Christian Slater

Often Works With…

A child actor who made the transition to adult roles, Christian Slater began his career in NYC on stage and in the world of daytime dramas. The gifted young performer appeared alongside Dick Van Dyke in "The Music Man" (1980) and appeared in the Broadway musicals "Copperfield" (1981) and "Merlin" (1983). Almost simultaneously, he made inroads in soap operas like "One Life to Live" and "All My Children". In 1985, he joined "Ryan's Hope" as the delinquent boyfriend of Ryan Fennelli (Yasmine Bleeth)—a show on which his father had played the leading character of Frank Ryan in the late 1970s.

Slater segued to the big screen in a small role in "The Legend of Billy Jean" (1985) and garnered some attention as Sean Connery youthful apprentice in "The Name of the Rose" (1986) and as Jeff Bridges' son in "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" (1988). But it was his sterling turn as the sardonic teenaged killer in the black comedy "Heathers" (1989) that catapulted him to stardom. As Winona Ryder's sociopathic boyfriend who matter-of-factly kills several classmates, the actor seemed to be channeling Jack Nicholson, replete with vocal inflections and mannerisms. He continued his ascendant career and solidified his position as a teen idol as the rebellious high school student who operates a pirate radio station in "Pump Up the Volume" (1990). While he held his own against Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991), he stumbled with leading roles in the duds "Mobsters" (also 1991) and "Kuffs" (1992).

Attempting more adult fare, Slater had his first real romantic role opposite Marisa Tomei in the bittersweet "Untamed Heart" and teamed with Patricia Arquette in the Quentin Tarantino-scripted "True Romance" (both 1993). When actor River Phoenix died suddenly, Slater was tapped to replace the late performer in the coveted role of the reporter in Neil Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire" (1994). He acquitted himself as an idealistic attorney defending an accused killer (Kevin Bacon) in the period drama "Murder in the First" (1995) and proved a serviceable action lead in both "Broken Arrow" (1996) and "Hard Rain" (1997).

Slater's troubled personal life has often threatened to overshadow his career accomplishments. There have been many scrapes with the law, including a 1989 arrest for driving under the influence (with a 10-day jail sentence) and a 1994 infraction for attempting to bring an unlicensed handgun on board an airplane (resulting in community service). But a 1997 incident involving alcohol and drug abuse, attacks on a former girlfriend and a male acquaintance and a scuffle with police landed Slater in deep trouble. He spent over 100 days in a rehabilitation facility while out on bail and then was sentenced to a three-month term in jail followed by three months in a residential rehab center with an additional three years probation. Prior to his arrest, Slater had completed work on the period drama "Basil" (aired on Romance Classics, 1998) and the black comedy "Very Bad Things" (also 1998).

Slater's film career was far from over following his troubles with the law however, and his first major role in 2000 was as young defiant member of congress in "The Contender." Slater's complex role as a democrat who switches party lines to oppose Joan Allen's female presidential candidate character was a bold return to the big screen for Slater. He followed up this role with several smaller parts in significant movies. He also starred in the Canadian film "Who is Cletis Tout" (2001), playing an escaped convict who assumes the identity of a dead man targeted for a mob hit. After brief appearances in “View from the Top” (2003) and “Masked & Anonymous” (2003), Slater was a paranormal investigator who is called upon to find 19 people that have disappeared in the cringe-inducing horror flick, “Alone in the Dark” (2005), co-starring a bespectacled Tara Reid pre-boob job.

In another misfire, Renny Harlin’s “Mindhunters” (2005), Slater played an FBI profiler-in-training who—along with a team of other would-be mindhunters—is sent to a remote island for a training mission that turns dangerously real. After “Mindhunters” bombed at the box office, Slater starred in the corporate thriller, “The Deal” (2005), playing a Wall Street investment banker who, along with his environmentalist partner (Selma Blair), gets involved with government conspiracy, illegal oil trading and the Russian mafia. Though the content was timely, critics lambasted the murky storytelling and flat acting.

