Johnathon Schaech is an American actor, writer and producer known for his role as James Mattingly II in the film That Thing You Do!
Early life
Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, in 1969 to Joe, a Baltimore City law enforcement officer, and Joanne Schaech, a human resources executive. He was raised as Catholic. Schaech has a sister, Renée. He went to University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he studied economics and took one acting class. He is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Career
In 1989, the Chippendales dance troupe flew Schaech to Los Angeles and offered him a job, but his father urged him to aim higher. He signed with Wilhelmina West and worked for three years doing commercials and bit parts in movies. Schaech studied under acting teacher Roy London for three and half years until London's death in 1993.
1991–2000
In 1991, Schaech played the lead role in Franco Zeffirelli's period piece drama Sparrow. Schaech then portrayed drifter Xavier Red in The Doom Generation. Schaech appeared in How to Make an American Quilt, which received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 1996, Schaech played the ambitious but self-absorbed lead singer of The Wonders in That Thing You Do!. Schaech next played the male lead in the 1998 thriller Hush. Also in 1996, he was featured as one of the most promising leading men of tomorrow on a Vanity Fair cover alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Benicio del Toro. In 1997, Schaech starred in the Australian comedyWelcome to Woop Woop. Taking the role of a British military man, Schaech was in the independent feature Woundings in 1998, for which he won Best Supporting Actor at the 2001 New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. He then accepted the role of Harry Houdini in TNT's Houdini in 1998. In 1999, Schaech starred in Finding Graceland and Splendor. He then shot a failed CBS pilot Partners opposite Marg Helgenberger. He played the love interest of Jennifer Love Hewitt in the Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life, which was canceled in the middle of its first season, on June 21, 2000. In 2000, Schaech starred in his first major play, David Rabe's A Question for Mercy, playing a Colombian-born gay Manhattanite dying of AIDS. He lost 35 pounds for the role.
2001–2010
In 2001, Schaech filmed the role of the title character in Judas. The film was highly controversial and was pushed back for several years until Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ was released in 2004, opening a window for the network to air the film. In 2005, Schaech starred in Sea of Dreams, which won director José Pepe Bojórquez the Silver Goddess award for best first work. In 2005, he was cast opposite his then wife, Christina Applegate, in Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas for CBS. Schaech co-starred in the CBS pilot "Commuters". In 2006, Schaech starred in Little Chenier. The film won best picture and best ensemble at the Phoenix film festival. In 2006, he was cast in the Lifetime television film Angels Fall. In 2007, Schaech took the lead in Sony's remake of Prom Night. He received an MTV award nomination for best villain for his performance, losing to Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker. In 2008, he appeared in science fiction filmQuarantine. In 2010, Schaech played a Georgian army captain in the independent action film 5 Days of War.
2011–present
In 2013, Schaech appeared in the submarine thriller Phantom. He was cast in the first season of the Showtime series Ray Donovan, appearing in five episode as an eccentric movie star, Sean Walker, and played the corn-rowed villain The Legend of Hercules, gaining 30 lbs of muscle to play the Egyptian mercenary Tarak. In 2014, Schaech joined the cast of History's miniseries Texas Rising, playing Colonel Sherman. In 2016, Schaech appeared in the television series Legends of Tomorrow as the DC Comics bounty hunter Jonah Hex.
Writing
Schaech wrote his first book titled Rick Dempsey's Caught Stealing. Schaech has co-written a number of screenplays with Richard Chizmar, including Heroes, Road House 2, based on a story by Miles Chapman, Masters of Horror The Washingtonians, based on a story by Bentley Little and The Poker Club, based on the story by Ed Gorman.They have also co-written screenplays based on stories by Peter Crowther, Lewis Shiner and Stephen King.
Personal life
During the mid-1990s, Schaech often accompanied actress Ellen DeGeneres, who had not yet come out as a lesbian, to public events. Schaech was scheduled to appear in the episode of Ellen in which DeGeneres' character also came out as gay, but was unable to take part in filming. Schaech married actress Christina Applegate in October 2001 in Palm Springs, California. In December 2005, he filed for a divorce, which became final in August 2007. In December 2009, Schaech became engaged to singer/actress Jana Kramer, whom he began dating in 2008. They married on July 4, 2010 in Michigan but announced their separation one month later. Their divorce was finalized in June 2011. Schaech married his third wife, music and book publicist Julie Solomon in July 2013 in Ocean City, Maryland. They have one son, Camden Quinn, born on September 12, 2013. In 2018, Schaech alleged that director Franco Zeffirelli sexually assaulted him during the filming of Sparrow.
