Scott Caan

Early life

Caan was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor James Caan and Sheila Marie Ryan, an actress and former model. His paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Germany. He has an older half-sister named Tara Caan and three younger half-brothers named Alexander James Caan (born 1991), Jacob Nicholas Caan (born 1995), and James Arthur Caan (born 1998).

Career

Caan was a roadie for the rap groups Cypress Hill and House of Pain. Caan was also a member of the hip-hop group The Whooliganz (with producer and fellow MC the Alchemist). The Alchemist and he, when performing as the rap duo the Whooliganz in the early '90s, received a record deal with Tommy Boy records. They recorded the album Make Way for the W., but after their first single "Put Your Handz Up", the album was shelved and the duo was dropped by Tommy Boy. In 1995, the Whooliganz' song "Whooliganz" was released as a single in the UK, but Caan and the Alchemist had already parted ways. In 2014, Caan reunited with his former partner The Alchemist on the Step Brothers project with Evidence Lord Steppington on the song "Byron G".

After enrolling at the Playhouse West acting school in Los Angeles, Caan began acting in the late 1990s, appearing in a number of independent films and low-budget films. His first role in a major motion picture was that of Charlie Tweeder, a reckless Texas football player in Varsity Blues (1999). In the same year, he played the role of Drew in the film Saturn (also known as Speed of Life). Caan subsequently appeared in several studio films, including Ready to Rumble (2000) co-starring David Arquette, Boiler Room (2000) co-starring Vin Diesel, and American Outlaws (2001), co-starring Colin Farrell, in which Caan played 19th-century outlaw Cole Younger. In 2003, Caan made his directorial debut with the film Dallas 362, which won a prize at the 2003 Las Vegas Film Festival.

Caan appeared in the feature film trilogy Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen. In 2005, he co-starred with Paul Walker (with whom he appeared in Varsity Blues) in the action film Into the Blue. Caan wrote and directed the 2006 comedy The Dog Problem. He appeared as a supporting character in the film, as well. He appeared on the television series Entourage in a recurring role as talent manager Scott Lavin from seasons six to eight.

Caan plays Detective Danny "Danno" Williams in Hawaii Five-0 (a remake of Hawaii Five-O). The series premiered on September 20, 2010. In 2011, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for this performance.

BuddyTV ranked him 95th on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011".

In addition to acting, Caan has also pursued a career in photography. Inspired and trained by cinematographer Phil Parmet while working together on the 2003 film Dallas 362, Caan has been shooting ever since. "In preparing for the film," Caan said, "Phil inspired me to learn about lenses, lights, frames, and the operation of a 250 millimeter camera. By the time the film was over, I wanted to shoot the next one." In 2009, he published his first collection of photographs in a 256-page book entitled Scott Caan Photographs, Vol. 1. The book was edited and designed by Howard Nourmand, and includes an introduction by Steve Olson.

Volunteer work

Caan has been an active volunteer with Surfers Healing, an organization which introduces children with autism to the joy of surfing, as well as similar groups such as A Walk On Water, TheraSURF, and Life Rolls On.

Personal life

Caan is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In 2014, it was announced that Caan was expecting his first child with his girlfriend, Kacy Byxbee. Their daughter Josie James was born in July 2014.