Johnathon Schaech was born on September 10, 1969 in Edgewood, Maryland. He attended the University of Maryland as an Economics major but soon discovered his new found passion for acting while filming various commercials in Baltimore.
Schaech decided to make the big move to Los Angeles to pursue his dream and trained under legendary acting coach Roy London. For his first film project, Schaech was sent to England to train with teachers from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts for the 1993 film SPARROW and soon landed his breakout role alongside Winona Ryder in the 1995 film HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT. Shortly after, he played the role of "Xavier Red" in Greg Araki's 1995 indie film THE DOOM GENERATION and from there received his big break when he starred alongside Tom Hanks and Liv Tyler as 'Jimmy Mattingly' in the 1996 hit THAT THING YOU DO which finally put him on Hollywood's map when he was featured as one of the most promising leading men on a 1996 VANITY FAIR cover also featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Benicio Del Toro.
Acting has proved to be an extremely successful career path for Schaech and he has since decided to use his stardom to further his philanthropic endeavors. His unsurpassed passion, intelligence and devotion to saving arts education in public schools have earned him a spot on the board of directors for the charity, Adopt the Arts, alongside Matt Sorum, Billy Bob Thornton, Juliette Lewis and John Stamos and has partnered with A-listers Jane Lynch, Steven Tyler, Matt Sorum, KISS and some of the largest YOUTUBE sensations to create the short film, "Epic School Battle," in order to shed light on arts education and to give children a voice.
He also actively supports TACA (Talking About Curing Autism), a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism. Schaech also recently made an appearance in "Tornado," the music video of the critically acclaimed, platinum-selling country group, Little Big Town.
Millennium Entertainment