Jesse Plemons Biography

Jesse Lon Plemons (born April 2, 1988) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights, Todd Alquist in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad, and Ed Blumquist in the second season of the FX anthology series Fargo. He is also known for his film roles in the films Like Mike (2002), Observe and Report (2009), Battleship (2012), The Master (2012), and as mobster Kevin Weeks in Black Mass (2015). Most recently, Plemons starred in an episode of Black Mirror, "USS Callister". He has appeared in two Steven Spielberg films: the historical drama Bridge of Spies (2015) and the political thriller The Post (2017).

Early life

Plemons was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Lisa Beth (ne Cason) and Jim Bob Plemons. He was raised in Mart, a small town outside Waco. He has an older sister named Jill. On his paternal side, he is related to empresario Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas.

In 2007, Plemons graduated from the Texas Tech University Independent School District, a distance learning program, which allowed him to earn his high school diploma. He attended schools in the Mart, Texas area, where he played football in middle school, junior high, and high school. He attended Mart High School until he received more acting jobs and needed to shift to the online program.

Career

1991-2006: early career

Plemons got his first start in a Coca-Cola commercial when he was 3 1/2 years old. Then when he was 8 years old he started doing extra work, and with the support of his family, spent time auditioning in Los Angeles and landing small jobs.

After appearing in the films Varsity Blues (1999) and All the Pretty Horses (2000), and guest-starring on Walker, Texas Ranger and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Plemons' first prominent role was in the film Children on their Birthdays (2002). He later appeared in Like Mike (2002) and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (2003), with guest roles on the television series Judging Amy, The Lyon's Den, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Grey's Anatomy between 2003 and 2006.

2006-2011: breakthrough with Friday Night Lights

In 2006, when he was 18 years old, Plemons joined the ensemble cast of NBC's television series Friday Night Lights, filmed in Austin, Texas, detailing the fictional events surrounding a high school football team in fictional Dillon, Texas. In the show's first season, his character Landry Clarke provided comic relief as the best friend of football quarterback Matt Saracen, though Landry himself was not on the team. Among the cast and crew, the joke was that Plemons played football better than most of the other actors, even though his character was one of the few who did not play.

Landry joined the Panthers football team in the second season, and Plemons, having played high school football, told director Jeffrey Reiner that he would do his own stunts. In his first football scene, Landry had to "get the crap beat out of [him] over and over and over again". When hit by co-star Taylor Kitsch (playing Tim Riggins) Plemons' chin split open, requiring eleven stitches. The show, a fan and critic favorite, after shifting to DirecTV, ended after five seasons, in 2011.

In 2012, Plemons reunited with Kitsch and Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg in the film Battleship. Berg, who directed the film, explained that he knew how comfortable Kitsch was with Plemons: "I know that he's really good for Taylor and he makes Taylor better. So, I wrote that whole part for Jesse. I never thought of it as a Friday Night Lights reunion. I thought of it as protection, bringing a trusted family member in."

2011-present: Breaking Bad and Fargo

From 2012 to 2013, Plemons portrayed the psychopathic villain Todd Alquist during the final season of the AMC drama series Breaking Bad. He was a recurring cast member in Season 5A and was promoted to series regular for Season 5B.

In January 2014, it was reported that Plemons was in strong consideration to be one of the new stars of the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). In March 2014, it was further reported that Plemons, along with four other actors, were being considered for the lead role of Finn in Episode VII. The role, however, went to John Boyega. Plemons had a starring role in the Boston-set mob film Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp, which opened in theaters in September 2015. Also that year, he appeared in the Stephen Frears film about Lance Armstrong, The Program, and the Steven Spielberg film Bridge of Spies.

In late 2015, Plemons co-starred in the second season of the TV show loosely based on the film of the same name, Fargo. He portrayed Ed Blumquist, who is a butcher, and is the husband of Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst). For his performance, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2016, Plemons starred in the film Other People. In 2017, he appeared in the Doug Liman thriller film American Made (released on September 29) and portrayed villainous programmer Robert Daly in the Black Mirror episode "USS Callister".

