Ryan Phillippe Vital Stats
Birth Name: Matthew Ryan Phillippe
Birth Date: September 10, 1974
Birth Place: New Castle, Delaware
Height: 5’9”
Romantic Link: Abbie Cornish
Ryan Phillippe Interesting FactsRyan Phillippe has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Ryan Phillippe turned down the role of
Anakin Skywalker in the
Star Wars prequels, due to the age difference between him and
Natalie Portman (7 years).
Ryan Phillippe BiographyMatthew Ryan Phillippe (pronounced fill-a-pee) was born on September 10, 1974, to parents Richard and Susan Phillippe in New Castle, Delaware, and was raised alongside his three sisters, Kirsten, Lindsey and Katelyn.
His childhood was a typical one; Ryan attended New Castle Baptist Academy, where he excelled at sports like basketball and soccer, and even earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. But proving that he was more than a jock, Phillippe was the editor of his school yearbook in his senior year of high school.
By age 15, Phillippe knew that he wanted to become an actor and, as luck would have it, an agent spotted him in a barbershop and began sending him to auditions in New York when he was no more than 17 years old.
Ryan Phillippe in One Life to Live
By the time he was 18, Ryan Phillippe landed his first acting gig on the ABC hit daytime soap opera,
One Life to Live. The role was a significant one, as Phillippe played the first gay teenager ever on a soap.
By 1993, Phillippe left the soap opera and headed to Los Angeles to star in movies. Although he didn’t hit the big time immediately, Phillippe was landing small role in television and movies.
Ryan Phillippe in 54Ryan Phillippe’s big break came when he starred alongside
Sarah Michelle Gellar and
Jennifer Love Hewitt in 1997’s
I Know What You Did Last Summer. The horror flick was a surprise hit and Phillippe quickly became a hit with the ladies.
1997 was the same year when Phillippe met
Reese Witherspoon, and up and coming actress, and the two had an immediate connection and began a long-distance relationship. By 1998, the two were engaged.
Other movies followed, including 1998’s
54, a movie about the infamous nightclub in New York, in which Phillippe played a naïve but incredibly sexy bartender.
Ryan Phillippe marries Reese1999 saw Phillippe in
Cruel Intentions, again starring with Sarah Michelle Gellar and his fiancé Reese Witherspoon. That summer, Phillippe and Witherspoon were married in a quaint ceremony.
On September 9 1999, Reese gave birth to a baby girl,
Ava Elizabeth, and the couple continued to build their careers. In 2003, the couple also had a son,
Deacon Phillippe, on October 23.
While Reese’s career began to take off, Phillippe opted for roles in movies that stayed under the radar like
The Way of the Gun, Antitrust, and
Igby Goes Down. And although Phillippe starred in 2001’s critically acclaimed
Gosford Park, most fans never bothered to see it because they just weren’t interested.
Ryan Phillippe in CrashIn 2004, Ryan Phillippe played a significant role as a police office in the Oscar-award winning movie
Crash. The movie, which dealt with a variety of situations that center around racism, became a huge hit among fans and critics alike.
In 2006, Phillippe starred alongside
Jesse Bradford and
Barry Pepper in
Flags of Our Fathers, a movie about the six men who raised the American flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.
Ryan Phillippe gets divorcedUnfortunately, October 30, 2006 also saw Ryan and his wife heading to divorce court with rumors circulating that Phillippe had cheated on his wife with his
Flags of Our Fathers co-star
Abbie Cornish.
By 2007, Phillippe didn’t allow his personal drawbacks to affect his professional career; he starred in 3 films:
Breach, Franklyn and
Stop Loss.
Ryan Phillippe runs Lucid Films
When Phillippe is not hanging out with his kids, he’s busy running his own production company, Lucid Films, with his friends
Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, and
David E. Siegal.
While rumors are circulating that Ryan is dating everyone from
Ashlee Simpson to
Scarlett Johansson, it seems that Abbie Cornish is the lucky girl who captured Phillippe’s heart – for now.
Look for Phillippe in 2009’s
Last Battle Dreamer.
Resource:IMDb - Ryan Phillippe