Christian Slater facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Christian Slater
Slater in 2024
Born	Christian Michael Leonard Slater (1969-08-18) August 18, 1969 (age 55) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor producer
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Ryan Haddon ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2007)​ Brittany Lopez ​ ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	4
Parent(s)	Michael Hawkins Mary Jo Slater

Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He started his acting journey at a young age. He first became well-known for his role in the movie The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). He gained even more fame for his part as J.D. in the film Heathers (1988).

Christian Slater also received great praise for playing the main character in the TV series Mr. Robot (2015–2019). This role won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2016. He was also nominated for this award in 2017 and 2018. More recently, he was nominated for a Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performer for his role as Mulgarath in The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024-present).

In the 1990s, Slater starred in many popular movies. These included Young Guns II (1990), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and Interview with the Vampire (1994). He also appeared in films like Broken Arrow (1996) and Hard Rain (1998). Some of his other notable films are The Name of the Rose (1986), True Romance (1993), and We Can Be Heroes (2020).

Besides acting in live-action roles, Christian Slater has also lent his voice to many animated characters. He voiced Pips in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) and Ushari in The Lion Guard (2016–2019). He also voiced Rand Ridley in Inside Job (2021–2022).

Christian Slater's Early Life and Education

Christian Slater was born on August 18, 1969, in New York City. His father, Michael Hawkins, was an actor. His mother, Mary Jo Slater, was an actors' agent and later a casting executive. Christian has a half-brother, Ryan Slater, who also became an actor. His great-uncle was a radio personality named Bill Slater.

Christian went to several schools known for arts and performance. These included the Dalton School, the Professional Children's School, and the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

Christian Slater's Acting Career

Starting Out: 1977–1990

Christian Slater began acting when he was very young. His first TV role was at age eight on the soap opera One Life to Live. After appearing on Ryan's Hope, he made his debut on Broadway in 1980. He played Winthrop Paroo in a musical called The Music Man. He also acted in other Broadway shows like Copperfield and Merlin. He has also performed in London's West End.

Slater's first big movie role was in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). He played Billie Jean's brother, Binx. His career then grew with his role in The Name of the Rose (1986), where he acted alongside Sean Connery. He also played Junior Tucker in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988).

When he was 18, Slater starred as J.D. in the 1988 film Heathers with Winona Ryder. This movie became very popular with teens. Many people compared his performance to a young Jack Nicholson. Slater also appeared in Gleaming the Cube (1989). After Heathers, he often played rebellious characters. These included a teen in Pump Up the Volume (1990) and a gunman in Young Guns II (1990). In Young Guns II, he acted with Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland.

Becoming a Star: 1991–1999

In 1991, Slater was cast as Will Scarlett in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He starred alongside Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Rickman. This movie was a huge success, earning over $390 million worldwide. This made Slater one of the biggest stars of the 1990s. As a big Star Trek fan, he had a small role in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. He also played Charlie Luciano in the crime drama Mobsters.

The next year, he tried a different movie type, starring in the comedy Kuffs. In 1993, Slater showed his acting range in Untamed Heart with Marisa Tomei. He also played Clarence Worley in True Romance, a film written by Quentin Tarantino. This movie received many excellent reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert praised True Romance, saying Christian Slater had the "cocky recklessness the movie needs."

He took on the role of Daniel Molloy in Interview with the Vampire (1994). He got this part after his friend River Phoenix, who was first chosen, sadly passed away. Slater gave his earnings from the film to Phoenix's favorite charities. In 1996, he played Lewis in the romance film Bed of Roses. He then starred as Riley Hale in the action film Broken Arrow (1996) with John Travolta. In 1998, Slater appeared in the crime movie Hard Rain alongside Morgan Freeman. That same year, he also starred in the dark comedy Very Bad Things with Cameron Diaz.

Television Roles and Mr. Robot: 2000–Present

Slater in 2004

Since 2000, Christian Slater has worked on both TV shows and movies. He has had leading roles in smaller films and supporting roles in bigger productions. He appeared in popular TV series like The West Wing and Alias. He also acted in Hollywood films such as Bobby. He has also done a lot of voice acting. He voiced Pips in the animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest. He also narrated TV documentaries like Prehistoric Planet.

Slater starred in the TV series My Own Worst Enemy in 2008 and The Forgotten in 2009. In 2011, he acted in the action film The River Murders with Ray Liotta. He also starred in the TV series Breaking In, which ran for two seasons. Slater worked with Ving Rhames again in Soldiers of Fortune (2012). He also appeared in the action thriller Bullet to the Head (2013) with Sylvester Stallone.

In October 2014, Slater took on his main role in the TV series Mr. Robot on USA Network. In the show, Slater plays "Mr. Robot," a computer hacker. He recruits Rami Malek's character, Elliot, into his group of hackers called fsociety. The show started on June 24, 2015, and finished in 2019 after four seasons. For his acting, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2016. He was also nominated for this award in 2017 and 2018.

Slater also voices the character "Slater" on the animated series Archer. He provided the voice for Ushari the Egyptian Cobra in The Lion Guard. He also made a short film for HP called The Wolf. This film showed how easily computer viruses can spread. In 2018, Christian Slater appeared in The Public, a film by Emilio Estevez. He voiced Rand Ridley on the animated show Inside Job from 2021 to 2022.

