Benjamin A. Foster (born October 29, 1980) is an American actor. His films include The Punisher (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand and Alpha Dog (both 2006), 30 Days of Night (2007), The Messenger and Pandorum (both 2009), The Mechanic (2011), Contraband (2012), Kill Your Darlings and Lone Survivor (both 2013), The Program (2015), Warcraft (2016), and Leave No Trace (2018). He has won an Independent Spirit Award for portraying Tanner Howard in Hell or High Water (2016). He also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin in Six Feet Under (2003–05).
Foster has often received praise from critics for his "intense" and "unhinged" performances in numerous films. Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz described Foster in 2016 as "one of those actors who makes even a bad film worth seeing. Sometimes he suggests the film you'd rather be watching."
Early life
Foster was born in Boston on October 29, 1980, the son of Steven and Gillian Foster ( Kirwan), both restaurant owners. He has described his parents as "free-spirited, Vietnam-protesting hippies". He has a younger brother, Jon, who is also an actor. In 1984, the Foster family relocated to Fairfield, Iowa when their Boston home was broken into by robbers while they were present. His paternal grandparents were Celia (née Segal) and Abraham Foster, who was a prominent judge and politician in Boston; their families emigrated from the Russian Empire. Foster also has Irish ancestry. As a youth he attended Interlochen Arts Camp and studied theatre there.
Career
thumb|Foster at the [[Toronto Film Festival in 2015]]
Foster began working as an actor when he was 14 years old.
In 2001, he acted in the film Get Over It. Foster also had a recurring role as Russell Corwin (22 episodes) in the HBO original series, Six Feet Under.
In 2007, he played cold-blooded killer and outlaw Charlie Prince in the Western film 3:10 to Yuma. In February 2013, he was cast to replace Shia LaBeouf in the Broadway play Orphans as his first theater performance. In May 2014, it was announced that he would star opposite Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby in Benedict Andrews' new production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic in London. The same production closed on September 19, 2014 and transferred to New York in 2016, opening at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn.
Foster played Lance Armstrong in the biopic The Program, and co-starred in the fantasy adventure Warcraft, released in June 2016. Also in 2016, Foster appeared in Hell or High Water as the dangerous Tanner Howard, opposite Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges. He reunited with director Barry Levinson to make The Survivor in 2021. In 2025, Foster played James V. Martin, the coach and abusive husband of boxer Christy Martin, in the biopic Christy. Sonia Rao of The Washington Post wrote that Foster "tries his best" to provide a nuanced portrayal of Martin but that his "efforts are thwarted by an uninspired script".
He is next set to play Evel Knievel in The Stunt Driver.
Personal life
Foster was in a relationship with German actress Antje Traue, his co-star in the movie Pandorum. Traue moved to Los Angeles and lived with Foster until their relationship ended around 2010. In early 2012, Foster began a relationship with actress Robin Wright. They became engaged in early 2014, but called off their engagement in November 2014. Foster and Wright reconciled in early 2015. In August 2015, they announced they were ending their second engagement.
In October 2016, Foster announced his engagement to actress Laura Prepon. Prepon gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Ella, in August 2017. Foster and Prepon married in June 2018. Their son was born in February 2020. Foster filed for divorce from Prepon on November 12, 2024, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
After filming of the movie Here ended, five members of the cast and crew, including Foster, got tattooed with the letters T.I.A., which stand for "This is Armenia". Foster practices transcendental meditation.
