Close Up

Jackie Earle Haley

 

Born in Northridge, California, 14 July 1961. Jackie became an actor at age 5, appearing in commercials and TV shows but it was in the 1976 baseball movie ‘The Bad News Bears’, playing Kelly Leak, that got the attention of Hollywood and his career took off and was widely accepted as a child star; making it to #87 of VH1’s top 100 Greatest Kid Stars. He reprised his role of Leak twice more in The Bad News Bears in Training and The Bad News Bears in Japan.

He was a popular actor, mixing with the likes of Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Johnny Depp. It was the same audition that Depp got chosen for A Nightmare on Elm Street that saw Haley try out for Freddy Krueger; that went to Robert England. Haley would go on to take on the role of Krueger in the 2010 remake, a film so bad, it halted the reboot of the franchise.

He was carving out a decent resume when he decided to walk away from Hollywood in 1993; but was coaxed back by friend Sean Penn to play bodyguard Sugar Boy in 2006’s ‘All The King’s Men’. He also won critical acclaim that same year for his role as a paroled sex offender in ‘Little Children’; which saw him nominated for an Academy Award.

This gave him a new love for acting and a resurgence for greater roles saw him quickly become a go to actor for tough characters.

In 2009 he took on the role of Rorschach, in Watchmen; based on the Alan Moore and Dave Gibson graphic novel, that was supposed to be unfilmable. The character of Rorschach is so layered and so deep, it took years to cast it; eventually landing in Haley’s lap. He justified his casting ten fold and it is one of the greatest performances in motion picture history.

In the mainstream he is very much one of those actors you recognize but can never recall their name. For film lovers, like myself, Haley is a great face to see and usually a sign of quality to come.

In 2014, he took on the role of Mattox in Jose Padilha's remake of Robocop. The film sadly recieved a brutal takedown by the critics and Padilha vowed never to work in Hollywood ever again, as his darker vision got watered down and reduced to a film that would allow a younger audience to see it.

It is in no way as bad as made out and Haley puts in a superb performance as the skeptic military tactician, out to prove the Robocop programme is a bad idea.

Sadly, the roles have been drying up of late and his average score on IMDb is fairly low, but nine times out of ten, Haley puts in a great performance.

Actor trivia

Once took on the role of Adrian in ‘Oh, No! Not THEM!’, a US remake of ‘The Young Ones’. It was only a pilot and was never picked up.

Has two children: Chris Haley (born 1986) and Olivia Haley (born 1998).

Has a black belt in Kempo and Tae Kwon Do.

Met his third wife, Amelia Cruz, in San Antonio, Texas; where they currently.