Thomas Jane (born February 22, 1969) is an American actor, known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaption The Mist.

Biography

Early life

Jane was born Thomas Elliott III in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Cynthia, an antiques dealer, and Michael Elliott, a biogenetic engineer.Thomas Jane Biography (1969-)Thomas Jane Biography - Yahoo! Movies In 1987, he graduated from Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Career

Jane made his film debut in the Indian Telugu film Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1986), directed by late Jandhyala. His early roles included Zeph in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). He had supporting roles in several high profile films, including The Crow: City of Angels (1996) Boogie Nights (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Thursday (1998) and Magnolia (1999). After receiving critical acclaim as baseball player Mickey Mantle in 61*, Jane began receiving leading roles.

Jane and director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad have said in many interviews that Jane was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role in the 2004 movie The Punisher. Jane initially turned down the role twice, as well as a part in the first X-Men movie and a few other comic book movies, mainly because he does not see himself as a superhero actor and nor does he have any real interest or liking for superhero characters. Jane said that when they asked him the second time to play the Punisher that what really got him interested in playing the part was when Arad sent Tim Bradstreet's artwork of the Punisher. After finding out that the Punisher wasn't a superhero, but an anti-hero and a vigilante crime fighter, he accepted.UGO.COM - EXCLUSIVE: Thomas Jane InterviewInterview with Tom Jane, star of The Punisher, Thomas Janes, 80s action movies He read as many Punisher comics as he could find and quickly became a fan. Jane trained for 6 or 7 months with Navy SEALs and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part.Thomas Jane Talks Punisher Training

In addition to starring in the movie he contributed his voice to The Punisher and the Gun video games. He has also recently written and financed a sci-fi comic book entitled Bad Planet which has been released by Image Comics. He is also a spokesperson for Steve Niles and in 2006 Tom modeled for the Dark Horse Comics character Cal McDonald in Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery. Tom and Steve have been in talks about turning Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery into a live action film with Tom as Cal.

In addition to his screen work, Jane has appeared several times on stage, and received strong critical reviews as Tom in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, and as Chris in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. He has also portrayed himself in the Fox television show Arrested Development. In 2005, Marvel released The Punisher video game. The video games' storyline is compiled with different situations and enemies from the Punisher comics, and a character based upon Jigsaw also appeared in the 2005 Punisher video game but with an origin that ties directly into the 2004 Punisher film.

Jane did not return in the planned sequel to the The Punisher. Lions Gate Entertainment had green lit a direct sequel to be made due to the strong performance the film had on DVD. However, the project lingered in development for over 3 years. Jonathan Hensleigh completed a first draft of the script before pulling out around 2006. John Dahl was in talks to direct the film, but pulled out, saying he did not like the script, and that the studio was not willing to spend enough money on the project.Punisher 2 Script Not That Good In a statement on May 15, 2007 and in two audio interviews, Thomas Jane said that he pulled out of the project because of creative differences, and the budget of the film being cut.Fanboy Radio - Thomas JaneFangoria Radio - Thomas Jane

"What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch." AICN Exclusive: Thomas Jane dropping out of PUNISHER 2?!? - Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news

Jane said in June 2007 that movie director Zack Snyder had expressed interest in casting him for the adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen. But Tom said no to the role due to him being too busy.fanboyradio.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=237976

In Oct of 07 Tom began his directing debut in Albuquerque, New Mexico with a movie called The Dark Country to which he is also the main character. Tom has said that the film will be a Hitchcockian thriller and will be filmed in Stereoscopy 3-D.Getting Raw with Thomas JaneMarketSaw - 3D Movies and Technology: Exclusive: "The Dark Country" Filming Behind The Scenes in 3D! AndIT Broadcast and Digital Cinema: Can You Make a Live-Action 3D Movie on a Budget?MarketSaw - 3D Movies and Technology: Exclusive! Interview With Thomas Jane Director/Actor In "The Dark Country": New 3D Techniques! Variety reports that Sony will release The Dark Country in mid 2009.marketsaw.blogspot.com/2008/09/quick-post-thomas-janes-dark-country.html

