Cole Hauser

Biography

Cole Hauser was an American film and television actor who was best known for his roles in "School Ties" (1992), "Dazed and Confused" (1993) and "Good Will Hunting" (1997). Born into a show business family in Santa Barbara, California (one of his great grandfathers on his mom's side was Warner Bros. co-founder Harry Warner), Hauser practically had acting in his blood. 

It also helped that his mother ran a production company while his father was a working actor. His parents divorced when Cole was 2, and after moving around a lot with his mother, he spent a year living with his father, who taught him how to audition for film and TV parts. Hauser quickly became fascinated with acting and, at the age of 16, dropped out of high school to pursue acting full-time. 

He landed his very first film role at the age of 17 in "School Ties." That movie also just happened to star Ben Affleck and Matt Damon - both of whom would go on to become lifelong friends with Hauser. After the success of "School Ties," Hauser went on to appear in several popular films of the 1990s, including "Dazed and Confused" and "Higher Learning" (1995). 

Then in 1997, he reteamed with Affleck and Damon by appearing alongside them both in "Good Will Hunting," which would earn both Damon and Affleck their first Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay. Hauser continued appearing in films and TV shows throughout the 2000s, most notably "Pitch Black" (2000), "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003), and the Vince Vaughn comedy "The Break-Up" (2006). 

By the mid-2010s Hauser began appearing more regularly on TV. He nabbed recurring roles on "The Lizzie Borden Chronicles" (Lifetime, 2015) and "Rogue" (Audience, 2013-17), as well as the Paramount Network western "Yellowstone" (Paramount Network, 2018- ). "Yellowstone," which was created by Oscar-nominee Taylor Sheridan, and co-starred Kevin Costner, premiered on the Paramount Network in June of 2018.