Jason Biggs

Jason Matthew Biggs (born May 12, 1978)[1][2] is an American actor and comedian. He played Jim Levenstein in the American Pie comedy film series, and Larry Bloom in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black. He also starred in Boys and Girls, Loser, Saving Silverman, Anything Else, Jersey Girl, Eight Below, Over Her Dead Body, and My Best Friend's Girl. Biggs initially gained recognition from his role in the soap opera As the World Turns, for which he was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 1995.

Jason Biggs
Biggs at PaleyFest 2014 panel for
Orange Is the New Black
Born
Jason Matthew Biggs

(1978-05-12) May 12, 1978
Pompton Plains, New Jersey U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Comedian
Years active1991–present
Spouse(s)
(
m. 2008)
Children2

Early life and education

Biggs was born in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock Township, New Jersey, to Angela Biggs (née Zocco), a nurse, and Gary Louis Biggs, a shipping company manager.[3][4] Biggs' father is of English and Italian descent and Biggs' mother is of Sicilian descent. His last name is derived from his English ancestry.[3] He was raised Roman Catholic.[5]

Biggs grew up in Hasbrouck Heights and attended Hasbrouck Heights High School,[6][7] where he achieved success in tennis.[8] Biggs attended New York University before transferring to Montclair State University where he eventually dropped out.[9]

Career
Biggs at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2006

Biggs began acting at the age of five. In 1991, he made his television debut in the short lived FOX series Drexell's Class. In 1988, he received his Screen Actors Guild card for appearing in a TV commercial for Pathmark. He later recalled in a 2015 interview in TV Guide, "I remember I had to eat a doughnut in one of the shots. Over and over again. Awesome."[10]

When Biggs was 12, he starred in a one-off HBO special, The Fotis Sevastakis Story, but due to licensing arguments, it was never aired. That same year, Biggs debuted on Broadway in Conversations with My Father with Judd Hirsch.[11] He then starred in the daytime soap opera, As the World Turns, for which he was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Younger Actor.

Biggs attended New York University briefly from 1996–1997, but soon afterwards, he returned to pursue acting. And so he would be seen again in another short lived television series, 1997's Camp Stories. He then starred in American Pie, which went on to become an international hit that has spawned three sequels (also starring Biggs) and four spinoffs (that did not star Biggs). After that, Biggs accepted starring roles in movies such as Loser in 2000, and others. In 2001, Biggs starred in the comedy Saving Silverman. He appeared in the 2002 Broadway production of The Graduate as Benjamin Braddock alongside Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone. In 2003, Biggs appeared as Jerry Falk in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Anything Else. In the 2004–2005 season Biggs portrayed an Orthodox Jew in Daniel Goldfarb's comedy, Modern Orthodox, staged at Dodger Stages theater in New York City. In 2006, Biggs was seen in the MTV reality show Blowin' Up with Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone which led to his participation in a hip-hop recording with Bay Area rapper E-40. Biggs returned to the stage in the fall of 2008 in Howard Korder's Boys' Life at New York City's Second Stage Theatre.

Biggs has appeared in several other films, including Eight Below and Over Her Dead Body. In 2010, Biggs made his literary debut by contributing "Scratch-and-Sniff," a poem about growing up in New Jersey, to the anthology What's Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey (Word Riot Press, 2010), alongside writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Perrotta, Robert Pinsky, Gerald Stern, and J. Robert Lennon. In 2012, he contributed to the anthology Oy! Only Six? Why Not More: Six-Word Memoirs on Jewish Life with the self-ironic article "This is a Roman nose, OK?" – Biggs is not Jewish. A year later, Larry Smith, the editor of the anthology, and creator of Six-Word Memoirs, would be the basis for Bigg's Orange Is the New Black character Larry Bloom. He departed the series in February 2015 after two seasons.[12]

Biggs in March 2012, at the American Reunion premiere in Sydney, Australia

Biggs reprised his role as Jim Levenstein in American Reunion, which was released on April 6, 2012. In the summer of 2012, Biggs took a job voicing Leonardo on Nickelodeon in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He left the series during its second season and was temporarily replaced by Dominic Catrambone.[13] Seth Green permanently took over the role from Biggs beginning in season 3.[14] Biggs also plays the cowbell in the supergroup Yukon Kornelius.[15]

In was announced in September 2014 that Biggs would star on Broadway in The Heidi Chronicles.[16] The play opened on March 19.

