Aaron Eckhart

Aaron Eckhart likes to maintain his privacy and is reluctant to speak publicly about his personal relationships. He once dated country music songwriter Kristyn Osborn in the mid-2000s. Prior to that, he was engaged to actress Emily Cline in the 1990s though their relationship did not culminate in marriage.

Aaron Edward Eckhart was born on March 12, 1968, in California to Mary Martha, a children's book author and poet, and James Conrad Eckhart, a computer executive. He has two elder brothers, and hails from a family of mixed ancestry.

He was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church, and served a two-year LDS mission in France and Switzerland before moving to England.

At England, Eckhart attended the American Community School. It was during his years at the school that the bug of acting bit him. He was first introduced to acting, in his school production.

In 1985, he moved to Sydney. There he attended the American International School of Sydney where his love for acting found further impetus. He appeared in the school’s stage productions and honed his acting skills. However he did not have any interest in studies and thus dropped out to take up a job at the Warringah Mall movie theater.

He eventually realized the value of a formal professional degree and enrolled as a film major at Brigham Young University–Hawaii upon his return to the US in 1988. He later transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU) from where he graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He had appeared in a number of theatrical productions during his university years.

Following his graduation Aaron Eckhart moved to the New York City where he initially struggled to find meaningful acting jobs, ending up with only small roles in television series or commercials. To make ends meet, he worked in a string of other jobs as a bartender, bus driver, and construction worker.

He found a minor breakthrough in 1997 when the director/writer Neil LaBute, who was already acquainted with Eckhart, offered him a role in a film adaptation of LaBute's stage play ‘In the Company of Men.’ Eckhart’s portrayal of a frustrated office worker in his debut film was well-received.

In 1998, he appeared in another one of LaBute’s black comedies, ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ as a sexually-frustrated man trapped in an unhappy marriage. The same year, he also acted as Nick in ‘Thursday.’

It was only in 2000 that Aaron Eckhart got his first taste of mainstream success. He played the role of George in the much acclaimed biographical movie ‘Erin Brockovich’ which had Julia Roberts in the lead role. Following this role, he began to get meaningful offers more easily.

Over the next few years he appeared in several movies like ‘The Pledge’ (2001), ‘Possession’ (2002), ‘The Missing’ (2003), and ‘Suspect Zero’ (2004). In 2004 he also appeared in David Mamet's ‘Oleanna’ at the Garrick Theatre. His performance in the stage production earned him much appreciation.

Aaron Eckhart rose to mainstream recognition with the role of George in the award-winning movie ‘Erin Brockovich’ which established him as a character actor.

His portrayal of a tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor in the movie ‘Thank You for Smoking’ was much appreciated. Acclaimed for his skills in portraying dark characters with a streak of goodness, he once again proved his mettle with this role.