Jesse Plemons
Jesse Plemons, February 2007
Born	Jesse Lon Plemons (1988-04-02) April 2, 1988 (age 24) Dallas, Texas, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1998–present

Jesse Lon Plemons^[1] (born April 2, 1988) is an American film and television actor best known for playing Landry Clarke on NBC's Friday Night Lights.

Career[link]

After appearing in the films Varsity Blues and All the Pretty Horses, and guest-starring on Walker, Texas Ranger and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Plemons' first prominent role was in the 2002 film Like Mike alongside Bow Wow and Jonathan Lipnicki.^[2] He later went on to appear in Children on Their Birthdays and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, with guest roles on the television series Judging Amy, The Lyon's Den, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Grey's Anatomy between 2003 and 2006.^[2]

In 2006, Plemons joined the ensemble cast of NBC's television series Friday Night Lights, detailing the fictional events surrounding a high school football team in Dillon, Texas. In the show's first season, his character Landry Clarke provided comic relief as the best friend of football quarterback Matt Saracen, though Landry himself was not on the team.^[3] He says that, among the cast and crew, it was a joke that Plemons played football better than most of the other actors even though his character was one of the few that did not play.^[3] Landry joined the football team in the second season, and Plemons, having played high school football before, told director Jeffrey Reiner that he would do his own stunts.^[4] In his first football scene, Plemons as Landry had to "get the crap beat out of [him] over and over and over again".^[4] When hit by co-star Taylor Kitsch, his chin split open and he had to have 11 stitches.^[4] He is the second-youngest main cast member on the series, behind Aimee Teegarden.^[3]

He reunited with Kitsch and Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg in the 2012 film Battleship. Berg, who directed the film, explained he knew how comfortable Kitsch was with Plemons, "I know that he’s really good for Taylor and he makes Taylor better. So, I wrote that whole part for Jesse." He added, "I never thought of it as a Friday Night Lights reunion. I thought of it as protection, bringing a trusted family member in."^[5]

In May 2012, Plemons joined the cast of Breaking Bad for its fifth and final season.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Plemons was raised in Mart, Texas. He currently resides in Austin.^[7]. In 2007, he graduated from the Texas Tech University Independent School District, a distance learning program, which allowed him to earn his high school diploma.^[8] Plemons' three favorite books are To the Actor by Michael Chekhov, Building a Character by Constantin Stanislavski and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. His favorite films are On The Waterfront, Waiting for Guffman and Lonesome Dove. His favorite songs are "Love in Vain" by Robert Johnson, "The Light" by Common and "Carolina in my Mind" by James Taylor.^[9] He also plays guitar and sings in the band Cowboy and Indian.^[3]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jesse Plemons at the Internet Movie Database
• Jesse Plemons at NBC site

Detail of Jesse from the Stained Glass window of All Saints Church, Hove, Sussex, England.

Jesse ( /ˈdʒɛs.iː/^[1]), Eshai or Yishai, (Hebrew: יִשַׁי, Modern Yishay Tiberian Yīšáy, meaning "God exists" or "God's gift"; Arabic: يَسَّى‎ Yassa; Greek: Ἰεσσαί Iessai; Latin: Isai, Jesse) is the father of the David, who became the king of the Israelites. His son David is sometimes called simply "Son of Jesse" (Ben Yishai).

Jesse was the son of Obed and the grandson of Ruth and of Boaz. He lived in Bethlehem, in Judah, and was of the Tribe of Judah, he was a farmer, breeder and owner of sheep. He was a prominent resident of the town of Bethlehem.^[2] Jesse is important in Judaism because he was the father of the most famous king of Israel. He is important in Christianity, in part because he is in the Old Testament and mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Jesse in 1 Samuel[link]

Jesse is stated as having eight sons, including David the youngest. Among his grandchildren were the three sons of Zeruiah, Abishai, Joab and Ashashel. One day the prophet Samuel came to Bethlehem sent by God, to anoint the next king of Israel. Ostensibly, his visit to Bethlehem was to offer a sacrifice to God. He used that excuse because he was afraid that Saul might kill him if he suspected the true reason for his arrival in Bethlehem. Samuel offered a sacrifice with Jesse and then went to his house, where he sanctified him and his family. The prophet asked Jesse to present his sons, after seeing them, he realized that God has not chosen any of them. Then he said to Jesse if he had any other sons, Jesse told him that David the youngest was tending the flock. The prophet then asked for him, waited and when he came, God asked the prophet to anoint him as king over Israel.

Some time later king Saul was suffering from depression and melancholy, asked Jesse for his son to play the harp for him since he heard David plays the harp beautifully. Jesse sent his son alongside some gifts for the king, the king was taken with David's harp playing that he asked Jesse to keep him in his court to play for him whenever he was depressed. Later on Jesse sent his son with gifts to be given to his older brothers who were to fight war against the Philistines and, to the captain too. Years later when David fled to the desert away from Saul, who sought to kill David in order for him to stay in power and not have his throne be taken away from him. David, worried about the safety of his parents, went to Mizpah in Moab, to ask permission from the king to allow his father Jesse and his mother to stay under the royal protection of the king, they stayed there till Jesse's son's fortunes took a turn for the better.