In December 2014, The Hollywood Reporter announced Biggs was cast to star in the comedy Amateur Night. Biggs plays a well-meaning expectant father who unwittingly accepts a job chauffeuring prostitutes (Janet Montgomery, Ashley Tisdale) around Los Angeles. Jenny Mollen, who is Biggs' wife in real life, appears as his wife in the film.[17]

Personal life

Biggs is sometimes cast as an explicitly or implicitly Jewish character, as he was in American Pie, Saving Silverman, Anything Else, and Orange is the New Black although he is not Jewish.[5][18]

In January 2008, he became engaged to his My Best Friend's Girl co-star, actress Jenny Mollen; they married on April 23, 2008.[19] They have a son, Sid, who was born on February 15, 2014. Their second son, Lazlo Biggs, was born on October 2, 2017.[20][21]

Politics

Biggs made headlines after writing offensive jokes about Ann Romney and Janna Ryan on his Twitter account in response to the 2012 Republican National Convention.[22]

Controversy

In March 2014, Biggs caused controversy when joking about the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.[23] Four months later, Biggs again generated controversy when he joked about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.[24] He also drew criticism in May 2014 when he mocked the death of The Bachelorette contestant Eric Hill.[25][26]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1991 Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Boy
The Boy Who Cried Bitch Robert
1997 Camp Stories Abby
1999 American Pie Jim Levenstein Young Hollywood Awards for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actor – Best Newcomer
Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Chemistry
2000 Boys and Girls Hunter/Steve
Loser Paul Tannek Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Wipeout
2001 Saving Silverman Darren Silverman
American Pie 2 Jim Levenstein MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared w/ Seann William Scott)
Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Line
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Himself Cameo
Prozac Nation Rafe
2003 American Wedding Jim Levenstein Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Liplock (shared w/ Alyson Hannigan)
Anything Else Jerry Falk
2004 Jersey Girl Arthur Brickman
2005 Guy X Corporal Rudy Spruance Taormina Film Fest Award for Best Actor
2006 Farce of the Penguins Insecure Penguin Voice
Eight Below Charlie Cooper
Wedding Daze Anderson
2007 The Glitch Alan Short film
2008 Over Her Dead Body Dan Sianidis
My Best Friend's Girl Dustin
Lower Learning Tom Willoman
2009 Kidnapping Caitlynn Max Short film
2010 The Third Rule Don
2011 Life Happens Sergei
Grassroots Phil Campbell
2012 American Reunion Jim Levenstein Executive Producer;
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy
2016 Amateur Night Guy Carter
2017 Who We Are Now Vince
2017 Angry Angel Himself Television film
2018 Dear Dictator Mr. Spines
2019 Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Himself
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1991–92 Drexell's Class Willie Trancas Series regular; 14 episodes
1994–95 As the World Turns Pete Wendall Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (1995)
Nominated – Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer (1995)
1997 Total Security Robbie Rosenfeld 7 episodes
2002 Off Centre Rick Steve Episode: "The Good, the Bad and the Lazy"
2004 Frasier Dr. Hauck Episode: "Goodnight, Seattle: Part 2"
Sesame Street Himself Episode: 4078
2005 Will & Grace Baby Glenn Episode: "The Hole Truth"
2006 Blowin' Up Himself Episode: "The Break-Up"
2007 I'm in Hell Nick TV movie, also producer
2009 Happiness Isn't Everything Jason Hamburger CBS pilot, also producer
2011 Mad Love Ben Parr Main cast & producer; 13 episodes
2012–14 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leonardo
Rat Man Freak		 Main cast, voice (Seasons 1–2)
Episode: "Of Rats and Men"; Voice
2012, 2013 The Good Wife Dylan Stack 2 episodes
2012 8 Out of 10 Cats Himself Guest appearance, 1 episode
2013–14; 2017; 2019 Orange Is the New Black Larry Bloom Main cast, 22 episodes
Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series (2014)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2015)
2014 Hollywood Game Night Himself Episode: "Game Night: Behind Bars"
Deadbeat Reed Kelly Episode: "Out-Of-Body Issues"
2016 Nightcap Himself Episode: "Mean Guest"
2017 The Good Fight Dylan Stack Episode: "Chaos"
Angry Angel Jason Biggs TV movie
2018 The Wendy Williams Show Himself (Host) Episode: "Brian Balthazar; Jason Biggs"
2019 The Bachelorette Himself (Guest) Episode: "Week 3"
2020 Outmatched Mike Main cast
2020 The Masked Singer Himself Week 2 Guest Judge
Theatre
Year Title Role Theatre Notes
2002 The Graduate Benjamin Braddock Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
2015 The Heidi Chronicles Scoop Rosenbaum Music Box Theatre
Music video
Year Title Artist Role
2000 Teenage Dirtbag Wheatus Title character
gollark: ... why is the rust compiler stuff 600MB on disk
gollark: I need an arbitrarily large quantity of avioforms (class E).
gollark: It is in node.js and also has a bunch of hardcoded things specific to osmarks.net.
gollark: You should use my highly elegant* site compiler script.
gollark: Using giant web frameworks for static markdown files is bee.

