Jason Schwartzman Biography

Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in films such as Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He currently releases music through solo-project Coconut Records; formerly, he was the drummer of the rock band Phantom Planet. Schwartzman was also the star of the HBO series Bored to Death, where he played a writer who moonlights as an unlicensed detective, advertising himself on Craigslist.

Early life

Schwartzman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Talia Shire (née Coppola) and the late producer Jack Schwartzman. His maternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and Italia Coppola (née Pennino). His uncle is director Francis Ford Coppola, and his cousins are actor Nicolas Cage, director Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola, and Christopher Coppola. His brother is actor/musician Robert Schwartzman (vocalist for the band Rooney), and his paternal half-brother is cinematographer John Schwartzman. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew and his mother is Italian American and Catholic. Schwartzman was raised without religion.

Career

Acting

Schwartzman's acting career began when he was 17 years old when he starred in Wes Anderson's Rushmore in 1998. Prior to Rushmore, Schwartzman had no acting experience.

In 2001 he starred in CQ, a film by his cousin, Roman Coppola In 2002 he starred in Slackers, as "Cool Ethan", and Spun. In 2004 he starred in I Heart Huckabees and in 2005 starred in Shopgirl, opposite Steve Martin. Schwartzman also appeared in various TV shows, such as Cracking Up. In 2006, he starred in Marie Antoinette under the direction of his cousin, Sofia Coppola, in which he appeared as King Louis XVI with Kirsten Dunst in the title role.

He made a cameo appearance in the Judd Apatow-produced musician biopic spoof Walk Hard as Ringo Starr. In 2009, he appeared in Apatow's third directorial feature entitled Funny People, in which he played Mark, a C-list television star.

Schwartzman starred in HBO's TV show Bored to Death in which he played a writer who moonlights as a private detective, and puts himself up for hire on Craigslist. In 2009 he starred in The Marc Pease Experience opposite Ben Stiller. In 2010, he performed as Gideon Graves in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the movie adaptation of the comics by Bryan Lee O'Malley.

In 2011, Schwartzman made a cameo appearance as Vincent van Gogh in the Beastie Boys short film Fight For Your Right Revisited.

Music

Prior to acting, he was the drummer and a songwriter for the band Phantom Planet. Despite leaving the band for an acting career, music remains one of Schwartzman's passions and pastimes. He appears in the music video for the rock remix of "It's All About the Benjamins" by Puff Daddy. He also contributed to Ben Lee's 2005 album Awake Is the New Sleep.

In 2007, he created the indie rock solo act Coconut Records. The first CD, entitled "Nighttiming" was produced by Mike Einziger of Incubus and features a cover photo from Roman Coppola. The album was first released on iTunes on March 20, 2007. Songs include "West Coast", "Nighttiming", and "This Old Machine". In 2009, the second album Davy was released on iTunes on January 20, 2009. The first single from the CD was "Microphone".

In addition, Schwartzman has composed and performs the musical score for Funny People and the theme song for Bored to Death. He has also written tracks for Smallville and Slackers.

Personal life

Schwartzman married long-time girlfriend Brady Cunningham at their home in the San Fernando Valley on July 11, 2009. Cunningham is Art & Design Director and co-owner of TENOVERSIX based in Los Angeles. Schwartzman is a vegetarian and describes himself as "basically" a vegan due to not eating meat, dairy or eggs. Schwartzman narrated a video, What to Eat: The Environmental Impacts of our Food, for Farm Sanctuary. He has one daughter, Marlowe Rivers Schwartzman, born on December 4, 2010.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Rushmore	Max Fischer
2001	CQ	Felix DeMarco
2001	Odessa or Bust	The Young Man	Short
2002	Slackers	Ethan Dulles
2002	S1m0ne	Milton
2003	Spun	Ross
2002	Julius And Friends: Hole In One	Julius (voice)	Short
2003	Julius And Friends: Yeti, Set, Go	Julius (voice)	Short
2004	I Heart Huckabees	Albert Markovski
2005	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	Gag Halfrunt	Uncredited
2005	Bewitched	Ritchie
2005	Shopgirl	Jeremy	Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture
2006	Marie Antoinette	King Louis XVI
2007	Hotel Chevalier	Jack Whitman	Short
2007	The Darjeeling Limited	Jack Whitman	Also writer
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Ringo Starr	Uncredited
2009	The Marc Pease Experience	Marc Pease
2009	Funny People	Mark Taylor Jackson
2009	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Ash Fox (voice)
2010	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	Gideon Gordon Graves
2010	Fight For Your Right Revisited	Vincent van Gogh
2012	Moonrise Kingdom	Cousin Ben
2012	A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III	Kirby Star
2013	Saving Mr. Banks	Richard M. Sherman
2014	She's Funny That Way
2014	Big Eyes	Ruben	Post-production

Television

TV

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Freaks and Geeks	Howie Gelfand	1 episode: "Carded and Discarded"
2000	Get Real	Himself as Phantom Planet
2004	Cracking Up	Ben Baxter
2005	The X's	Brandon (voice)	1 episode: Secret Agent Manual/The Spy Who Liked Me
2009	Bored to Death	Jonathan Ames
2010	Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation	Simon Lee (voice)	TV Short; uncredited
2013	Parks and Recreation	Dennis Lerpiss	2 episodes: "Bailout" "Are You Better Off?"
2013	Cool & Crazy Cartoons	Mr. Cheerful	1 cartoon "The Cheerful and the Cheerless"
2013	Out There	Benjamin Brent (voice)	1 episode: "Frosty King"
2013	Drunk History	Ralph Nader	1 episode: Detroit

Composer

Music

Year	Title	Notes
2002	Orange County	Song: "California"
2002	Smallville	Song: "Lonely Day" for episode: "Stray"
2002	Slackers	Songs: "Oh Angela" and "Ethan's Song"
2004	Cracking Up	Theme Music
2006	The O.C.	Song: "California" for episode: "The Chrismukk-huh?"
2008	Cloverfield	Song: "West Coast"
2009	Bored to Death	Theme Music
2009	Funny People	Soundtrack

• Schwartzman's solo music project is called Coconut Records.

Awards

On February 17, 2009, Schwartzman was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ magazine.