Personal life

Plemons has long been noted for his resemblance to actors Matt Damon and Philip Seymour Hoffman. One of his first film roles, at age 12, was playing the younger version of Damon's character in the 2000 film All the Pretty Horses. He also appeared as Hoffman's son in the 2012 film The Master. When Plemons appeared on Breaking Bad, he acquired the nickname "Meth Damon" from fans, given that his character was in the methamphetamines trade.

Plemons began dating his Fargo co-star Kirsten Dunst in 2016. They are currently engaged and expecting their first child this year.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1998	Finding North	Hobo	Tanya Wexler
1999	Varsity Blues	Tommy Harbor	Brian Robbins
2000	All the Pretty Horses	Young John Grady Cole	Billy Bob Thornton
2002	Children on Their Birthdays	Preacher Star	Mark Medoff
2002	Like Mike	Ox	John Schultz
2003	When Zachary Beaver Came to Town	Jay	John Schultz
2003	The Failures	Boe	Tim Hunter
2008	The Flyboys	Bully #1	Rocco DeVilliers
2009	Observe and Report	Charles	Jody Hill
2009	Shrink	Jesus	Jonas Pate
2010	Happiness Runs	Chad	Adam Sherman
2010	Meeting Spencer	Spencer West	Malcolm Mowbray
2011	Paul	Jake	Greg Mottola
2012	The Master	Val Dodd	Paul Thomas Anderson
2012	Battleship	Jimmy "Ordy" Ord	Peter Berg
2014	The Homesman	Garn Sours	Tommy Lee Jones
2014	Flutter	David	Eric Hueber
2015	Black Mass	Kevin Weeks	Scott Cooper
2015	The Program	Floyd Landis	Stephen Frears
2015	Bridge of Spies	Joe Murphy	Steven Spielberg
2016	Other People	David Mulcahey	Chris Kelly	Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
2017	The Discovery	Toby Harbor	Charlie McDowell
2017	American Made	Sheriff Downing	Doug Liman
2017	Hostiles	Lieutenant Rudy Kidder	Scott Cooper
2017	The Post	Roger Clark	Steven Spielberg
2018	Game Night	Gary Kingsbury	John Francis Daley Jonathan Goldstein
2019	The Irishman	Chuckie O"?Brien	Martin Scorsese	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Walker, Texas Ranger	Russell, Jr.	Episode: "The General's Return"
2001	The Guardian	Lawrence Neal	Episode: "Paternity"
2001	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Bigger Kid	Episode: "Really Big Season Opener"
2003	The Lyon's Den	Ray Ferris	Episode: "The Other Side of Caution"
2003	Judging Amy	James Franklin	Episode: "Marry, Marry Quite Contrary"
2004	Huff	Dawson James	Episode: "Cold Day in Shanghai"
2004	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Owen Durbin	Episode: "Down the Drain"
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Jake Burton	Episode: "Yesterday"
2006	NCIS	Jason Geckler	Episode: "Deception"
2006-2011	Friday Night Lights	Landry Clarke	59 episodes
2008	Fear Itself	Lemmon	Episode: "The Sacrifice"
2009	Cold Case	Ryan Stewart	2 episodes
2011	Childrens Hospital	Jesse	Episode: "Father's Day"
2012	Bent	Gary	6 episodes
2012-2013	Breaking Bad	Todd Alquist	11 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2013) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2012)
2013	The Missionary	Sherwood Elbridge	Unsold TV pilot
2014-2018	Drunk History	Various	3 episodes
2014	Olive Kitteridge	Jerry McCarthy	2 episodes
2015	Fargo	Ed Blumquist	10 episodes Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries (2015) Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie (2016)
2017	No Activity	Angus	8 episodes
2017	Black Mirror	Captain Robert Daly	Episode: "USS Callister" Pending"?Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television