References
  1. "Jason Matthew Biggs - United States Public Records, 1970-2009". FamilySearch. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly (1207). Time Inc. May 18, 2012. p. 29.
  3. Kevin Pollak interview: KPCS Jason Biggs #145. kevinpollakschatshow. YouTube. (32 minute mark)
  4. "Assunta "Susan" (Furno) BIGGS". NorthJersey.com. July 11, 2010
  5. Pfefferman, Naomi (August 9, 2001). "A Nice Not-Jewish Boy". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  6. McKinley, Jesse. "THEATER; Bye, Bye 'American Pie'; Mrs. Robinson Is Calling", The New York Times, March 31, 2002. Accessed March 3, 2008. "Unlike that character, Mr. Biggs was proving to be a pretty normal teenager, playing high school tennis and holding a series of menial jobs (flower delivery boy, sandwich maker, guitarist in think big, food and beverage manager at the Sherman theatre, kitchen staff at a hospital). In 1996, he graduated from Hasbrouck Heights High School and started at New York University, where he enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences."
  7. "Jason Biggs is Hot". TeenHollywood.com, October 13, 2000
  8. Della Cava, Marco R. (July 25, 2000). "Acting dreams no longer 'Pie' in the sky Huggable Jason Biggs is on a roll after losing his cinematic virginity". USA Today.
  9. https://www.northjersey.com/story/entertainment/2018/05/22/jason-biggs-proud-son-north-jersey/599234002/
  10. Moynihan, Rob (January 19, 2015). "How I Got My SAG-AFTRA Card", TV Guide. p. 8
  11. Biggs, Jason (August 1, 2012). "Jason Biggs on Judd Hirsch in 'Conversations With My Father'". Backstage.
  12. "Jason Biggs not returning for Orange Is the New Black season 3". Entertainment Weekly. February 22, 2015.
  13. "Jason Biggs replaced by Seth Green as voice of Leonardo on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series". Metro.co.uk. 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2014-06-20. Rumours have been circulating in recent weeks as to Biggs' future in the hit animated franchise, with Dominic Catrambone voicing the character in recent episodes.
  14. "Nickelodeon Renews 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' for Season 4 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. June 17, 2014.
  15. "Picture Show: Yukon Kornelius w/ Al Schnier, Sebastian Bach, Dee Snider, Jason Biggs, Warren DeMartini & More @ FestEVOL 2013". Hidden Track. March 22, 2013.
  16. Michael Gioia. "Elisabeth Moss, Bryce Pinkham, Jason Biggs Set for Broadway Revival of Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles".
  17. Kit, Borys (December 5, 2014). "Jason Biggs, Ashley Tisdale Starring in Indie Comedy 'Drive, She Said' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  18. "Clown prince". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  19. "Jason Biggs: Bio" Archived 2016-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. BuddyTV. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  20. https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ333oDgjtp/
  21. "Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen Welcome Son Lazlo". PEOPLE.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  22. Couch, Aaron (September 5, 2012). "Nickelodeon Apologizes for Jason Biggs' 'Vulgar' RNC Tweets". The Hollywood Reporter
  23. Selby, Jenn (March 11, 2014). "Jason Biggs criticised for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 joke made days after aircraft carrying 239 reported missing". The Independent
  24. Sieczkowski, Cavan (July 17, 2014). "Jason Biggs Tweets Malaysia Airlines Joke After Crash". The Huffington Post.
  25. Marcus, Stephanie (May 20, 2014). "Jason Biggs Mocks Dead 'Bachelorette' Contestant Eric Hill". The Huffington Post
  26. Malec, Brett (May 20, 2014). "Jason Biggs Mocks Dead Bachelorette Contestant Eric Hill: See His Controversial Tweets". E! Online
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