Age: 47
Birthplace: Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.
Jonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder (/ˈhiːdər/) (born October 26, 1977) is an American actor and producer. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite. He has also acted in the films The Benchwarmers, School for Scoundrels, Blades of Glory, Mama's Boy, When in Rome, and Walt Before Mickey as Roy Disney, and provided voice talents in the animated films Monster House and Surf's Up, as well as the Napoleon Dynamite animated series.
Heder was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, the son of Helen (née Brammer) and Dr. James Heder, a practicing physician. He has an identical twin brother, Dan, as well as an older sister and brother, Rachel and Doug, and two younger brothers, Adam and Matt. Heder is the nephew by marriage of former NFL running back and current WCAU sportscaster, Vai Sikahema. Heder is of part Swedish descent. Heder and his parents moved to Salem, Oregon, when he was about two years old. He attended Walker Middle School in Salem and graduated from South Salem High School in 1996, where he was on the swim team and was a member of the Drama Association.
A 2002 alumnus of Brigham Young University, Heder worked on the short CGI animated film "Pet Shop", written by Logan Deans, which earned a non-traditional animation student Emmy in 2005. After his movie career took off, he did not return to complete the work he started on the short, although his name does appear in the credits. While attending BYU he befriended Jared Hess and starred in Hess' short film Peluca, which was later expanded into Napoleon Dynamite. Peluca received rave reviews on the BYU campus after showing at a few college and local film festivals and competitions.
Napoleon Dynamite, filmed in Preston, Idaho, earned $44.5 million at the box office. In June 2005, Heder received the MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance and Breakthrough Male Performance for the role. On October 8, 2005, he hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guest Ashlee Simpson. After his success with Napoleon Dynamite, Heder and his film co-star Efren Ramirez filmed a series of commercials to promote the Utah's 2005 State Fair. They reprised their roles in a self-parody sketch called "Napoleon Bonamite" on the animated series Robot Chicken.
Heder appeared in the film The Sasquatch Gang. He had a supporting role as a clerk in a new age bookstore in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven. Heder also appeared with Rob Schneider and David Spade in producer Adam Sandler's The Benchwarmers (2006), a comedy about three grown men making up for lost chances by creating their own Little League baseball team. He was the voice of the character Skull in the animated film Monster House, and starred in the comedy School for Scoundrels, opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Jacinda Barrett. With the exception of the Academy Award-nominee Monster House, Heder's post-Dynamite movies were widely panned and he risked becoming a one-hit wonder until he co-starred in 2007 with Will Ferrell in the well-received Blades of Glory (2007). Like many of Heder's films, Blades of Glory is an absurd, slapstick caricature, in this case revolving around rival male figure skaters who must team up in a pairs competition.
Heder's second turn at voice acting came in 2007 when he voiced the character of Chicken Joe, a surfing chicken, in the animated film Surf's Up. His first foray into web television was in the 2008 web series Woke Up Dead starring and produced by Heder. Woke Up Dead is a web-based, live-action sci-fi comedy thriller about Drex, a twenty-something USC student who wakes up underwater in the bathtub one morning and suspects that he might be dead.
Jon and his twin brother Dan star together as villains in the fourth installment of the popular internet martial arts comedy series Sockbaby. Jon's performance in When in Rome was praised by New York Times critic A. O. Scott: "Jon Heder as a goofy street magician is the funniest of the bunch." In 2012, Heder returned to the role that made him famous by supplying the voice of Napoleon Dynamite in the Fox Network animated series, Napoleon Dynamite, which debuted in January 2012. In 2013, Heder appeared in the music video for "On Top of the World" with numerous other Utah based actors and musicians, and in 2014 he appeared in the music video for the Chromeo song "Old 45s".
Jon Heder lives with his wife, Kirsten, in Los Angeles, California. The two have been married since 2002. The couple has three children.
