Billy Crudup

BIRTHDATE: July 8, 1968
BIRTHPLACE: Manhasset, New York
MARITAL STATUS: Single, but linked with actress Mary-Louise Parker (Fried Green Tomatoes)
WHY HE DESERVES HIS BIG BREAK:
Billy Crudup has made more good films in his brief five year career so far than many actors make in their entire lifetime. Inventing the Abbotts, Without Limits, Jesus' Son, Waking the Dead--ironically, his weakest film is his most prestigious, Woody Allen's misbegotten musical Everyone Says I Love You. He's even rumored to have turned down an audition for Billy Zane's role in Titanic, in order to concentrate on more challenging roles. Between that and those cheekbones, how can you not love this guy?

After graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts in New York, Crudup appeared on Broadway and quickly won numerous awards for his performances in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and a revival of Bus Stop, where he met longtime girlfriend Mary-Louise Parker. His screen debut was in 1996's Sleepers, playing one of the two boyhood friends Brad Pitt defends for the murder of a sexually abusive juvenile prison guard. After that, he's effectively worked his acting chops playing a lower middle class romantic hero in Inventing the Abbotts (with a brother played by Joaquin Phoenix--imagine the DNA code if that was for real!), real life Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine in the biography Without Limits, and the curiously likeable drug addict "FH" (for "F**khead") in Jesus' Son. His wonderful performance as "golden god" Russell Hammond in 2000's Almost Famous was overshadowed by the ascent of Kate Hudson into official superstardom, and his next two upcoming films, a World War II romantic drama with Cate Blanchett and the latest feature from relatively new director Bart Freundlich (The Myth of Fingerprints) probably won't bring him to "cover of US magazine" status any time soon. But considering that the best Billy Zane has done since Titanic is starring as Marc Antony in a TV version of Cleopatra, we're pretty sure Billy Crudup made the right decision turning that audition down...

FILMOGRAPHY
Films highlighted in yellow present Billy at his best

World Traveler (2001)--Cal
Charlotte Gray (2001)--Julian Lavade
Almost Famous (2000)--Russell Hammond
Waking the Dead (2000)--Fielding Pierce
Jesus' Son (1999)--FH
The Hi-Lo Country (1998)--Pete Calder
Without Limits (1998)--Steve Prefontaine
Snitch (1998)--Teddy
Princess Mononoke (1997)--Prince Ashitaka (voiceover)
Grind (1997)--Eddie Dolan
Inventing the Abbotts (1997)--John Charles "Jacey" Holt
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)--Ken
Sleepers (1996)--Tommy Marcano