It was reported on February 8, 2008 that Thomas Jane has joined movie director John McTiernan in the action/thriller movie Run.Jane joins McTiernan action film - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety Although Thomas Jane has yet to say that he has signed on to the film and due to McTiernan's civil suit the film has been put on hold. On May 27, 2008 it was reported that Thomas Jane and actor Ving Rhames have joined the cast in the action film Give ‘em Hell, Malone with writer Mark Hosack and director Russell Mulcahy.www.hannibalpictures.com/flash/hannibal.htmlThomas Jane And Ving Rhames On Board For Give ‘em Hell, Malone | The Movie Blog Filming took place on October 6th of 08.www.moviejungle.com/headlines/templates/templatemjnews3.aspx?articleid=215&zoneid=1www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=9155534

On December 18, 2008, HBO announced it was picking up the dark comedy Hung, and Jane was attached to star in the show. UK Reuters -- HBO High on Hung

It is unknown when, but Thomas Jane will develop a mini series for the SCI FI channel called Voyage to Savage Planet. He is also planning on doing a World War II action horror film called The Devil's Commandos.interviewswww.multichannel.com/article/CA6460394.html?industryid=47202shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=9006

Personal life

Jane is divorced from Aysha Hauer, the daughter of actor Rutger Hauer. He was engaged to Olivia d'Abo from 1998 to 2001. He and fellow actress Patricia Arquette (Medium) are parents to daughter Harlow Olivia Calliope, who was born on February 20, 2003. Jane and Arquette married in Venice, Italy, on June 24, 2006. Arquette filed from divorce from Jane on the grounds of irreconcilable differences in January 2009.Arquette's Romance No Longer True TMZ.com, January 5, 2009

Jane spent time in his early Hollywood days as a busker. He commented on this in a Newsweek article published May 31, 2004 (p. 21):

"I had two songs in my repertoire that I hammered to death — Hey Joe and Knockin' on Heaven's Door," he recalled. "People used to pelt me with change just to shut me up."Anecdotage.Com - Thousands of true funny stories about famous people. Anecdotes from Gates to Yeats

On 17 March 2008, Jane was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol for driving at "an extremely high rate of speed" on I-5. Jane was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol level higher than .08% in Kern County, California. Jane failed several field sobriety tests, including a breathalyzer. Police also say he was driving with a suspended license.Thomas Jane Popped for DUI - TMZ.com - Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip and Hollywood Rumors

Filmography

• Give ‘em Hell, Malone (2009) (filming) – Malone
• The Dark Country (2009) (post-production) – Dick
• Mutant Chronicles (2008) – Major Mitch Hunter
• Killshot (2008) – Wayne Colson
• The Butler's in Love (2008) – The Butler
• The Mist (2007) – David Drayton
• The Tripper (2007) – Buzz Hall
• Gun (2005) - Colton White
• The Punisher Video Game – (2005) - Frank Castle
• The Punisher (2004) – Frank Castle/Punisher
• Stander (2003) – Andre Stander
• Dreamcatcher (2003) – Dr. Henry Devlin
• The Sweetest Thing (2002) – Peter Donahue
• Eden (2001) – Dov
• Original Sin (2001) – Walter Downs
• 61* (2001) (TV) – Mickey Mantle
• Under Suspicion (2000) – Det. Felix Owens
• Jonni Nitro (1999) – Brack
• Magnolia (1999) – Young Jimmy Gator
• Molly (1999) – Sam
• Junked (1999) – Switch
• Deep Blue Sea (1999) – Carter Blake
• The Thin Red Line (1998) – Pvt. Ash
• Zack and Reba (1998) – Sparky Stokes
• The Velocity of Gary (1998) – Gary
• Thursday (1998) – Casey
• Boogie Nights (1997) – Todd Parker
• Face/Off (1997) – Burke Hicks
• The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) – Neal Cassady
• Hollywood Confidential (1997)
• The Crow: City of Angels (1996) – Nemo
• At Ground Zero (1994) (as Tom Elliott) – Thomas Q. Pennington
• Nemesis (1993) (as Tom Janes) – Billy
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) (as Tom Janes) – Zeph
• I'll Love You Forever...Tonight (1992) – The Hustler
• Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1986) – Tom

TV Appearances:

• Medium - "Four Dreams" – Clay Bicks
• Arrested Development – "The One Where They Build a House" – Himself

Writer:

• Bad Planet

Producer:

• The Dark Country (2009)
• The Tripper (2006) (executive producer)

Director:

• The Dark Country (2009)
• Jonni Nitro (1999) ("Crash and burn part 2", "Crash and burn part 3")

Awards and nominations

• In 1998 he won an FFCC Award Best for ensemble cast for Boogie Nights.
• In 1998 he was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast for Boogie Nights.