Jon Heder

Jon Heder was born on October 26, 1977, in Fort Collins, Colorado, alongside his identical twin brother Dan. While studying computer animation at Brigham Young University (BYU), he met fellow student Jared Hess and starred in Hess's nine-minute student short film 'Peluca'. Hess expanded the short into the feature-length indie comedy 'Napoleon Dynamite' (2004), casting Heder in the title role.

Made on a shoestring budget of roughly $400,000, 'Napoleon Dynamite' was acquired at the Sundance Film Festival by Fox Searchlight and exploded into an international cult phenomenon, grossing $46 million. Heder's idiosyncratic line deliveries ('Gosh!', 'Idiot!') and climactic, show-stopping dance routine to Jamiroquai's 'Canned Heat' became legendary pop-culture staples, winning him the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Musical Sequence. Heder capitalized on his breakthrough by co-starring opposite Will Ferrell in the hit ice-skating comedy 'Blades of Glory' (2007), starring with Billy Bob Thornton in 'School for Scoundrels' (2006), and voicing prominent animated characters in 'Monster House' (2006) and 'Surf\'s Up' (2007).