Jesse Plemons

Jesse Plemons
Plemons in 2015
Born	(1988-04-02) April 2, 1988 (age 36) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Kirsten Dunst ​ (m. 2022)​
Children	2

Jesse Plemons (/ˈplɛmənz/; born April 2, 1988)^[1][2] is an American actor. 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). 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). 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.^[2] He received a second Emmy nomination for his performance in "USS Callister", an episode of the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror (2017).

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

Early life

Plemons was born in Dallas, Texas,^[3] and raised in Mart, Texas, near Waco.^[2] He has an older sister, Jill.^{[4][time needed]}

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Career

1991–2006: Early career

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.^[7]

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).^[8] 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.^[8]

2006–2011: Breakthrough with Friday Night Lights

Plemons in 2007

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.^[9] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] In his first football scene, Landry had to "get the crap beat out of [him] over and over and over again".^[10] When hit by co-star Taylor Kitsch (playing Tim Riggins) Plemons' chin split open, requiring eleven stitches.^[10] The show, a fan and critic favorite, ended after five seasons after shifting to DirecTV in 2011.^[11]

In 2012, Plemons reunited with Kitsch and Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg in the film Battleship.^[4] 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."^[12]

2011–present: Breaking Bad, Fargo, and film breakthrough

From 2012 to 2013, Plemons portrayed Todd Alquist^[13] during the final season of the AMC drama series Breaking Bad.^[14][15] He was a recurring cast member in Season 5A and was promoted to series regular for Season 5B.^[16][17] Fans of Breaking Bad nicknamed him "Meth Damon", due to Plemons' resemblance to actor Matt Damon.^{[18][6][7][19]} 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).

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).^[20][21] In March 2014, Plemons, along with four other actors, were being considered for the lead role of Finn in Episode VII.^[22] The role, however, went to British actor John Boyega. 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.^[2] He portrayed Ed Blumquist, a butcher and the husband of Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst).^[23] For his performance, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.^[24]

In 2016, Plemons starred in the film Other People. 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.

In December 2017, Plemons appeared in "USS Callister", an episode in the fourth series of the anthology show Black Mirror. Plemons played Robert Daly, the episode's main character and a sadistic introvert. Plemons received acclaim for his performance and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2018, Plemons had supporting roles in two films, the comedy Game Night and Adam McKay's Dick Cheney biopic Vice, which he narrated. In 2019 he had a supporting role in the Martin Scorsese crime drama The Irishman, which premiered at the New York Film Festival on September 27, 2019. He also reprised his role as Todd Alquist in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.

In 2020, Plemons received critical praise and a Gotham Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor for his lead performance in Charlie Kaufman's psychological drama I'm Thinking of Ending Things.^[25] In 2021, Plemons gave supporting performances in the critically acclaimed Judas and the Black Messiah, a film about civil rights activist Fred Hampton^[26][27] and the Disney adventure film Jungle Cruise.^[28] In the same year, Plemons starred in the supernatural horror film Antlers, again collaborating with director Scott Cooper,^[29] and starred once again alongside his real life partner and Fargo co-star Kirsten Dunst in Jane Campion's western drama The Power of the Dog,^[30] for which he has received praise and a number of accolades, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2022, Plemons starred in Charlie McDowell's noir thriller Windfall, which also marked his first credit as a producer.^[31]

In 2023, Plemons starred alongside Elizabeth Olsen in the HBO Max true crime series Love & Death^[32] and reunited with Martin Scorsese for a lead role in his western-thriller Killers of the Flower Moon, which he starred in alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.^[33] The film premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and received critical acclaim.

Upcoming projects

In September 2022, Plemons was announced to be starring alongside Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley in Yorgos Lanthimos' film Kinds of Kindness.^[34]

In April 2023, Plemons signed on to play a supporting role in the Robert De Niro led Netflix political thriller series Zero Day, which will reunite him with Love and Death director Lesli Linka Glatter.

