Owen Wilson

Wilson was born in Dallas, the middle child of three sons of photographer Laura Cunningham Wilson (born 1939) and Robert Andrew Wilson (1941–2017), an advertising executive and operator of a public television station.

His brothers Andrew and Luke are also actors.

Wilson's parents are of Irish descent.

After getting expelled for cheating in geometry, he attended New Mexico Military Institute.

He later attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, but did not graduate.

While in college, he met and was roommates with director and frequent collaborator Wes Anderson.

Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor.

Wilson is also known as part of the Frat Pack since the 1990s, with whom he has starred in comedic films Shanghai Noon (2000), Zoolander (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), You, Me and Dupree (2006), How Do You Know (2010), The Big Year (2011), and The Internship (2013).

Wilson made his film debut acting in the Wes Anderson short film Bottle Rocket (1994) which was later expanded into the feature-length film Bottle Rocket (1996) which Wilson co-wrote with Anderson.

Wilson also acted opposite his brother Luke Wilson.

David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film describing it as, "A marvelous debut film for its director, writer and lead actors, Bottle Rocket is propelled by a fresh approach to the caper genre".

He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)—the latter received a nomination for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.

That same year, he had a supporting role in the Ben Stiller directed black comedy The Cable Guy (1996) starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ben Stiller, an early admirer of Bottle Rocket.

Wilson played Leslie Mann's date in the film.

In 1997, he had a role in the adventure thriller Anaconda and executive produced the James L. Brooks comedy As Good as It Gets.

In 1998, Wilson had roles in the science fiction disaster film Armageddon and the independent drama film Permanent Midnight.

He also reunited with Anderson co-writing the script for Anderson's next two directorial films, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, for which they garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

While Wilson did not act in Rushmore, he appears briefly in a photograph in the film.

After appearing in supporting roles in 1999, he acted in horror film The Haunting, The Minus Man, in which his future girlfriend, singer Sheryl Crow, was a co-star.

Wilson starred in the 2000 comedy action film Shanghai Noon alongside Jackie Chan.

The film grossed nearly $100 million worldwide.

His fame continued to rise after starring alongside Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell in the 2001 film Zoolander.

Gene Hackman reportedly took notice of Wilson's performance in Shanghai Noon and recommended the actor to co-star in the 2001 action film Behind Enemy Lines.

Also in 2001, Wilson and Anderson collaborated on their third film, The Royal Tenenbaums, a financial and critical success.

The film earned the writing team an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Wilson returned to the buddy-comedy genre in 2002 with the action comedy I Spy, co-starring Eddie Murphy.

The big-screen remake of the same-named television series did not perform well at the box office.

He made a cameo appearance in the Girl Skateboards video Yeah Right! in 2003.

He then reunited with Chan to make Shanghai Knights (2003), and co-starred in the film remake of the 1970s television series Starsky & Hutch (2004).

Due to his busy schedule as an actor and an ongoing sinus condition, Wilson was unavailable to collaborate on the script for Wes Anderson's fourth feature film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

He has also appeared in Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The French Dispatch (2021).

The 2004 film was ultimately co-written by filmmaker Noah Baumbach.

However, Wilson did star in the film as Bill Murray's would-be son, Ned Plimpton; it was a role written specifically for him.

In 2004, he and his brother Luke played the Wright brothers in the 2004 film Around the World in 80 Days.

He voices Lightning McQueen in the Cars media franchise (2006–present), and voiced the titular character in Marmaduke (2010) and Reggie in Free Birds (2013).

He stars as Mobius M. Mobius in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Loki (2021–present) on Disney+.

Wilson's accolades include an Oscar and BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay (for The Royal Tenenbaums), a Golden Globe and two SAG acting nominations (for Midnight in Paris and The Grand Budapest Hotel) and an Independent Spirit Award (for Inherent Vice).

He is also known for the family films Marley and Me (2008), and the Night at the Museum film series (2006–2014).

Wilson also starred in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Midnight in Paris (2011) as unsatisfied screenwriter Gil Pender, a role which received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

In 2014, he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and Peter Bogdanovich's She's Funny That Way.