninvited him as the date approached. According to Roberts, the wedding cancellation was a mutual decision that had occurred well before the "days before the wedding" timeline reported by the press. On June 14, 1991, the day Roberts and Sutherland were supposed to marry, Sutherland moved out of Roberts' Hollywood Hills home, and Roberts traveled to Ireland with Patric. In July 1991, Patric declined a role in the western film Renegades, a project where he would have co-starred with Roberts, which subsequently fell apart following the cancellation of Roberts and Sutherland's wedding. Patric and Roberts ended their relationship in 1992. After more than a decade without communication, Patric and Sutherland reconciled in the mid-2000s. They later co-starred on Broadway in a 2011 revival of Jason Miller's play That Championship Season, and have remained close friends since.

Patric was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Danielle Schreiber for approximately ten years. During their relationship, they conceived a son through in vitro fertilization. The couple separated in May 2012. Following their separation, Schreiber's attorneys argued that Patric was merely a sperm donor, asserting that because they were not married and the child was conceived via artificial means, Patric had no custody rights. Patric subsequently sued for parental rights to his son, but initially lost the case at the trial court level. Following this setback, Patric actively lobbied the California legislature, advocating for sperm donors to be granted parental rights. The Court of Appeal of California later ruled that the California Family Code did not prevent Patric from establishing himself as a presumed parent based on his actions after the child's birth. In late 2014, he was legally recognized as the father of his son, a decision that was upheld on appeal in 2017.