Christian Slater's Personal Life

In 2000, Christian Slater married Ryan Haddon. They had two children: a son, Jaden Christopher (born in 1999), and a daughter, Eliana Sophia (born in 2001). They separated in 2005 and divorced in 2007.

On December 2, 2013, Slater married Brittany Lopez in Florida. They had been dating for three years. They have a daughter together, born in August 2019, and a son, born in July 2024.

Christian Slater practices Kempo Karate. He divides his time between Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida, and Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.

Christian Slater's Charity Work

Christian Slater has supported many charities. These include 21st Century Leaders, Global Green, and Whatever It Takes. He appeared in an educational video for Nelson Mandela’s 46664 charity, which raises awareness about AIDS. He has also helped promote humanitarian work in South Africa. In May 2009, Slater visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the USO. On December 10, 2009, Slater visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He helped with work for the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Selected Films and TV Shows

Slater speaking at the Mr. Robot panel during the 2015 PaleyFest

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television Shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Standing Room Only	Billy	Episode: "Sherlock Holmes"
1982	Pardon Me for Living	Virgil Meade	Television film
1983	ABC Weekend Special	Billy	Episode: "The Haunted Mansion Mystery"
	1984	Tales from the Darkside	Jody Tolliver	Episode: "A Case of the Stubborns"
1984, 1986	All My Children	Scotty, Caleb Thompson
1985	Ryan's Hope	D. J. LaSalle	6 episodes
1986	Crime Story	Teen Boy	Episode: "Old Friends, Dead Ends"
	The Equalizer	Michael Winslow	Episode: "Joy Ride"
1988	L.A. Law	Andy Prescott	Episode: "Fetus Completus"
1991, 1993	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	2 episodes
1992	Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories	Himself (narrator)	Episode: There's a Nightmare in My Closet/There's an Alligator Under My Bed/There's Something in My Attic
1993	1993 MTV Video Music Awards	Himself (host)	Television special
2002	Alias	Neil Caplan	2 episodes
	The West Wing	Lt. Cmdr. Jack Reese	3 episodes
	Great Books	Narrator	Episode: "Inferno"
2002–2003	Prehistoric Planet	Narrator	Season 2
2003	Dinosaur Planet	Narrator	4 episodes
2003–2005	Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, TheThe Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius	Jet Fusion (voice)	2 episodes
2004	Top Gear	Himself	1 episode
2005–2012	Robot Chicken	Various voices	6 episodes
2006	Odd Job Jack	Agent Brody	Episode: "29.5"
	My Name Is Earl	Woody	1 episode
2008	My Own Worst Enemy	Edward Albright / Henry Spivey	9 episodes
2009	The Forgotten	Alex Donovan	17 episodes
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Christian Slater	Episode: "The Hot Towel"
2010	The Office	Christian Slater	Episode: "Sabre"
2011	Entourage	Christian Slater	Episode: "Out with a Bang"
2011–2012	Breaking In	Oz	20 episodes; also producer
2012	Phineas and Ferb	Paul the Delivery Guy (voice)	Episode: "Delivery of Destiny"
2013	Out There	Johnny Slade (voice)	Episode: "Springoween"
2014	Mind Games	Ross Edwards	10 episodes
	Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings	Lazer Lord (voice)	TV film
2014–2016, 2022-2023	Archer	Slater (voice)	13 episodes
2015	Two and a Half Men	Christian Slater	Episode: "Of Course He's Dead"
	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	The Grim Buccaneer (voice)	2 episodes
2015–2019	Mr. Robot	Mr. Robot	45 episodes; also producer
2016–2017	Dawn of the Croods	Gurg (voice)	3 Episodes "
	Live with Kelly	Himself (guest host)	13 episodes
2016–2019	The Lion Guard	Ushari (voice)	13 episodes
	Milo Murphy's Law	Elliot Decker (voice)	14 episodes
2017	Jeff & Some Aliens	Zergrees	2 episodes
	Justice League Action	Deadshot (voice)	3 episodes
	Rick and Morty	Vance Maximus (voice)	Episode: "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender"
2018	Explained	Narrator (voice)	Episode: "Cryptocurrency"
2020	Dirty John	Dan Broderick	8 episodes
	Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?	Christian Slater (voice)	Episode: "The High School Wolfman's Musical Lament!"
2021	Dr. Death	Dr. Randall Kirby	8 episodes
	Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales	Ren (voice)	Television short
2021–2022	Inside Job	Rand Ridley (voice)	18 episodes
2022	The Boys Presents: Diabolical	The Narrator: Paul (voice)	1 episode
	Willow	Allagash	Episode: "Prisoners of Skellin"
	Fleishman Is in Trouble	Archer Sylvan	3 episodes
2024–present	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Mulgarath
2024	Dexter: Original Sin	Harry Morgan	Main Role
TBA	Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas	Torrance (voice)	Post-production

Key

Denotes television series that have not yet been released

Stage Plays

Christian Slater's Awards and Nominations

Slater at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014

Images for kids

• 

  Slater in 2024

• 

  Slater in 2004

• 

  Slater speaking at the Mr. Robot panel during the 2015 PaleyFest

• 

  Slater at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014

See also

In Spanish: Christian Slater para niños