Jake Busey

Jake spent his childhood in sunny southern California, as well as a plethora of film sets around the country. His childhood similar to a “military brat””, a series of strung-together extended-stay location shoots, alternating with tours on the road with his father’s various bands and associates. In a world of gypsies & artists, spending many years on tour buses and side-stage-studying such acts as Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Little Feat, the Band, and Fleetwood Mac, Jake found his passion for music and performing live.Busey entered the industry at the age of 5 in his first motion picture, Dustin Hoffman’s opus, “”Straight Time”” (1977) playing Son to his father and Cathy Bates, . After finishing high school at Crossroads School, and college in Santa Barbara , Jake returned to L.A to study the craft of acting for film seriously. He started auditioning at 20yrs old, and booked his first role in a PBS film, “”Shimmer””, shot on location in Iowa. Slowly but surely bit parts playing supporting characters in independent films would follow. After a few years of hard work and little returns, He was Cast as the villain in Showtimes “”rebel highway series”” Motorcycle Gang, by Director John Milius. The film was part of an 8 film series, and drew great attention amongst the “”up and coming actor”” buzz of hollywood. He made his true debut to the big screen in 1994 alongside Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon in grind house grunge film “”SFW””, but that Buzz caught the eye of Robert Zemekis & Peter Jackson which led jake to star opposite Michael J. Fox in the Frighteners. .soon after wrapping, big changes came from a 3 page monologue about religion vs. science, when he landed “”Contact”” with Jodi Foster and Matthew McConnaghey. Then “”Enemy of the State””, then Vince Gilligan scribed “”Home Fries,”” and most memorably as the smart-mouthed Private Ace Levy in the Sci-Fi cult classic “”Starship Troopers.”” Jake was a force to be reckoned with in the late 1990’s A-list film market. Then in the early 21st century, after the great success of “”Identity””, Jake took some risks with projects, leaps of faith, stepping up into starring roles in such studio disasters as “”Tomcats”” and “”the First 20million is always the hardest””, Films hyped to glory among the Hollywood machine, which failed miserably, and left him needing to reassess his position . It was time for a break.some time away was needed.After a few-year hiatus from acting as he pursued directing films, “”road-tripping”” the country , and playing in his band around hollywood, he was ready for his come-back. Jake blasted onscreen as a pyrotechnic specialist in the final season of FX’s hit series “”Justified””, leaving many an audience member aghast, having thought he was a solid new addition to the show…alas, just a masterfully crafted cameo, blowing up in 30 seconds. When Robert Rodriguez cast him as the new Sex Machine for all three seasons of “”From Dusk Till Dawn, Things started heating up again. In The History Channel mini-series “”Texas Rising””, Busey plays Samuel Wallace, the man credited with reciting the legendary warning, “”Remember the Alamo!”” directed by Roland Joffe.His recent projects include “”Mr. Robot””, and Stranger Things””, Showtime’s “”Ray Donovan””, CBS television’s “”NCIS”” Episode 346(1516) , ABC’s “”Marvels agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.., Episode 513 & 519, and in the summer of 2018 he made his return to the summer tent-pole event scene with 20th Century Fox’s “”the_Predator””.A bit of a modern-day Renaissance man, Jake’s passions in life includes fatherhood, acting, desert racing, architecture, playing music, flying planes when necessary, and fabricating anything mechanical in his metal shop. .”

Movies

Fun Facts

Appeared in two MTV promos in the early 1990s.

Son of Gary Busey (born William Gareth Jacob Busey, Sr.) and Judy Busey. Gary credits Jake with helping him conquer a serious cocaine habit, and with helping him recover from a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Both men have appeared in adaptations of John Grisham novels: Gary was in The Firm (1993); Jake appears in Christmas with the Kranks (2004).

Like his actor-father Gary, Jake is an instrument-rated private pilot. He earned his license in September 1997, after meeting the pilots of the helicopter he flew onscreen in Home Fries (1998).

Jake has played drums since early childhood.

During the filming of Starship Troopers (1997), Jake suffered heatstroke after working all day in 120* desert sun. This stopped production for a week. When he recovered, several large holes were cut into his uniform so he could cool off. Many other cast member's suits had this modification as well in order to prevent further cases. On average there were 25 people per day being treated for heatstroke during the filming of Starship Troopers.

Learned to play violin for Starship Troopers (1997).

Has two half-siblings: sister Alectra Elizabeth, who is a student; brother Luke, born Feb 23rd 2010.

Former stepson of Tiani Warden.

Builds custom motorbikes, is a proud father, and enjoys off road racing.

Has a daughter, Autumn Rosalia Busey, with his partner April Hutchinson.

He is of English, Scottish, Irish, German, and French descent.

Officiated the 2009 wedding of Hank Haney and Suzanne Rogers.

Quotes

[on his younger half-brother] Luke is an amazing uncle. He does a great job of keeping Autumn [Jake's daughter] safe and out of trouble. What can I say? Some kids grow up long before others; if it comes to that, they'll know...and that's when they step up.