Johnathon Schaech

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 Roman Catholic. Schaech has a sister, Renée. He went to University of Maryland where he studied economics and took one acting class.

Career

In 1989, dance troupe Chippendales flew Schaech out to Los Angeles and offered him a job, but his father urged him to aim higher. He signed with Wilhelmina West and survived for three years doing commercials and bit parts in movies. Schaech studied under acting teacher, Roy London, who also taught stars such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Brad Pitt and Forest Whitaker. He studied with Roy London for three and half years until London's death in 1993.

1991–2000

In 1991, Schaech went through a three-month audition process before he landed the lead in Franco Zeffirelli's movie El Storia de Capinera (The Sparrow), a period piece drama filmed in Sicily and Rome and also starring Angela Bettis and Vanessa Redgrave. Schaech would have become a regular fixture on Fox TV's Brisco County, Jr. but he bypassed the steady work to portray drifter Xavier Red in Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation.

Schaech won a pivotal role in How to Make an American Quilt opposite Winona Ryder In 1996, How to Make an American Quilt received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 1995, Tom Hanks cast Schaech as the ambitious and self-absorbed lead singer of The Wonders in That Thing You Do!, Hanks' writing and directing debut. Schaech next took the male lead opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange in Tri-Star's 1998 thriller Hush. He was featured as one of the most promising leading men of tomorrow on the 1996's Vanity Fair cover alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Benicio del Toro.

In 1997, Schaech starred in the Australian comedy Welcome to Woop Woop, directed by Stephan Elliott. 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 in his second Gregg Araki film titled Splendor. He then teamed up with indie filmmaker Carl Franklin and shot a 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 in 2000. "Time of Your Life" first aired on October 25, 1999; it 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

Schaech flew to Morocco in 2001 to take on the title character in Tom Fontana's Judas for ABC. The film would be highly controversial and was pushed back for several years until Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ was released in 2004, opening a window for the network to air the film.

In 2005, Schaech starred in José Pepe Bojórquez's Sea of Dreams, which won the Silver Goddess award for best first work. The film was shot in Mexico. In 2005, he was cast opposite his then wife, Christina Applegate, in James Patterson's Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas for CBS. The film shot in Halifax, Canada. Schaech starred along with David Arquette in the CBS pilot "Commuters".

In 2006, Schaech starred in Little Chenier. Shot in Lake Charles, after filming, Hurricane Rita virtually destroyed all locations used in the film. The film went on to win best picture and best ensemble at the Phoenix film festival.; In 2006, Lifetime cast him opposite Heather Locklear in Nora Roberts' Angels Fall. It was shot in Ontario, Canada.

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. The film was number one opening weekend and made 43 million in US Theaters. In 2008, he appeared in science fiction film Quarantine, directed by John Erick Dowdle. The film is a remake of the Spanish film REC and was released by Screen Gems. Its total gross is $41,319,906 worldwide.

In 2010, Renny Harlin cast Schaech as a Georgian Army captain in his action indie 5 Days of War.

2011–present

In 2013, Schaech starred opposite Ed Harris and David Duchovny in the submarine thriller Phantom. He was cast in the first season of Showtime ‘s series Ray Donovan, appearing in five episode as an eccentric movie star, Sean Walker. He also played the corn-rowed villain opposite Kellan Lutz in Renny Harlin's 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, who challenges Sam Houston's (Bill Paxton) every order.

In 2016, The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow cast Schaech as DC Comics bounty hunter Jonah Hex.

Writing

Schaech wrote his first book titled Rick Dempsey's Caught Stealing.

Schaech has written co-written a number of screenplays with Richard Chizmar, including Heroes (2002), Road House 2 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2006), based on a story by Miles Chapman, Masters of Horror The Washingtonians (Showtime, 2007), based on a story by Bentley Little and The Poker Club, based on the story by Ed Gorman. Schaech and Chizmar have also co-written screenplays based on stories by Peter Crowther: Fear Itself: Eater (NBC/AXN Sci Fi, 2009); Lewis Shiner: Fear Itself: The Circle (NBC/AXN Sci Fi, 2009); and Stephen King: From A Buick 8 (in production 2009) and Black House (in production 2009).

Personal life

Schaech married actress Christina Applegate in October 2001 in Palm Springs. 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 wed on July 4, 2010 in Michigan but announced their separation one month later. Their divorce was finalized in June 2011.

Schaech married music and book publicist Julie Solomon, in July 2013 in Ocean City, Maryland. They have one son, Camden Quinn, born in September 2013.