Chris Pine Biography

Christopher Whitelaw "Chris" Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor in films and television. Best known for his role as James T. Kirk in the 2009 film Star Trek, and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), he has also starred in over 15 other films, including: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), Just My Luck (2006), Smokin' Aces (2007), Unstoppable (2010), This Means War (2012), and Rise of the Guardians (2012).

Early life

Pine was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, Robert Pine, is an actor who appeared in CHiPs as Sergeant Joseph Getraer, and his mother, Gwynne Gilford, is a former actress who is now a practicing psychotherapist. He has an older sister, Katie. His maternal grandmother, Anne Gwynne (ne Marguerite Gwynne Trice), was a Hollywood actress, and his maternal grandfather, Max M. Gilford (born Max Goldfarb), was an attorney who was elected president of the Hollywood Bar Association. Pine's ancestry includes Russian Jewish (from his maternal grandfather), English, Welsh, German, and French. He has stated, "I definitely have a spiritual outlook... I am not a religious guy, I am probably agnostic".

Pine attended Oakwood School for high school and received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2002. He also studied English at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom for one year. After graduation, he studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Career

2003-present

Pine's first acting role was in a 2003 episode of ER; the same year, he also appeared in episodes of The Guardian and CSI: Miami. In 2004, he appeared in Why Germany?, a short film, and in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Pine played the part of Nicholas Devereaux, the love interest of Anne Hathaway's character in the film, which was released in August of that year to a strong box office. In 2005, Pine appeared in an episode of the series Six Feet Under, as well as in Confession, an independent film that was released directly to video, and The Bulls, another short film.

Pine appeared in the made-for-television film Surrender, Dorothy which aired in early 2006. He also played Jake Hardin in the American film Just My Luck, a romantic comedy in which he starred opposite Lindsay Lohan, who played Ashley Albright. The film was released on May 12, 2006. Later that year, Pine appeared in the comedy Blind Dating and in the action film Smokin' Aces. In 2007, he starred opposite Scott Wolf in the Los Angeles production of Neil LaBute's play Fat Pig, winning positive reviews for his depiction of a competitive, alpha-male friend. He portrayed real-life Napa Valley vintner Bo Barrett in the 2008 film Bottle Shock.

In 2007, Pine turned down a role in a film adaptation of White Jazz, to accept the part of James T. Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek film, which was released to critical and viewer acclaim in May of that year. That same month, he made a brief appearance promoting the film on Saturday Night Live, with co-stars Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy. During the rest of summer 2009, he appeared in the Los Angeles production of the Beau Willimon play Farragut North. In September 2009, his film Carriers was released (having been filmed in 2007). His other 2009 roles included Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (voice work only) and the independent film Small Town Saturday Night. Pine appeared in the Los Angeles production of the black comedy The Lieutenant of Inishmore during the summer of 2010, for which he won the LA Drama Critics Circle Award, and at the MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010.

Pine was rumored to play the title role in the 2011 Green Lantern film, but the role eventually went to Ryan Reynolds. In the fall of 2009, Pine began filming the Tony Scott-directed and Mark Bomback-written action film Unstoppable, which was released in November 2010. In the film, he played a young train conductor who helped a veteran railroad engineer (Denzel Washington) stop an unmanned, half-mile-long runaway freight train carrying toxic liquids and poisonous gases from wiping out a nearby city. The Hollywood Reporter named Pine as one of the young male actors who are "pushing - or being pushed" into taking over Hollywood as the new "A-List". In 2011, Pine sat down with the original Captain Kirk, William Shatner, for the feature length documentary The Captains, which Shatner wrote and directed. The film sees Shatner interview Pine about his career and how it felt to take the role of Kirk for the 2009 movie. Their interview features a scene where the pair arm wrestles; pictures of this incident "went viral" leading to Internet headlines such as "Kirk V Kirk" and others.

Pine filmed the romantic comedy This Means War, with Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy, during the fall of 2010, in Vancouver. This Means War was released in February 2012. Pine portrayed the voice Jack Frost in Rise of the Guardians.

Pine co-starred with Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde and Michelle Pfeiffer in the family drama People like Us, which was filmed in early 2011 and released in June 2012. He reprised the role of Captain Kirk in the sequel to 2009's Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, released in the US on May 15, 2013.

Upcoming roles

In 2009, Pine was in talks to team up with director D. J. Caruso on the film The Art of Making Money. On October 13, 2009, Paramount Pictures confirmed that Pine was also in talks to play CIA analyst Jack Ryan in a reboot of Tom Clancy's novels. He would be the fourth actor to play Jack Ryan, after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. In July 2013, it was announced that Pine had been cast as Cinderella's Prince in the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical Into the Woods.

Personal life

From mid-2012 to April 2013, Pine was in a relationship with model Dominique Piek.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Why Germany?	Chris
2004	'	Nicholas Devereaux
2005	Confession	Luther Scott
2005	'	Jason
2006	Surrender Dorothy	Shawn	TV film
2006	Just My Luck	Jake Hardin
2006	Blind Dating	Danny
2006	Smokin' Aces	Darwin Tremor
2008	Bottle Shock	Bo Barrett
2009	Star Trek	James T. Kirk	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble by a Cast Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Breakout Star Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Best Choice Movie Rumble Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Fresh Face Male Nominated - Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2009	Carriers	Brian
2009	Beyond All Boundaries	Hanson Baldwin / Sgt. Bill Reed (voice)
2010	Small Town Saturday Night	Rhett Ryan
2010	Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey	Dave (voice)
2010	Unstoppable	Will Colson
2012	This Means War	Franklin Foster	Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Actor Romance
2012	People like Us	Sam
2012	Rise of the Guardians	Jack Frost	Voice only
2013	Star Trek Into Darkness	James T. Kirk
2014	Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit	Jack Ryan	Post-production
2014	Stretch		Filming
2014	Into the Woods	Cinderella's Prince	Filming
2014	Horrible Bosses 2	Horrible Boss's son

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	ER	Levine	Episode: "A Thousand Cranes"
2003	'	Lonnie Grandy	Episode: "Hazel Park"
2003	CSI: Miami	Tommy Chandler	Episode: "Extreme"
2005	American Dreams	Joey Tremain	Episode: "Tidings of Comfort and Joy"
2005	Six Feet Under	Young Sam	Episode: "Dancing for Me"
2009	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Episode: "Justin Timberlake/Ciara" (uncredited)

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Star Trek	James T. Kirk	Voice and likeness