Early life

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

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 went on to appear 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.

In 2006, when he was 18 years old, Plemons joined the ensemble cast of NBC's television series Friday Night Lights, detailing the fictional events surrounding a high school football team in 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 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."

From 2012 to 2013, Plemons portrayed the 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 in Episode VII. The role went to another actor, 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.

Also in the fall of 2015, Plemons co-stars in the second season of the TV show loosely based on the film of the same name, Fargo. He portrays a character named Ed, who is a butcher, and is the husband of Peggy (Kirsten Dunst).

Upcoming projects are the Doug Liman film, Mena (set to be released on January 6, 2017), which stars Tom Cruise, and another film called Other People, wherein he co-stars opposite Molly Shannon.

Personal life

Plemons resides in Austin, Texas. From his role on Breaking Bad, he acquired the nickname "Meth Damon", as he both resembled actor Matt Damon and played Damon's character as a boy in the film All The Pretty Horses.

Plemons writes songs, plays guitar, and sings in the band Cowboy and Indian.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Finding North	Hobo
1999	Varsity Blues	Tommy Harbor
2000	All the Pretty Horses	Young Grady
2002	Children on Their Birthdays	Preacher Star
2002	Like Mike	Ox
2003	When Zachary Beaver Came to Town	Jay
2003	The Failures	Boe
2008	The Flyboys	Bully #1
2009	Observe and Report	Charles
2009	Shrink	Jesus
2010	Happiness Runs	Chad
2010	Meeting Spencer	Spencer West
2011	Paul	Jake
2012	The Master	Val Dodd
2012	Battleship	Jimmy "Ordy" Ord
2014	The Homesman	Garn Sours
2015	Black Mass	Kevin Weeks
2015	The Program	Floyd Landis
2015	Bridge of Spies	Joe Murphy
2016	Other People	David
2017	Mena	Sheriff Downing	Filming
2017	The Discovery		Filming

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 Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2013	The Missionary	Sherwood Elbridge	Pilot
2014	Drunk History	Edgar Allan Poe	Episode: "Baltimore"
2014	Olive Kitteridge	Jerry McCarthy	2 episodes
2015	Fargo	Ed Blomquist	10 episodes Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries

[ Source: Wikipedia ]