Josh Lucas - Actors

Summary

"Josh Lucas" (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including "Glory Road" and "Poseidon".

Biography

Early life

Lucas was born "Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer"Lucas disclosed his full name on "The Tonight Show", May 3-4, 2006 in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of Michelle (née LeFevre), a nurse, and Don Maurer, an ER-doctor. At the time of his birth, his parents were living on an Indian reservation. Lucas grew up traveling the South with his parents (who were anti-nuclear activists) and younger siblings, two sisters and a brother; by the age of 13, he had lived in 30 different locations, including the Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. The family eventually settled in the lovely, small town of Gig Harbor, Washington. He attended Kopachuck Middle School. He later graduated from Gig Harbor High School in 1989. Lucas started acting in high school plays. He did not attend college, in order to pursue his acting career.

Career

One of Lucas' first, relatively unknown, feature roles was playing Jace 'Flash' Dillon in the cinematic PC flight simulator Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. In the game, Lucas is the cocky test pilot of an experimental new starfighter. If the player challenges him to a simulated duel and wins, he joins the player's flight squadron.

Lucas gained mainstream exposure after his roles in "Sweet Home Alabama", "A Beautiful Mind", and as Glenn Talbot in "Hulk". In 2005, he co-starred with Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel in the film "Stealth", which was considered a major financial disappointment, grossing $31 million domestically on a budget of $130 million. In early 2006, Lucas played Don Haskins, a renowned basketball coach, in "Glory Road". Lucas met and consulted with the real Haskins, as well as with several other famous basketball coaches, during filming.

During filming of his most recent film, "Poseidon", in which he plays its protagonist, Lucas snapped muscles on his left thumb during an accidental fall; he lost feeling in this thumb, and had to work with a rehabilitative physician. "Poseidon"s filming involved several dangerous shoots underwater and around fire, and Lucas has mentioned that during filming, he 'genuinely had moments... where I was like, 'Either I'm going to be killed or someone's gonna be killed' and that at one point he believed he was going to drown. "Poseidon" was released on May 12, 2006. "Poseidon" however was not a hit at the box office, grossing $60 million domestically and $181 million worldwide from a budget of $160 million.

Lucas has taken a brief break from acting after "Poseidon"s release. His next film, which began filming in the fall of 2006, will be a thriller based on the book "Who Killed Daniel Pearl?"; Lucas will play Pearl or a version of the book's author, Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Personal Life

Lucas is a YouthAIDS Ambassador. He 'first joined the YouthAIDS team when he shot the ALDO HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in April, 2005. Soon after, he officially accepted his role as a YouthAIDS Ambassador at the YouthAIDS 2005 Gala, Faces of Africa. HIV/AIDS prevention is particularly important to him as his mother 'has made a career counseling young men and women with the hopes of educating them about the ravishing and often deadly effects of this too common and easily preventable disease." "YouthAIDS.org"

Lucas has been mistaken for actor Matthew McConaughey in the past. "USAToday.com"