This person was born on the 26 th July 1959 in South Orange, New Jersey. When he was growing up he was moved all over the States due to his father's irregular work. A very bright child he had to prove himself every time he moved which made his behavior close to uncontrollable. Eventually the family settled in South California but his behavior did'nt get any better and after he burnt down his sisters tree house he got sent to Northridge Military Academy . But this did'nt change him as he got expelled for throwing a tyre at a fellow students head!! So from there he went to Chatsworth High School and there he got help for his disruptive behavior. Chatsworth was known as a breeding ground for Hollywood stars and one of his classmates there was Val Kilmer who persuaded him to try for Julliard which he did and got in this helped his acting career on a great deal. His first roles where on stage but this is where he was approached by director Mike Nichols. Mike gave him his first film role in the film Heartburn then as Bob Speck in the film Working gir

Putting his disruptive past behind him the film roles started coming in. He still carried on with the stage work winning a Tony award for his part in “The Lost Yonkers”. Some of the film roles which he portrayed where John Williamson - Glengarry Glen Ross, Eddy Otis - Consenting Adults , Lloyd Chasseur - The Ref & Buddy Ackerman - Swimming With Sharks.

In 1996 he even put his hand to directing and brought out the crime drama Albino Alligator . But he was also still kept very busy with the acting doing such roles as Major Casey Schuler - Outbreak, D.A Rufus Buckley - A Time To Kill, Sgt Jack Vincennes - L.A. Confidential & Lt. Chris Sabian - The Negotiator.

In 1999 his fame hit top note as he won his first Oscar portraying the character Lester Burnham , also at the same time he got a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. After this the hits just kept coming playing roles such as Larry Mahn - The Big Kahuna, Eugene Simonet - Pay It Forward, Robert Porter - K-Pak, David Gale - The Life Of David Gale & Hopper- A Bug's Life.

And finally some of the other roles he will be most remembered for are as Roger 'Verbal' Kint for which he won an Oscar for best supporting actor, in a film with an excellent twist to it. Also as John Doe the killer who followed the 7 Deadly sins in the film where he smirked at Brad Pitt Knowing full well what was in the box!!! He is of course