Personal life

Plemons began a relationship with his Fargo co-star Kirsten Dunst in September 2016 ^[35] and the two got engaged five months later.^[36] The couple welcomed their first son born in 2018 ^[37] and later their second son born in 2021.^[38] In February 2022, both were nominated for Academy Awards for their roles in The Power of the Dog.^[39] Plemons and Dunst were officially married in July of that year.^[40]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Finding North	Hobo
1999	Varsity Blues	Tommy Harbor
2000	All the Pretty Horses	Young John Grady Cole
2002	Children on Their Birthdays	Preacher Star
	Like Mike	Ox
2003	When Zachary Beaver Came to Town	Jay
	The Failures	Boe
2008	The Flyboys	Bully No. 1
2009	Observe and Report	Charles
	Shrink	Jesus
2010	Happiness Runs	Chad
	Meeting Spencer	Spencer West
2011	Paul	Jake
2012	The Master	Val Dodd
	Battleship	Jimmy "Ordy" Ord
2014	The Homesman	Garn Sours
	Flutter	David
2015	Black Mass	Kevin Weeks
	The Program	Floyd Landis
	Bridge of Spies	Joe Murphy
2016	Other People	David Mulcahey
2017	The Discovery	Toby Harbor
	American Made	Sheriff Joe Downing
	Hostiles	Lieutenant Rudy Kidder
	The Post	Roger Clark
2018	Game Night	Gary Kingsbury
	Vice	Kurt
2019	The Irishman	Chuckie O'Brien
	El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie	Todd Alquist
2020	Snow Globe: A Breaking Bad Short		Short film
	I'm Thinking of Ending Things	Jake
2021	Judas and the Black Messiah	Roy Mitchell
	Jungle Cruise	Prince Joachim
	The Power of the Dog	George Burbank
	Antlers	Sheriff Paul Meadows
2022	Windfall	CEO	Also producer
2023	Killers of the Flower Moon	Tom White
2024	Civil War	Militiaman	Uncredited cameo[41]
	Kinds of Kindness †	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Walker, Texas Ranger	Russell, Jr.	Episode: "The General's Return"
2001	The Guardian	Lawrence Neal	Episode: "Paternity"
	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Bigger Kid	Episode: "Really Big Season Opener"
2003	The Lyon's Den	Ray Ferris	Episode: "The Other Side of Caution"
	Judging Amy	James Franklin	Episode: "Marry, Marry Quite Contrary"
2004	Huff	Dawson James	Episode: "Cold Day in Shanghai"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Owen Durbin	Episode: "Down the Drain"
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Jake Burton	Episode: "Yesterday"
	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	Episode: "Into the Blue/The Long Blue Line"
2011	Childrens Hospital	Jesse	Episode: "Father's Day"
2012	Bent	Gary	6 episodes
2012–2013	Breaking Bad	Todd Alquist	13 episodes
2014, 2016, 2018	Drunk History	Various roles	3 episodes
2014	Olive Kitteridge	Jerry McCarthy	Miniseries; 2 episodes
2015	Fargo	Ed Blumquist	10 episodes
2017	No Activity	Angus	8 episodes
	Black Mirror	Captain Robert Daly	Episode: "USS Callister"
2023	Love & Death	Allan Gore	Miniseries; 7 episodes
TBA	Zero Day	Roger Carlson	Upcoming miniseries

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result	Ref.
2002	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Guest Starring Young Actor	The Guardian	Nominated	[42]
2007	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series - Supporting Young Actor	Friday Night Lights	Nominated	[43]
2012	Milano International Film Festival Awards (MIFF Awards)	Best Supporting Actor	Meeting Spencer	Nominated	[44]
2012	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series	Breaking Bad	Nominated
2013				Won
2015	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries	Fargo	Won
2016	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie		Nominated
2016	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male Lead	Other People	Nominated
2017	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie	Black Mirror: USS Callister	Nominated
2017	Saturn Award	Best Guest Starring Role on Television		Nominated
2018	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	Game Night	Nominated
	San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Best Comedic Performance		Runner-up	[45]
2019	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries	El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie	Nominated
2020	Gotham Independent Film Award	Best Actor	I'm Thinking of Ending Things	Nominated
2021	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award	Best Supporting Actor	The Power of the Dog	Nominated
2021	Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor		5th place
2022	Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role		Nominated
2022	Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Acting Ensemble		Nominated
2022	London Film Critics' Circle	Supporting Actor of the Year		Nominated
2022	Columbus Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2022	British Academy Film Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role		Nominated
2022	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2023	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie	Love & Death	Nominated
2023	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television[46]		Nominated
2023	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture[47]	Killers of the Flower Moon	Nominated

