JOHNATHON SCHAECH was born and raised in Edgewood, Maryland, and entered the University of Maryland to study Economics. He abruptly changed career paths, leaving the intended life as a lawyer behind in Baltimore, and moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Upon his arrival, Schaech studied with famed coach Roy London for four years.
Schaech recently wrapped a season on the new Fox series Time of Your Life, opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt and an independent feature "How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog" starring Kenneth Branagh, Robin Wright-Penn and Lynn Redgrave.
Additionally, this past pilot season, Johnathon starred as a young cop in the new CBS drama Partners and last fall starred with Kathleen Robertson and Matt Kesslar in Gregg Araki's newest film "Splendor," which was screened at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. In 1998 Schaech stared in five films including "Hush," co-starring Jessica Lange and Gwyneth Paltrow, "Welcome to Woop Woop" for director Stephan Elliott ("Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert") playing an irresistible New York con man who flees to Australia hoping to escape his troubles.
He was also recently seen in the Toronto Film Festival entry "Graceland" opposite Harvey Keitel in the story of an eccentric drifter (Keitel), claiming to be Elvis Presley. He also starred opposite Guy Pearce and Emily Lloyd in director Roberta Hanley's "Woundings," which was shown at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles. Schaech also starred in the title role of the legendary Houdini, which aired on TNT.
Schaech took a giant leap from his first small role in "15 Minutes," to leading man in Franco Zefferelli's "The Sparrow," which was filmed in Sicily and released internationally. He then starred in Grea Araki's "The Doom Generation" and then landed the role of Winona Ryder's love interest in "How to Make an American Quilt," followed by a starring role as a rock musician in Tom Hanks' film "That Thing You Do."