Richard Linklater facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Linklater
Linklater in 2025
Born	Richard Linklater (1960-07-30) July 30, 1960 (age 64) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Christina Harrison
Children	3, including Lorelei
Awards	Full list

Richard Linklater (born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is famous for making movies that explore everyday life, especially in suburban areas. His films often look at how time passes and changes people. In 2015, Time magazine named him one of the world's most influential people.

Some of his well-known films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993). He also made the romantic Before movies (1995–2013). Other popular films are the music comedy School of Rock (2003) and the animated movies Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006). His coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014) is also very famous. More recent films include Hit Man (2023) and Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022).

Many of Linklater's movies have a relaxed story style. The Before trilogy and Boyhood are special because they filmed the same actors over many years. He has been nominated for five Academy Awards. He won the Silver Bear for Best Director for Before Sunrise. He also won a Golden Globe Award for directing Boyhood.

Early Life and Film Dreams

Richard Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He went to high school in Huntsville, Texas, and later in Bellaire, Texas. He was good at baseball as a teenager. He even won an award for his art and writing.

He studied at Sam Houston State University and played baseball there. But he left college to work on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working, he read many novels. When he returned, he discovered a love for movies by visiting a special cinema in Houston.

This is when Linklater decided he wanted to make films. He used his savings to buy a Super-8 camera and editing tools. Then he moved to Austin, Texas, to start his filmmaking journey.

Filmmaking Career

Starting Out: 1985–1999

In 1985, Linklater helped start the Austin Film Society. This group helped people learn about and make films. For several years, he made many short films to practice different techniques.

His first full-length movie was It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books. It took him two years to make. After that, he created his own film company, Detour Filmproduction. He then made Slacker for only $23,000. This movie became very popular in the independent film world. It showed a day in Austin, Texas, with many unique characters.

His third film was Dazed and Confused. It was based on his own high school years. This movie was praised by critics and became a big hit on video. It also helped actor Matthew McConaughey become famous. In 1995, Linklater won an award for Best Director for his film Before Sunrise.

Gaining Wider Fame: 2000–2013

Linklater became more widely known with his animated films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. These movies used a special animation style called rotoscoping. This means artists traced over live-action footage, giving the films a unique look.

He also directed popular comedies like School of Rock (2003). In 2003, he worked on a TV pilot about fast food workers. This led to his 2006 film Fast Food Nation, which explored the fast food industry.

Linklater was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Before Sunset in 2004. He also received another Academy Award nomination for Before Midnight in 2013. This was the third film in his popular Before... series.

Boyhood and Recent Projects: 2014–Present

In 2014, Linklater released Boyhood. This movie was filmed over 12 years with the same actors. It followed a boy growing up from age 6 to 18. The film received huge praise from critics. Linklater won many awards for it, including Golden Globes and BAFTAs for Best Director and Best Picture. He also received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.

After Boyhood, he directed Everybody Wants Some!! (2016). This film was a "spiritual successor" to Dazed and Confused. In 2017, he released Last Flag Flying, a drama starring Bryan Cranston and Steve Carell.

In 2019, Linklater directed Where'd You Go, Bernadette. He also announced a very ambitious project: an adaptation of the musical Merrily We Roll Along. Like Boyhood, this film will be shot over several years. However, it will tell the story backward in time.

In 2023, he directed the action romantic comedy Hit Man. This film was very well-received when it premiered. In 2025, he released Blue Moon, a biographical film. He also released Nouvelle Vague in 2025, which is about the making of a famous French film.

Filmmaking Style

Richard Linklater's films are often inspired by his own experiences. He was greatly influenced by watching the movie Raging Bull. He said it made him see movies as a way to express his thoughts.

He was also influenced by many famous directors from around the world. Many of Linklater's films, like Slacker and the Before Trilogy, take place over just one day. They focus less on a complicated plot and more on how people interact and talk.

Personal Life

Linklater lives in Austin, Texas. He chooses not to live or work in Hollywood for long periods.

He has been with Christina Harrison since the 1990s. They have three daughters, born in 1994 and 2004. His oldest daughter, Lorelei Linklater, acted in Boyhood as the main character's sister.

Linklater has been a vegetarian since his early twenties.

Filmography

Key

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1990	Slacker	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also actor
1993	Dazed and Confused	Yes	Yes	Yes
1995	Before Sunrise	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Kim Krizan
1996	SubUrbia	Yes	No	No
1998	The Newton Boys	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Claude Stanush and Clark Lee Walker
2001	Waking Life	Yes	Yes	No	Also cinematographer
	Tape	Yes	No	No
2003	School of Rock	Yes	No	No
2004	Before Sunset	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Kim Krizan
2005	Bad News Bears	Yes	No	Yes
2006	A Scanner Darkly	Yes	Yes	No
	Fast Food Nation	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Eric Schlosser
2008	Me and Orson Welles	Yes	No	Yes
2011	Bernie	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Skip Hollandsworth
2013	Before Midnight	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy
2014	Boyhood	Yes	Yes	Yes
2016	Everybody Wants Some!!	Yes	Yes	Yes
2017	Last Flag Flying	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Darryl Ponicsan
2019	Where'd You Go, Bernadette	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Holly Gent and Vince Palmo
2022	Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood	Yes	Yes	Yes
2023	Hit Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Glen Powell
2025	Blue Moon	Yes	No	Yes
	Nouvelle Vague	Yes	No	Yes
TBA	Merrily We Roll Along	Yes	Yes	Yes	Filming will continue for the next 17 years

Acting roles

Short films

Television

Other works

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Richard Linklater para niños