References

1. "Today in History". Associated Press. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
2. Valby, Karen (September 7, 2015). "Jesse Plemons Moves on and on from 'Friday Night Lights'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2015. This fall offers chance after chance to see just how Mr. Plemons, 27...
3. "Amy Schumer's seat-filler joke with Dallas-born Jesse Plemons at the Oscars draws criticism". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
4. Schillaci, Sophie (May 17, 2012). "'Battleship's' Jesse Plemons Talks Action Films and Board Games (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
5. "'Friday Night Lights' Star Earns Diploma at a Distance Through Texas Tech Independent School District". Texas Tech University. May 1, 2007. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
6. Brown, Emma. "Waking Up with Jesse Plemons". Interview. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
7. Eakin, Marah (August 20, 2012). "Friday Night Lights' Jesse Plemons on Breaking Bad, The Master, and Frank Zappa". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
8. "Jesse Plemons as Landry Clarke". NBC. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
9. Kubicek, John (October 26, 2007). "Exclusive Interview: 'Friday Night Lights' Star Jesse Plemons". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
10. Porter, Rick (October 11, 2007). "A chat with 'FNL's' Jesse Plemons". Zap2it. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
11. Carr, David (April 21, 2010). "Same Game, Other Side of Tracks". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
12. Radish, Christina (March 19, 2012). "Brooklyn Decker and Director Peter Berg Talk BATTLESHIP, Naval Warfare and the Design of the Aliens at WonderCon". Collider.com. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
13. Tannenbaum, Rob (September 19, 2013). "Todd from 'Breaking Bad': I'm an Ambush Predator". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
14. Romano, Tricia (August 16, 2012). "Jesse Plemons on Breaking Bad and That Time Landry Killed Someone on Friday Night Lights". Vulture. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
15. ""Friday Night Lights" alum Plemons joins "Breaking Bad"". Yahoo! News. May 17, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
16. Martin, Brett (November 26, 2013). "Jesse Plemons: Psycho of the Year 2013". GQ. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
17. Martin, Denise (September 20, 2013). "Breaking Bad's Jesse Plemons on Psycho Todd, the Shoot-out, and What's in Store for Jesse". Vulture. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
18. "Q&A – Jesse Plemons (Todd Alquist)". AMC Networks. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
19. Hoover, Carl (April 3, 2014). "Austin's Daniel James returns to Waco with bluesier sound". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
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21. Rosen, Christopher (January 11, 2014). "Jesse Plemons Reportedly Up For 'Star Wars' Role". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
22. Kroll, Justin (March 12, 2014). "'Star Wars Episode VII': Actors Battle for Lead Role (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
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24. Lewis, Dave (July 14, 2016). "Complete list of 2016 Emmy nominations and winners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
25. Jesse Plemons in Talks to Star in Charlie Kaufman's 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things' (EXCLUSIVE)
26. Wiseman, Andreas (September 19, 2019). "Jesse Plemons & 'The Deuce' Actress Dominique Fishback Join Daniel Kaluuya & Lakeith Stanfield In WB's Black Panthers Pic 'Jesus Was My Homeboy'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
27. Hipes, Patrick (December 11, 2019). "Warner Bros Sets Release Dates For 'The Matrix' Sequel, 'The Flash' & More; 'Akira' Off Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
28. Welk, Brian (October 19, 2018). "Dwayne Johnson's 'Jungle Cruise' Release Pushed Back 9 Months to Summer 2020". thewrap.com. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
29. Frazer, Harry (October 23, 2019). "'Antlers' Trailer: Scott Cooper's Terrifying Horror Finds Cannibals Terrorizing A Small Town". ThePlaylist. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
30. "The Power of the Dog Showing at 2021 New York Film Festival". Deadline. July 27, 2021.
31. "Jesse Plemons, Lily Collins and Jason Segel Star in Charlie McDowell Thriller "Windfall"". Deadline. July 12, 2021.
32. "Jesse Plemons Joins HBO Max's Love and Death". Deadline. May 24, 2021.
33. Kit, Borys (February 17, 2021). "Jesse Plemons to Star in Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon'". The Hollywood Reporter.
34. Bergeson, Samantha (December 1, 2023). "Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone's Latest Film 'AND' Is Renamed 'Kinds of Kindness'". IndieWire. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
35. Bacardi, Francesca; Rosenbloom, Alli (September 19, 2016). "Fargo Co-Stars Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons Pack on PDA at Emmys After-Parties". E! News. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
36. Webber, Stephanie (January 12, 2017). "'Fargo' Costars Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons Are Engaged". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
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39. Lowe, Lindsay (February 8, 2022). "Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons get Oscar nods". Today. NBC Universal.
40. "Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons' Relationship Timeline". May 20, 2023.
41. "Inside the most unnerving scene in 'Civil War': 'It was a stunning bit of good luck'". Los Angeles Times. April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
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External links

• Jesse Plemons at IMDb