Jesse Plemons

Jesse Plemons (born April 2, 1988) is an American actor.

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).

One of his first film roles, at age 12, was playing the younger version of Damon's character in the film All the Pretty Horses (2000).

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.

He began his career as a child actor and achieved a breakthrough with his role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights (2006–2011).

In 2006, when he was 18, 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.

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 Mart, playing football in middle school, junior high, and at Mart High School, until he received more acting jobs and shifted to the online program.

Plemons got his start in a Coca-Cola commercial at age 3.

When he was 8, he started doing extra work, and, with the support of his family, spent time auditioning in Los Angeles and landing small jobs.

The show, a fan and critic favorite, ended after five seasons after shifting to DirecTV in 2011.

He subsequently portrayed Todd Alquist in season 5 of the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad (2012–2013) and its sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019).

Plemons has appeared in supporting roles in several films, including The Master (2012), Black Mass, Bridge of Spies (both 2015), Game Night, Vice (both 2018), The Irishman (2019), Judas and the Black Messiah, Jungle Cruise, The Power of the Dog (all in 2021) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

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 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.

Fans of Breaking Bad nicknamed him "Meth Damon", due to Plemons' resemblance to actor Matt Damon.

In 2012, Plemons also had a supporting role in the Paul Thomas Anderson drama The Master as the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, an actor to whom his physical appearance has been compared.

In January 2014, Plemons was in consideration to be one of the new stars of Star Wars Episode VII (Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

In March 2014, Plemons, along with four other actors, were being considered for the lead role of Finn in Episode VII.

The role, however, went to British actor John Boyega.

For his role as Ed Blumquist in season 2 of the FX anthology series Fargo (2015), he received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination and won a Critics' Choice Television Award.

Plemons played mobster Kevin Weeks 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 Fargo.

He portrayed Ed Blumquist, a butcher and 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.

He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for his starring role in Other People (2016), and for his performance in The Power of the Dog, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Plemons was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Mart, Texas, near Waco.

He has an older sister, Jill.

In 2016, Plemons starred in the film Other People.

He received a second Emmy nomination for his performance in "USS Callister", an episode of the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror (2017).

In 2017, he appeared in the Doug Liman thriller film American Made, the Scott Cooper western Hostiles, and Steven Spielberg's historical drama The Post.

He has also starred in the psychological thriller I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020).