Sean Patrick Thomas Biography
A talented actor who began to win due notice in the late '90s, Sean Patrick Thomas broke through to mainstream audiences with winning turns in such films as Cruel_Intentions (1999) and Save the Last Dance (2001). The son of immigrants from Guyana, Thomas was born in Wilmington, DE, in 1970. While attending the University of Virginia, where he studied English and planned to become a lawyer, Thomas decided to pursue a career in acting after auditioning for a student production of Lorraine_Hansberry's +A Raisin in the Sun.
Thomas broke into film with small roles in productions that included Courage_Under_Fire (1996), Conspiracy_Theory (1997), and Can't_Hardly_Wait (1998). In 1996, he further added to his acting credentials by earning an M.A. in drama from New York University. Relative fame and even a blush of notoriety greeted the actor in 1999, with a pivotal role in Cruel_Intentions, Roger_Kumble's free and loose adaptation of Choderlos De Laclos' -Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Co-starring alongside alpha-teens Sarah_Michelle_Gellar, Reese_Witherspoon, and Ryan_Phillippe in the torrid tale of lust, betrayal, and negligent parenting on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Thomas earned (literal) exposure as the cello teacher/illicit lover of one of the film's principle characters.
Even greater exposure followed for Thomas the subsequent year, when he was cast in a substantial role as Detective Temple Page on the critically acclaimed TV series The_District. Riding high, he then won his first starring role on the big screen in Save the Last Dance (2001), an interracial love story set in Chicago's South Side that featured him as a black high school student in love with a white classmate (Julia_Stiles). Although the film earned mixed reviews, it found an appreciative audience, and with it, a growing fan base for the young actor. Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Browse More Actors:
