Owen Wilson biography, brother, daughter, wife, net worth, age, best roles 2025

Owen Wilson's biography

Owen Wilson is an actor, scriptwriter, and director. He shot to fame in the 2000s after co-starring with Jackie Chan in Tom Dey's American-Hong Kong Western comedy Shanghai Noon. He earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations (for The Royal Tenenbaums script and best actor in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Midnight in Paris); he's Hollywood's most charming and perpetually grinning blonde. Net worth: $70 million.

Childhood: Dallas, Texas

Robert and Laura Wilson welcomed their middle child on a November day in 1968, joining his two brothers. They named the boy Owen, and he lived up to his name with boundless zest for life and natural sociability. Despite being mischievous, curious, and never backing down from a playground scrap, Owen was still loved by everyone. No one was more creative when it came to inventing games. His distinctive nose shape comes from one of those games - a double fracture that became his signature look.

Owen Wilson as a child with his brothers

His father, the chief advertiser on a Dallas TV channel, and his mother, a photographer, would often receive complaints from their middle son's teachers. They took a liberal approach with eldest son Andrew and youngest Luke, but Owen tested their patience like no other. He had zero interest in studying, but managed to advance grade by grade thanks to some guidance and his athletic abilities.

The final straw came just before graduation. Wilson swiped the geometry answer keys and passed them around to his classmates. The school board unanimously voted to expel him. Owen continued his studies elsewhere, but his parents decided only the military could straighten out their son, so they shipped him off to a military academy. This eventually led him to the University of Texas at Austin, where Owen and his new friend Wes Anderson discovered their passion for screenwriting.

Youth: Los Angeles, Hollywood

In 1996, the ambitious young duo tracked down James Brooks (producer of The Simpsons) and pitched him their short film Bottle Rocket, which they'd written themselves. Despite Brooks's generous $5 million investment, the full-length version completely bombed at the box office. But the relentless Wilson wasn't giving up on his Hollywood dreams.

A few comedy series appearances caught director Ben Stiller's eye, who then cast Owen in his films. His pairing with Jack Black in Heat Vision (1999), playing the hapless fiancé in Meet the Parents (2000) alongside Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, plus serious collaborations with other directors (Anaconda, Armageddon) transformed Wilson into a sought-after actor.

Career: year 2000

According to oomboola.com, the role that sealed his breakout success was Roy, the unlikely partner of Chon Wang (Jackie Chan, the bodyguard of a Chinese princess in the Western comedy Shanghai Noon (2000). Major roles kept rolling in. Wilson eagerly jumped into Ben Stiller's comedies (Zoolander, Meet the Fockers), and he also starred in the sequel Shanghai Knights.

Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon

In 2001, The Royal Tenenbaums hit theaters, where the three Wilson brothers starred: Andrew, Owen, and Luke. The middle brother wrote the script and even scored an Oscar nomination. Beyond the Wilson brothers, the film's success was anchored by Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gene Hackman, and, last but not least, Ben Stiller.

Director Todd Phillips crafted the comedy blockbuster specifically for the two friends, Ben and Owen: Starsky and Hutch (2004). Audiences loved the mismatched cops who stumbled onto a major crime.

Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in Starsky and Hutch

Wilson, along with Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller, was hailed as one of Hollywood's top comedians, something he quickly proved in 2005, with the role of John Beckwith in Wedding Crashers. The movie grossed almost 300 million dollars. And then, once again, another remarkable role - Jedediah in Night at the Museum (2006). His unique blend of charm, goofiness, and sly wit made Owen's performances so distinctive that they've been endlessly copied and referenced.

In 2007's tragicomedy The Darjeeling Limited, Wilson (Francis) joins Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman (Jack) on a quest to find their dead father, convinced he's reincarnated as a white leopard living in India.

Owen went on to appear in several films, including Marley and Me (2008) - a family comedy about the world's most mischievous dog and his parents John (Wilson) and Jen (Jennifer Aniston).

In 2009, director Shawn Levy filmed the sequel Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, where Owen reunited with Ben Stiller and also worked alongside Robin Williams. 2010 brought three new movies: comic Marmaduke, comedy How Do You Know, and Little Fockers. In Little Fockers, Wilson reunited with his former co-stars: Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and stunning Barbra Streisand.

Ben Stiller, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, and Owen Wilson

The standout moment of 2011 came when Wilson caught the attention of legendary filmmaker Woody Allen, who invited Owen for the leading role in the drama-comedy Midnight in Paris. Wilson essentially plays a version of himself - Hollywood screenwriter Gil Pender, who came to meet his fiancee's parents, and each night he's mysteriously transported back to the roaring 1920s, where he meets Salvador Dali, his literary idols F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. The movie was highly appreciated by critics at the Cannes Film Festival, where its premiere took place.

Trailer for Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson

Between 2006 and 2017, alongside his live-action hits and misses, Owen gladly worked on voiceover for animated characters. He voiced Lightning McQueen in all three Cars movies, coach Skip in Fantastic Mr. Fox, Reggie in the full-length animated movie Free Birds created using computer graphics. Still, Wilson considered his live-action film work and challenging roles his top priority.

Owen Wilson at the premiere of the animated movie Cars 3

Wilson grew tired of being typecast in comedic roles. In the drama thriller No Escape (2015), he plays American businessman Jack Dwyer, caught in the middle of a violent political coup in Southeast Asia with his family. His partners on set were Lake Bell (Mrs. Dwyer) and Pierce Brosnan (Hammond). Together, they struggle to survive the deadly chaos engulfing the country.

Owen Wilson's personal life

Despite being involved in several serious relationships, Owen Wilson remains single as he approaches his 50th birthday. In 2006, the You, Me and Dupree actor and screenwriter met Kate Hudson on set. Owen became so invested in the relationship that when Kate ended things, he was devastated and attempted suicide. After that, he avoided getting involved seriously with anyone else. Flirting? Sure, but that's about it.

His relationship with Jade Duell, a police officer at the US Supreme Court, lasted a bit over three years. She gave birth to Owen's first child, Robert Ford, but they couldn't keep their family together. The actor valued his freedom too much and, despite promising to care for their son, dove into new short-term affairs.

Owen Wilson and Jade Duell with their son

The media linked him to affairs with stars like Demi Moore, singer Sheryl Crow, and other famous women. Meanwhile, he was dating his personal trainer Caroline Lindqvist. The consequences soon became clear: in 2014, Caroline gave birth to Wilson's second son, Finn, despite being married to someone else. Despite accepting the child, the actor broke off the relationship.

Owen himself explained his unsuccessful attempts at a personal life with the fact that Hollywood's influence is just far too great. The pressure of making the right and definite choice pushes the actor to experiment, compare the women he's been within his search for the one, whom he, Hollywood's happiest blond, could marry.

His search for a life partner brought him together with Varunie Vongsvirates, a medical business development representative, in 2013. He dated her for five years. Just before Owen's 50th birthday, Varunie gave birth to baby Lyla on October 10, 2018, making him a father once again. Wilson requested a DNA test from the young mother, which confirmed he was indeed the father.

The future of this relationship remains uncertain, especially since some journalists have already labeled Varunie as an ex-girlfriend following Owen's reaction to the paternity question.

Owen Wilson now

After the success of the family drama Wonder, where he starred alongside Julia Roberts (Isabel Pullman) and played Nate Pullman, husband, and father of a child with an unusual genetic disease, Owen began work on a Shanghai Noon sequel. His partner, just like in 2000, is Jackie Chan. The action-comedy was rumored for a 2019 release.

The trailer of Wonder with Owen Wilson

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Linda Miller

Wilson is handsome, whenever I see him in the movies, I immediately know that there will be a cool comedy :) nice to watch

2021-05-17 12:42:46
Ramon Lee

Drillbit Taylor is also a cool movie with Owen Wilson. This movie is old but still cool

2021-05-03 10:06:13
Virginia Hanson

Ohh well, who does not remember Shanghai Noon :) a sensational action movie at one time. where by the way Wilson was filmed

2021-04-09 19:33:02
Minnie Quinn

When I see Owen and inmidiatly somehow everything become sunny :) cool actor

2021-03-16 09:22:58
Michael McKinney

Wilson is funny :) I didn`t notice any bad role of him

2021-02-24 17:54:02

Photos: Owen Wilson