Danny Masterson Biography

Daniel Peter "Danny" Masterson (born March 13, 1976) is an American actor and disc jockey known for his role as Steven Hyde in That '70s Show. He currently stars as Milo Foster in the TBS comedy Men At Work.

Early life and acting career

Masterson was born on Long Island, New York, the son of Carol, a manager, and Peter Masterson, an insurance agent. His brother is actor Christopher Masterson. Masterson was a child model from the age of four who was featured in magazine articles, as well as television commercials beginning at age five. Masterson was also involved in theater, and starred on Broadway musicals as a child at the age of eight, and began acting as well. His singing voice "disappeared" by the time he was a teenager. By the time he was sixteen, he had appeared in over one-hundred commercials, including ones for Swift Premium sausage, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Hardee's, Hostess, Tang, and Clearasil.

In the early 1990s, Masterson landed a role in Beethoven's 2nd. He also starred as Justin in Cybill. These roles launched a film career, including a minor role in the John Travolta film Face/Off. After starring in the third and fourth seasons of Cybill, Masterson decided he wanted to move on from Cybill and audition for a show originally titled Teenage Wasteland, which later was changed to That '70s Show. The original casting director for That '70s Show, Debby Romano, resisted Masterson's audition because he was slightly older than the rest of the cast, but ultimately allowed him to audition. She stated that, "he came in and he was just so funny", and that he redefined where the role was going and made the role of Steven Hyde the, "tough, funny guy".

Masterson appeared in all eight seasons of That '70s Show. His appearance on That '70s Show launched a breakthrough in Masterson's career, allowing him to pursue other endeavours between tapings. After the show concluded Masterson starred in several movies and made guest appearances on television shows including Punk'd and MADtv. Along with Kutcher and Valderrama, he co-hosted the Fox TV special Woodstock 1999. He had a part in the 2008 comedy Yes Man. Masterson stars with his real-life wife, Bijou Phillips, in the 2009 drama The Bridge to Nowhere. In 2011, Masterson guest starred as James Roland in USA Network's "White Collar" in the episode "Where There's A Will." Masterson was supposed to have a lead role in Spike's new television series, Playing With Guns. Spike TV dropped the project in 2010, and was picked up by Comedy Central 2011, but also ended up being dropped. Masterson portrayed the high-profile American social activist Jerry Rubin in the 2010 movie, The Chicago 8, written and directed by Pinchas Perry. The Chicago 8 is a film based on the actual Chicago Eight in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and explores the events around the trial. It was filmed in September and October 2009. The film is based closely on the trial transcripts and most of the action takes place in the courtroom.

In 2012, the comedy series Men At Work premiered on TBS, co-starring Masterson and Michael Cassidy, James Lesure and Adam Busch. In 2012, Masterson will also appear in the film Alter Egos, directed by Jordan Galland.

Music

Masterson began DJing in 1999 as a hobby, but it soon became a side business in addition to his acting and entrepreneurial careers. Masterson frequently DJs at Los Angeles night clubs under the name DJ Mom Jeans, formerly DJ Donkey Punch. He came up with the name DJ Mom Jeans from That '70s Show, because Mila Kunis and Laura Prepon had to wear mom jeans regularly and he would make fun of them. Masterson is a self-described "rock and hip hop fanatic", and is also a fan of indie, electro, and funk music, all of which he primarily DJ's with. He is a fan of 1970s rock music, and his favorite band is Pearl Jam. Some of his other favourites include Broken Social Scene, The Strokes, Tokyo Police Club, and Midlake. He played a 2-hour set at the 2008 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, played for the 2009 Lollapalooza, and for the 2010 Lollapalooza as well. Additionally, with local nightlife impresario Brent Bolthouse, he co-hosted a Monday night radio show titled Feel My Heat, on Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles for 6 years. The show was canceled in October 2008.

In 2009, Masterson planned to release an album of his music, but that album has not yet been released.

Business ventures

Masterson also owns or co-owns eleven restaurants. One is a Korean barbecue restaurant, Shin, located at 1600 Wilcox Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. He is a co-owner of both Dolce (located at 8284 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA), and Geisha House (located at 6633 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA), restaurants he founded with That '70s Show co-stars Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderrama, who are also his close friends. He also owns a boutique called Confederacy (located at 4661 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA) with longtime friend Ilaria Urbinati. Masterson owns a lounge and bar in Park City, Utah called Downstairs, located at 625 Main Street. He often visits Park City to vacation and DJ at Downstairs.

Masterson still models occasionally, and he has been on the covers of many magazines, including Paper Magazine and YRB Magazine.

