Jackie Earle Haley

Jackie Earle Haley's career can inspire any former child star or aspiring actor. As a teenager, he left an indelible impression on a generation of moviegoers when he played Kelly Leak, the motorcycle-riding, home run-hitting hellion in Michael Ritchie's classic comedy hit The Bad News Bears, reprising the role in two sequels. Director Peter Yates then cast him to play Moocher in the Academy Award-winning sleeper hit Breaking Away, a role he reprised for the television series version.

Mr. Haley's transition to working actor as an adult would prove elusive. After not having made a movie for over a decade, in 2005 he was cast by Steven Zaillian and Sean Penn to star alongside the latter actor in All the King's Men. He was able to return with an indelible portrayal of Ronnie McGorvey in Todd Field's Little Children, which earned him Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He was also voted the year's Best Supporting Actor by the New York Film Critics Circle, among other critics' groups.

Since then, he has starred for Martin Scorsese in Shutter Island, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio; for Steven Spielberg in Lincoln, with Daniel Day-Lewis; in Kent Alterman's Semi-Pro, with Will Ferrell; in Rowan Woods' Fragments; in Peter Landesman's Parkland; in José Padilha's RoboCop; in the silent feature film Louis, directed by Dan Pritzker; in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, alongside Johnny Depp; and as two fantasy/horror icons: Rorschach in Zack Snyder's epic Watchmen, and Freddy Krueger in Sam Bayer's reimagining of A Nightmare on Elm Street. He will next be seen in Nate Parker's film about Nat Turner, The Birth of a Nation.

Through two seasons of the comic book-derived adventure series Human Target, Mr. Haley's characterization of Guerrero was a fan favorite. Among his other works that have a fervent following are two movies that he made as a teenager: John Schlesinger's disturbing Hollywood tale The Day of the Locust; and Jack Smight's futuristic action tale Damnation Alley.

Mr. Haley directed his first feature film, Criminal Activities, a crime thriller that stars John Travolta, Dan Stevens, and Michael Pitt.

Focus Features