Also Credited As:
Christian Michael Leonard Gainsborough, Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins
Born:
Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins on August 18, 1969 in New York, New York
Job Titles:
Actor, Producer, Director

Family

Daughter: Eliana Sophia Slater. Born Aug. 15, 2001; mother, Ryan Haddon
Father: Michael Hawkins. Played the original Frank Ryan on the ABC daytime soap "Ryan's Hope"; divorced from Slater's mother c. 1976
Half-brother: Ryan Slater. Born in 1983; starred in "The Amazing Panda Adventure" (1995)
Mother: Mary Jo Slater. Divorced from Slater's father c. 1976
Son: Jaden Christopher Haddon-Slater. Born April 6, 1999; mother, Ryan Haddon

Significant Others

Companion: Christina Applegate. Briefly dated in 1996
Companion: Christy Turlington. Briefly dated in 1993
Companion: Michelle Jonas. Dated c. 1996-97; Slater was arrested at her apartment in 1997 after allegedly beating her; he was barred from contacting her by the court after his arraignment
Companion: Nina Huang. Had an on-again, off-again relationship from c. 1990-1995; engaged to be married in 1994; filed a palimony suit after they split in 1995; received $100,000 in out-of-court settlement
Companion: Patricia Arquette. Briefly dated in 1993
Companion: Samantha Mathis. Dated briefly c. 1989-90
Companion: Sharon Stone. Rumored to have briefly dated in 2006
Companion: Tamara Mellon. President and Founder of Jimmy Choo designer shoes; previously married to Matthew Taylor Mellon, III, an heir to the Mellon family fortune, and they have one daughter together; began dating Slater in the fall of 2007
Wife: Ryan Haddon. Born c. 1971; daughter of actress-model Dayle Haddon; together from 1998; married Feb. 12, 2000; mother of Jaden and Eliana; separated in January 2005; divorce finalized in November 2006
Wife: Ryan Haddon. born c. 1971; together from c. 1998; mother of Jaden Christopher Slater; married February 12, 2000; daughter of actress-model Dayle Haddon
Companion: Christina Applegate. dated in 1996
Companion: Christy Turlington. no longer together
Companion: Kim Walker. dated c. 1986-88
Companion: Michelle Jonas. Slater was arrested at her apartment in 1997 after allegedly beating her; he was barred from contacting her by the court after his arraignment
Companion: Nina Huang. together from c. 1990; engaged to be married as of October 1994; filed a palimony suit after they split in 1995; paid $100,000 in out-of-court settlement; reportedly back together as of April 1996
Companion: Patricia Arquette. no longer together
Companion: Samantha Mathis. dated briefly c. 1989-90
Companion: Winona Rider. dated briefly c. 1988

Education

Dalton School, New York, NY
Professional Children's School, New York, NY
The School of Performing Arts, New York, NY

Milestones

1976 TV debut on ABC soap opera "One Life to Live"
1980 Stage debut opposite Dick Van Dyke in touring revival of "The Music Man"; also played NYC's City Center
1982 TV-movie debut in "Robbers, Rooftops and Witches"
1985 Played regular role of DJ LaSalle on the ABC soap "Ryan's Hope"
1985 Feature acting debut, "The Legend of Billie Jean"
1986 First starring role in a feature, "Twisted" (released on video 1991)
1986 Had significant supporting role in "The Name of the Rose"
1987 Moved to Los Angeles
1988 First released film as lead, "Gleaming the Cube"
1989 Breakthrough role as teenaged killer in the black comedy "Heathers"
1990 Portrayed Will Scarlett in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"
1992 Stage directorial debut, "The Laughter Epidemic"; proceeds went to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation
1994 Replaced the late River Phoenix as the interviewer in "Interview with the Vampire"
1996 Co-starred opposite John Travolta in the John Woo directed, "Broken Arrow"
1996 Directed 30-minute short film for Showtime entitled "Museum of Love" starring Samantha Mathis and Sandra Bernhard
1997 Debut as producer (also starred), "Hard Rain"
1998 Returned to Broadway after a 15-year absence to play the narrator Clifford in the Broadway drama "Side Man"
1998 Was a co-executive producer on "Very Bad Things"; also played one of the leads
2000 Played a young senator in the Rod Lurie directed, "The Contender"
2001 Appeared in "3000 Miles to Graceland" with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner
2001 Starred with Tim Allen in the caper comedy "Who is Cletis Tout?" (released in the US in 2002)
2002 Appeared in the John Woo directed war film "Windtalkers" opposite Nicolas Cage
2003 Cast in the Bob Dylan film "Masked and Anonymous"
2004 Starred as Randle Patrick McMurphy in the stage production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in London's West End
2005 Co-produced and co-starred in the political thriller "The Deal"
2005 Played an FBI agent in the Renny Harlin directed thriller "Mindhunters" (lensed 2002)
2005 Starred in the West End revival of Tennessee William's "Sweet Bird of Youth" as gigolo Chance Wayne; also starred in the Broadway revival of "The Glass Menagerie" as Tom, the narrator of the Tennessee Williams drama
2006 Co-starred in Emilio Estevez's directorial debut, "Bobby," an ensemble centered around the night of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination
2007 Returned to London's West End to star in the stage adaptation of the 1994 movie "Swimming With Sharks"
Raised in NYC