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Thomas Jane (born January 29, 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American actor. In 1987, he graduated from Thomas S. Wootton High School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Career

Born Thomas Elliott, he made his film debut in the Telugu film Padamata Sandhya Raagam (1986), directed by late Jandhyala. His early roles included Zeph in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). He had supporting roles in several high profile films, including Boogie Nights (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998) and Magnolia (1999). After receiving critical acclaim as baseball player Mickey Mantle in 61*, Jane began receiving leading roles.

Becoming The Punisher

Thomas Jane and director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad have said in many interviews that Jane was the first actor to be asked to play the title role. Jane initially turned down the role twice, as well as a part in the first X-Men movie and a few other comic book movies, the reason for that was because he did not see himself as a superhero actor. Jane said that when they asked him the second time to play the Punisher that what really got him interested in playing the part was when Arad sent Tim Bradstreet's artwork of the Punisher. After finding out what kind of character the Punisher was, he accepted. He read as many Punisher comics as he could find and quickly became a fan. Jane trained for 6 or 7 months with Navy SEALs and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part. Despite mixed reviews, comic book fans revered Jane's performance, much like that of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X, as being incredibly accurate to the personality and appearance of the comic book character he was playing. Jane will also appear on the sequel to come out some time in 2007.

As well as starring in the movie he also contributed his voice to The Punisher and the GUN video games. He has also recently written and financed a sci-fi comic book entitled Bad Planet which has been released by Image Comics. He is also a spokesperson for Steve Niles and has appeared as the model for Niles' Cal McDonald, as drawn by Tim Bradstreet.

In addition to his screen work, Jane has appeared several times on stage, and received strong critical reviews as Tom in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, and as Chris in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. He has also portrayed himself in the Fox television show Arrested Development.

In 2005, Marvel released The Punisher video game. The video games' storyline is compiled with different situations and enemies from the Punisher comics. The game does not relate to the movie at all.

Personal life

Jane is divorced from Aysha Hauer, the daughter of actor Rutger Hauer. He and fellow actress Patricia Arquette (Medium) are parents to daughter Harlow Olivia Calliope, who was born on February 20, 2003. Jane and Arquette married in Venice, Italy, on June 24, 2006.

Jane spent time in his early Hollywood days as a busker. He commented on this in a Newsweek article published May 31, 2004 (p. 21): "I had two songs in my repertoire that I hammered to death — 'Hey Joe' and 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door,'" he recalled. "People used to pelt me with change just to shut me up." http://anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=20038

Filmography

• Mutant Chronicles (2008) - Major Mitch Hunter
• The Punisher 2 (2007)
• The Eye (2007) (announced) - Dr. Tom Matthews
• The Dark Country (2007) (announced)
• Thieves (2006/I) (pre-production)
• Killshot (2006) - Wayne Colson
• GUN (2005) Colton White
• The Punisher Video Game - Frank Castle
• The Punisher (2004) – Frank Castle
• Stander (2003) – Andre Stander
• Dreamcatcher (2003) – Dr. Henry Devlin
• The Sweetest Thing (2002) – Peter Donahue
• Eden (2001) – Dov
• Original Sin (2001) – Walter Downs
• 61* (2001) (TV) – Mickey Mantle
• Jonni Nitro (2000)
• Under Suspicion (2000) – Det. Felix Owens
• Magnolia (1999) – Young Jimmy Gator
• Molly (1999) – Sam
• Junked (1999) - Switch
• Deep Blue Sea (1999) – Carter Blake
• The Thin Red Line (1998) – Pvt. Ash
• Zack and Reba (1998) – Sparky Stokes
• The Velocity of Gary (1998) – Gary
• Thursday (1998) – Casey
• Boogie Nights (1997) – Todd Parker
• Face/Off (1997) – Burke Hicks
• The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) – Neal Cassady
• Hollywood Confidential (1997)
• The Crow: City of Angels (1996) – Nemo
• At Ground Zero (1994) (as Tom Elliott) – Thomas Q. Pennington
• Nemesis (1993) (as Tom Janes) – Billy
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) (as Tom Janes) – Zeph
• I'll Love You Forever...Tonight (1992) – The Hustler
• Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1986) – Tom

Producer:

• The Dark Country (2007) (announced)

Director:

• Jonni Nitro (2000)
  

TV Appearances:

• Medium - "Four Dreams"
• Arrested Development - "The One Where They Build a House"

References

External links

• Thomas Jane Tom Jane's Official Site

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