Acting credits
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:100%;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1996
| Kounterfeit
| Travis
|
|-
| 1999
| Liberty Heights
| Ben Kurtzman
|
|-
| 2001
| Get Over It
| Berke Landers
| Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry <small>(shared with Kirsten Dunst)</small>
|-
| rowspan="3"|2002
| The Laramie Project
| Aaron Kreifels
|
|-
| Big Trouble
| Matt Arnold
|
|-
| Phone Booth
| Big Q
| Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="2"|2003
| Northfork
| Cod
|
|-
| 11:14
| Eddie
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2004
| The Punisher
| Spacker Dave
|
|-
| The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
| Fleshy Boy
|
|-
| 2005
| Hostage
| Marshall "Mars" Krupcheck
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2006
| Alpha Dog
| Jake Mazursky
|Young Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Performance—Male
|-
| X-Men: The Last Stand
| Warren Worthington III / Angel
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2007
| 3:10 to Yuma
| Charlie Prince
|Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor <small>(2nd place)</small><br>Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor <small>(2nd place)</small><br>Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor<br>Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor<br>Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|-
| 30 Days of Night
| The Stranger
|
|-
| 2008
| Birds of America
| Jay
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2009
| The Messenger
| Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery
| Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor<br>Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor<br>Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor<br>Nominated—Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor
|-
| Blink
| AJ
| Short film
|-
| Pandorum
| Bower
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|2011
| The Mechanic
| Steve McKenna
|
|-
| Here
| Will Shepard
|
|-
| 360
| Tyler
|
|-
| Rampart
| Terry
| Also producer
|-
| 2012
| Contraband
| Sebastian Abney
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|2013
| North of South, West of East
| Cass
|
|-
| Kill Your Darlings
| William S. Burroughs
|
|-
| Ain't Them Bodies Saints
| Patrick Wheeler
|
|-
| Lone Survivor
| Matthew "Axe" Axelson
|
|-
| 2015
| The Program
| Lance Armstrong
| Limited release
|-
| rowspan="4"|2016
| The Finest Hours
| Seaman Richard Livesey
|
|-
| Hell or High Water
| Tanner Howard
| Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male<br>San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor<br>Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble<br>Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble<br>Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor<br>Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actor<br>Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
|-
| Warcraft
| Medivh
|
|-
| Inferno
| Bertrand Zobrist
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2017
| Rock'n Roll
| Ben Foster
|
|-
| Hostiles
| Sergeant Charles Wills
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2018
| Leave No Trace
| Will
|
|-
| Galveston
| Roy Cady
|
|-
| rowspan=4|2022
| The Contractor
| Mike
|
|-
| Hustle
| Vince Merrick
|
|-
| Medieval
| Jan Žižka
|
|-
| Emancipation
| Fassel
|
|-
| 2023
| Finestkind
| Tom
|
|-
| rowspan=2| 2024
| Sharp Corner
| Josh McCall
|
|-
| King Ivory
| George 'Smiley' Greene
|
|-
| rowspan=3| 2025
| Long Day's Journey into Night
| Jamie Tyrone
|
|-
| Christy
| James V. Martin
|
|-
| Motor City
|Reynolds
|
|-
| rowspan="4"
|
|
| Post-production; also executive producer
|-
|
|
| Post-production
|-
|
| Evel Knievel
| Post-production
|-
|
|
| Post-production
|-
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:100%;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1996–1997
| Flash Forward
| Tucker "Tuck" James
| Lead role; 26 episodes<br>Nominated—Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series (1997, 1998)
|-
| rowspan="3"|1998
| You Wish
| Earl
| Episode: "Future Shock"
|-
| I've Been Waiting for You
| Charlie
| Television film
|-
| Breakfast with Einstein
| Ryan
| Television film
|-
| 1999–2000
| Freaks and Geeks
| Eli
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2000
| Family Law
| Jason Nelson
| Episode: "A Mother's Son"
|-
| 2001–2002
| Boston Public
| Max Warner
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2002
| Bang Bang You're Dead
| Trevor Adams
| Television film<br>Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming
|-
| 2003–2005
| Six Feet Under
| Russell Corwin
| 22 episodes (1 uncredited)<br>Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2004)<br>Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2005)
|-
| 2005
| '
| Darren Foldes
| Episode: "The Last Goodbye"
|-
| 2007
| My Name Is Earl
| Glenn
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2012
| Robot Chicken
| Orville Redenbacher /<br />Man from the Vegetarian Future
| Voice; episode: "Executed by the State"
|-
| 2021
| The Survivor
| Harry Haft
| Television film; also executive producer<br>Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie
|}
Stage
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Venue
! Notes
|-
| 2013
| Orphans
| Treat
| Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
| Broadway
|-
| 2014
| A Streetcar Named Desire
| Stanley Kowalski
| Young Vic
|
|}