He is also a well-known poker enthusiast, stating "The most I've lost is a couple of grand and the most I've won is a lot more than that." He appeared as part of a poker team, the Unabombers, at a Poker Royale: James Woods vs. the Unabombers tournament on GSN. He has also hosted celebrity poker events, such as the Phat Farm Stuff Casino Weekend Poker Tournament, in which he won the tournament. Masterson, his brother Chris, and his That '70s Show costar Laura Prepon are all investors in Card Player magazine.

Personal life

Masterson is a Scientologist. He started dating Bijou Phillips in 2005, they became engaged in 2009, and subsequently married on October 18, 2011. They welcomed their first child, daughter Fianna Francis, on February 14, 2014.

Charity work

Masterson has also been involved with the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a controversial organization with ties to the Church of Scientology. He also played in a charity softball game in New York's Central Park to help raise money for children in need of neurosurgery, designed guitars for a MusiCares fundraiser, and has performed in plays on stage for charities such as The Hollywood Police Activities League (a national youth development program for at-risk youth) as well. He has also played on the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational for the charity Chrysalis, with all proceeds going to said charity. He has also played the World Series of Poker's Ante up for Africa event.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Beethoven's 2nd	Seth
1995	Bye Bye Love	Mikey
1996	Seduced by Madness	Seth	TV Movie
	Her Last Chance	Ryan
1997	Face/Off	Karl
	Trojan War	Seth
	Star Kid	Kevin
1998	Wild Horses	Danny
	Too Pure	Tipper
	The Faculty	"Fucked-up" kid
1999	Dirt Merchant	Dirt Merchant
2000	Dracula 2000	Nightshade
2001	Alex in Wonder	Patrick	TV Movie
	How to Make a Monster	Jeremy
2002	Hip, Edgy, Sexy, Cool
	Comic Book Villains	Conan
	Hold On		credited as Daniel Masterson
2005	Pancho's Pizza
2006	Puff, Puff, Pass	Larry
2007	Smiley Face	Steve
	You Are Here	Derek
2008	Yes Man	Rooney
	The Brooklyn Heist	Fitz	Jury Award for Best Florida Comedy (shared w/ Dave Steck, Brett Halsey, Michael Cecchi, Julian Kheel)
2009	Wake	Shane
	Made for Each Other	Morris "The Executioner" Rodriguez
	The Bridge to Nowhere	Kevin
2012	The Chicago 8	Jerry Rubin
	Alter Egos	Jimmy
	California Solo	Paul
2014	The Polterguys	Tim Burr	Completed
	Killing Winston Jones	Ethan Jones	Post-production
2015	Hot Bot		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Jake and the Fatman	Butch	Episode: "After You're Gone"
1993	Joe's Life	Leo Gennaro	11 episodes
1994	Roseanne	Jimmy Phillips	2 episodes
1994-1997	NYPD Blue	John	2 episodes
1995	Extreme	Skeeter	7 episodes
1996	American Gothic	Ray	Episode: "Rebirth"
	Tracey Takes On...	King the Dog	Episode: "Family"
	Party of Five	Matt	3 episodes
1996-1998	Cybill	Justin Thorpe	15 episodes
1997	Sliders	Renfield	Episode: "Stoker"
1998-2006	That '70s Show	Steven Hyde	Main Cast; 200 episodes Nominated - Teen Choice Award for TV Choice Sidekick (2000) Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Best Performance in a TV Series by a Young Ensemble (shared with Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Ashton Kutcher) (1999)
2001	Grounded for Life	Vince	Episode: "Baby You Can't Drive My Car"
	Strange Frequency	Randy	Episode: "Disco Inferno"
2002-2004	MADtv	Jon Lawyer	2 episodes
2003	King of the Hill	Chris	Voice; "Episode: Megalo Dale"
	Robot Chicken	Steven Hyde Various	Voice; 2 episodes
	Stephen King's Dead Zone	Dr. Alex Conners	Episode: "Vanguard"
2005	Entourage	Himself	Episode: "Aquamansion"
2006	Kim Possible	Quinn	Voice; Episode: "And the Mole-Rat Will Be CGI"
2011	Raising Hope	Lucy's Boyfriend	Episode: "Don't Vote for This Episode"
	White Collar	James Roland	Episode: "Where There's A Will"
2012-present	Men at Work	Milo Foster	Main cast
2012	Supah Ninjas	Limelight	Episode: "Limelight"
2013	Haven	Anderson Harris	Episode: Shot in the Dark

Music Videos

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Cheap Trick - That 70's Song (In the Street)	Hyde	With Cast of That 70's Show
2011	Eduardo Fresco - The Way I Fiesta (ft. Clayton Vice)	DJ

Producer

Year	Title	Notes
2008	The Brooklyn Heist	Producer
2014-present	Men at Work