Bio
Jason Schwartzman is an American actor and musician best known for his roles in the feature films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited and Funny People.
He also starred as writer and private eye Jonathan Ames in the HBO comedy series Bored to Death, from 2009-2011.
Schwartzman made his motion picture acting debut in 1999 as Max Fischer, an eccentric high school sophomore in the acclaimed comedy Rushmore, opposite Bill Murray, for director Wes Anderson. His performance garnered a nomination for Most Promising Actor from the Chicago Film Critics Association.
He has since starred in several feature films including David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees with Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts, and Jude Law in 2004 and Shopgirl in 2005, adapted from Steve Martin's best-selling novel and co-starring Martin and Claire Danes.
He was nominated by The International Press Academy for a Satellite Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting role, Comedy or Musical for his portrayal of Jeremy, the struggling musician who falls in love with a disenchanted salesgirl, played by Danes.
In September 2007, he had his writing debut with The Darjeeling Limited which he co-wrote with Roman Coppola and Wes Anderson. He also starred in the film as Peter, alongside Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody.
Other acting credits for Schwartzman include Spun, Slackers, Simone, Marie-Antoinette and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
Also a musician, Schwartzman left his position as lead-drummer for the Los Angeles-based band, Phantom Planet, in 2003. Their second studio album, written in part by Schwartzman, was released by Epic in February 2002; shortly after, the band embarked on a fourteen-month tour with Incubus.
Schwartzman was back in the music scene in 2006 creating an indie-rock solo project with Coconut Records. The debut album, entitled Nighttiming, was released on Schwartzman's Young Baby Records in 2007.
The album is the product of Schwartzman, who wrote all of the songs and performs the majority of the instruments. The song Summer Day was featured on the Spider-Man 3 original soundtrack. The song West Coast can be heard in an episode of The OC and the movie Cloverfield.
Schwartzman lent his voice to the animated film The Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film's all-star cast includes George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray, and reunited Schwartzman with director Wes Anderson.
Schwartzman also appeared with Michael Cera on the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The film was directed by Edgar Wright and released in 2010 by Universal Pictures.
He lives in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised.