JON HEDER (Clark) is perhaps most widely recognized for his critically acclaimed performance as the title character in the 2004 independent hit Napoleon Dynamite. In the film, Heder portrayed an alienated teen helping his new friend win the class presidency in a small town high school while also dealing with his bizarre family. Premiering at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Napoleon Dynamite was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. After a major bidding war, Fox Searchlight and MTV Films partnered up to distribute the film, which grossed more than $40 million domestically, became a top selling DVD and a pop culture phenomenon. At the 2004 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, Napoleon Dynamite was named Best Feature Film and has also garnered several additional awards for Heder. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Heder went home with the Best Musical Performance for his “Election Dance,” as well as the award for Breakthrough Male. The film also won for Best Movie.
Heder was most recently seen in Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. This summer, Heder will star in School for Scoundrels opposite Billy Bob Thornton for director Todd Phillips. He will also be heard as part of an ensemble cast in another summer release, Columbia Pictures' animated fantasy Monster House, along with Steve Buscemi, Kathleen Turner, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Upcoming for Heder are Mama’s Boy opposite Diane Keaton and another animated project Columbia Pictures' Surf’s Up.
Raised in Salem, Oregon, part of a family of six children, Heder recently relocated to Los Angeles with his wife. A graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in 3-D Animation, Heder began his college career in the Film Studies program. There, he also acted in several student productions and was the lead in the award-winning short film Peluca, which was written and directed by Napoleon Dynamite helmer Jared Hess.
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