He, like his brothers and father, is a Scouting enthusiast having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. In 2010, he served as a Scoutmaster for the organization.
Jon is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | The Wrong Brother | Audience Member | Short |
2000 | Funky Town | Officer Hardy | Short |
2003 | Peluca | Seth | Short |
2004 | Napoleon Dynamite | Napoleon Dynamite | MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Sequence Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Dance Scene Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Breakout Performance - Male Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Blush Scene Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liar Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Love Scene Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble |
2005 | Just Like Heaven | Darryl | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor: Comedy |
2005 | Tankman Begins | Batman | Short |
2006 | The Benchwarmers | Clark Reedy | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Rumble |
2006 | Monster House | Reginald "Skull" Skulinski | Voice |
2006 | School for Scoundrels | Roger | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy |
2007 | The Sasquatch Gang | Lazer Tag Employee | Cameo |
2007 | Blades of Glory | Jimmy MacElroy | Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Fight Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Dance Scene |
2007 | Surf's Up | Chicken Joe | Voice |
2007 | Moving McAllister | Orlie | |
2007 | Mama's Boy | Jeffrey McMannus | |
2008 | Sockbaby 4 | Manatu | Short |
2010 | When in Rome | Lance | |
2011 | Life Happens | Wrong Number Caller | Cameo |
2011 | Legend of Kung Fu Rabbit | Fu | Voice |
2012 | For Ellen | Fred Butler | |
2012 | Drained | Producer Short DC Independent Film Festival for Best Experimental/Animation |
|
2012 | Peter at the End | Peter | Short |
2013 | Pororo, The Racing Adventure | Mango | Voice |
2013 | Killing Winston Jones | Edwin Jones | Post-production |
2013 | Bud Selig Must Die | Tim | Short Complete |
2013 | Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede | Oliver Vale | |
2013 | On Top of the World | Russian Cosmonaut | Music video cameo |
2014 | Reality | Denis | |
2015 | Walt Before Mickey | Roy Disney | |
2015 | The Tiger Hunter | Alex | In post-production |
2015 | Christmas Eve | James | Also known as Stuck |
2015 | Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-cellent Adventure | Mickey Mallard | Voice |
2015 | A Mouse Tale | Sir Jonas | Voice |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Robot Chicken | Astronaut Bully's Friend Napoleon Bonamite |
Voice Episode: "The Black Cherry" |
2008 | My Name Is Earl | Joel Malone | Episode: "Girl Earl" |
2011 | Talking Dead | Himself | Guest |
2012 | Napoleon Dynamite | Napoleon Dynamite | Voice Main role |
2012 | Gulliver Quinn | Gulliver Quinn | Pilot |
2012 | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Eagle Claw | Episode: "Eagle Claw" |
2014 | How I Met Your Mother | Narshall | Episode: "Vesuvius" |
2014 | Uncle Grandpa | Kev | Voice Episode: "Viewer Special" |
2014 | Kroll Show | Himself | Episode: "Blisteritos Presents Dad Academy Graduation Congraduritos Red Carpet Viewing Party" |
2014 | The Legend of Korra | Ryu/Ryu's Dad | Voice Episode: "Rebirth" Episode: "Beyond the Wilds" |
2014 | Clarence | Randy | Voice Episode: "Rise 'n' Shine" |
2014 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Napoleon Bonafrog | Voice Episode: "The Croaking" |
2014 | Ben 10: Omniverse | Clyde Five | Voice Episode: "Clyde 5" |
2015 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Oskar | Voice Episode: "Cheer up Star" |
2015 | Pickle and Peanut | Pickle | Voice Main role |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Woke Up Dead | Drex Greene | Main role |
2010 | Fact Checkers Unit | Jon | Series regular |
2011 | Dead Grandma | Series Host | Main role |
2014 | TableTop | Guest Gamer | Cameo |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two | Seth | Voice |
2014 | Armikrog | Vognaut | Voice |