The American actor, screenwriter and director Peter Weller is best known to the Russian audience for his roles in the films “The Adventures of Bakaru Banzai: Through the Eighth Dimension” and “Police Robot” with his sequel “Robocop-2”). However, the work of this celebrity is not limited to only these iconic ribbons. The actor starred in more than sixty films, and not always in the role of the protagonist. Therefore, in this article we will list only the key milestones in his work. Recently, the actor is increasingly standing "on the other side of the camera" - he writes scripts and is engaged in directing. A characteristic feature of Peter Weller is that he never believes that learning for him is too late. Not so long ago, he graduated from another university. Now, in addition to the set, it can be found in the classrooms of the University of Syracuse, where the professor teaches literature and fine arts.
Childhood
Peter Weller (Peter Frederick Weller) was born on the twenty-fourth of June 1947 in the town of Stevens Point, in Wisconsin (USA), in a Catholic family. Mother, Dorothy, was a simple housewife, but in her family until the third generation all were musicians, and she herself played the piano beautifully. The father of the future actor, Frederick Weller, was a military pilot. In connection with the service of the head of the family, little Peter often changed his place of residence. When his father retired, he settled in the city of San Antonio (Texas) and became a lawyer. There Peter graduated from high school. He could not immediately decide for himself what he should become. He, like his mother, loved music. In school, the boy even played the trumpet in a jazz orchestra. But he was fond of acting. After some hesitation, the young man entered the University of North Texas. There he was educated in the field of theatrical skill. After that, he graduated from the second university - the American Academy of Dramatic Art.
Carier start
As is often the case with good actors, Peter Weller's way to the wide screen lay through the stage and television. He began working back in 1973, but the debut in the movie can be called 1979. Then the actor starred in the western "Butch and Sundance: The Early Days" directed by Richard Lester. The role was small: Peter Weller played the representative of the law. More notable was his work in the film “How It Comes Away, It Will Respond” (friend Diane Keaton). The horror film “The Unknown Creature” by George Pan Cosmatos and the fantastic thriller “The Adventures of Bakaru Banzai: Through the Eighth Dimension” by W. D. Richter opened the doors to the actor to the wide world of cinema and provided the main roles. In the last film, viewers saw the actor in the guise of a young neurosurgeon.
Peter Weller: Robocop
We can say that Paul Verhoeven made the world famous actor. He decided to invite Peter Weller to the main role in his action movie "Robot Cop" (the original name of the film is "RoboCop"). The director was bribed by the actor’s characteristic appearance: a long face and cold eyes the color of the North Sea. It was a hell of a job. As the actor himself recalls, filming was carried out in the summer, in the heat. Only face makeup took more than three hours. In the costume, the actor felt as if inside a blast furnace. But the film was a resounding success, so the director immediately took up the sequel. The suit for the robot policeman was made more “humane” for Peter Weller. But working at RoboCop-2 disappointed the actor. He saw all the flaws in the script. As he warned, the masterpiece from the sequel did not work, and the actor promised that he would never again act in the role of a robot policeman. And when the invitation to shoot “RoboCop-3” came, he refused, citing participation in “Lunch Naked”.
Filmography of Peter Weller
The whole world now associated the actor with Alex Murphy, a mechanized policeman. But this was only one of the peaks that Peter Weller conquered. Films in which the actor was embodied in the main character or played a supporting role, are very numerous. We will name only the most iconic ones. This is “Leviathan” (Stephen Beck), “Cat Slayer” (George Moran), “Naked Lunch” (Bill Lee), “Screamers” (Joe Hendrickson), “Hour of Shadows” (Stuart Cheppel). Brilliantly played the actor father Stefan in "Prince Dracula", Driscoll in "Sin-Eater", Tom Newman in "Prey". In the two thousandths, Weller increasingly began to give preference to television. He starred in the TV series Odyssey 5 (Chuck Taggart), in the fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise (John Frederick Paxton), in 24 (Chris Henderson).
Screenwriter and Director
Over the years, Peter Weller increasingly liked not to repeat memorized remarks, but to create them himself. Acting success allowed him to test himself as a director and screenwriter. He is happy to do in this field. As a result of such work, the series “The Slaughter Department” and “Odyssey-5”, the television short film “Partners”, in which Peter Weller was the director and screenwriter, were released. Films with his participation continue to delight the audience. Among recent works, it should be noted “The Eye of the Dragon” (Mr. Wi), “Retribution” (Admiral A. Marcus), “Slave Trade” (Costello). On the History Channel, the actor leads the popular science series "How Empires Were Created."
Personal life
For a long time Peter Weller remained a bachelor. Finally, in 2006, when he was fifty-nine years old, he decided to legalize relations with his long-time girlfriend, actress Shari Stow. So far, a couple of children have not. The actor smoked and still continues to be committed to this bad habit. And even more. Contrary to the fashion trend, he defends the right of smokers to live the way they want. The actor has received many awards during his long career. These are “Independent Spirit Evard”, “Saturn”, Genie Award and others, not counting the numerous nominations.