son of actor Gary Busey, whom he physically favors, Jake Busey grew up in Malibu with actors and musicians all around, but did not take acting seriously as a profession until his late teens. His father's well-publicized bouts with substance abuse as well as just being the son of a famous actor made the going tough at first--the younger Busey auditioned for more than two years without winning a role, as casting directors begged off. Finally, some small roles in TV, and the part of Stephen Dorff's gangling, wannabe murderer sidekick in the flop "S.F.W." (1994) demonstrated to Hollywood that Busey could act.
Tall and blonde, Busey actually made his film debut as a lad in 1978, playing his father as a boy in "Straight Time". His next paying job was also connected with his father, providing Gary's voice as a teen-ager in the thriller "Hider in the House" (1989). Busey began actually working in films in 1994, with the small role of a fired driver in "I'll Do Anything" followed by the role of Mersh, a deadhead, in "PCU" (also 1994). In 1996, he could be seen as the mobile lab technician on the ill-fated rival research crew run by Cary Elwes in "Twister" and had a co-starring role in "The Frighteners". In 1997, Busey's stock in Hollywood rose as he was cast in four features: "Quiet Days in Hollywood", as a character in search of a life in L.A.; Paul Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers", as an intergalactic fighter; Robert Zemeckis' "Contact", opposite Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey and "Home Fries", as one of two brothers obsesses with a woman (Drew Barrymore).
TV roles began in 1992 with a small part in the NBC miniseries "Cruel Doubt". Busey played a revving gang member in "Motorcycle Gang" (Showtime, 1994), and was a high school football player in "Word Runner" (The Disney Channel, 1994). He had a more substantial role, Halverson, the feared bully of the juvenile home, in "Shimmer" for PBS' "American Playhouse" in 1995.