Jesse in Isaiah[link]

The name Jesse is referenced in the Old Testament, and in particular the passages of Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verses 1-3:

Also Chapter 11, Verse 10:

These are two of the verses regarded by Christians as prophecy of the advent of Jesus, whom they consider to be the Christ and Messiah. These two prophesies are regarded by Bahá'ís to refer to Bahá'u'lláh, alleged to also have arisen from "the stump of Jesse."^[5][6]

The Tree of Jesse[link]

From the eleventh century the Tree of Jesse has been portrayed in religious illuminations, manuscripts, wall paintings, wood and stone carvings (including a grave marker), stained glass windows, floor tiles and embroidery. In the representation of the Tree, it is usual for Jesse to be portrayed recumbent with a tree rising from his body, and the ancestors of Christ portrayed in its branches with Prophets and Christ at the summit. The earliest illustrated manuscripts did not always depict Jesse or Christ. Not all illustrations include the same number of characters; this depends upon the size of the area provided, such as seven light windows or three light windows.

Jesse in 1 Chronicles[link]

In the Book of Chronicles the names of only seven of Jesse's sons are listed, including David, as well as the names of two of his daughters, Zeruiah and Abigail. Evidently (from 1 Samuel 16) Jesse had more sons than these seven, and it is likely that he had more daughters as well.

Geographical usage[link]

The "Geza of Jesse" is a plateau located just north of the valley of Jezreel in Israel said to have been originally cleared and settled by descendants of David.

See also[link]

	Judaism portal
	Christianity portal

• Tree of Jesse..
• List of people named Jesse

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

• Tree of Jesse Directory
• BehindTheName.com Jesse

Taylor Kitsch
Kitsch at the John Carter premiere in Los Angeles, California, February 2012
Born	(1981-04-08) April 8, 1981 (age 31) Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Actor, Model
Years active	2002–present

Taylor Kitsch (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor and model. He is best known for his role as Tim Riggins in the NBC television series Friday Night Lights and for his role as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He also starred in big-budgeted films John Carter and Battleship.

Early life and modeling career[link]

Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. His mother worked for the BC liquor board and his father in construction.^[1][2] He has two older brothers and two younger half sisters, and was raised by his single mother.^[3] He played junior ice hockey for the Langley Hornets in the British Columbia Hockey League before a knee injury ended his career.^[4]

Kitsch moved to New York in 2002 after receiving an opportunity to pursue modeling with IMG and studied acting there as well. While in New York, he became a nutritionist and a personal trainer.^[5] For a time in New York he was homeless and took to sleeping on subway trains in the middle of the night.^[6]

In 2004, he relocated to Los Angeles where he modeled for Diesel and Abercrombie & Fitch.^[6][7] He also appears in the limited edition coffee table book About Face by celebrity photographer John Russo.^[8][9]

Acting career[link]

Kitsch starred as football player Tim Riggins in the NBC series Friday Night Lights, which was created by Peter Berg.

He played Pogue Parry in The Covenant alongside Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, Toby Hemingway, Jessica Lucas and Chace Crawford.

In February 2008, he signed on to play Gambit in the X-Men franchise spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine, released in May 2009. Of the fan-favorite character of Gambit, Kitsch states, "I knew of him, but I didn't know the following he had. I'm sure I'm still going to be exposed to that. I love the character, I love the powers, and I love what they did with him. I didn't know that much, but in my experience, it was a blessing to go in and create my take on him. I'm excited for it, to say the least."^[10]

In 2009, Kitsch signed up for Steven Silver's The Bang Bang Club, a historical drama set in South Africa which documents the final bloody days of the apartheid.^[11] He had to lose 35 pounds in two months to play the role of photojournalist Kevin Carter, alongside Ryan Phillipe and Malin Åkerman.^[12]

In November 2010, The Hollywood Reporter named Kitsch as one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" into taking over Hollywood as the new "A-List".^[13][14]

Kitsch's first lead role in a film was in Disney's John Carter, based on the novel A Princess of Mars, which was released in March 2012. He played the title role of John Carter, a Confederate soldier who gets transported to Mars. The film made back less than a third of its budget domestically, and worldwide grosses barely recouped its production and marketing costs.^[15] Despite this, Kitsch said, "I'm very proud of John Carter. Box office doesn't validate me as a person, or as an actor."^[16]

In May 2012, he starred in Peter Berg's Battleship, an adaptation of Hasbro's eponymous guessing game, as Naval commander Alex Hopper.^[17] It, too, failed at the domestic box office, boasting the worst opening in history for a fim that cost more than $200 million. Again, international revenues are expected to help mitigate its performance.^[18] The film marked his reunion with Berg and former co-star Jesse Plemons, who also starred in Friday Night Lights.^[19] In June 2012, he will play in Oliver Stone's Savages opposite Blake Lively, Salma Hayek and Uma Thurman.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Taylor Kitsch

• Taylor Kitsch at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Its only attribution is to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

Zach Gilford (born January 14, 1982) is an American actor best known for his role as Matt Saracen on the NBC television drama series Friday Night Lights. Gilford starred alongside Terrell Owens in the 2008 NBA Celebrity All-Star game.