| Jake Busey | |
| Birth Name: | William Jacob Busey |
| Birth Date: | June 15, 1971 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Yearsactive: | 1978–present |
| Partner: | April Hutchinson |
| Children: | 1 |
| Father: | Gary Busey |
William Jacob Busey (born June 15, 1971) is an American actor. Among his most prominent roles have been serial killer Johnny Bartlett in 1996's The Frighteners, Ace Levy in 1997's Starship Troopers, Kyle Brenner in 2001's Tomcats, Aiden Tanner in the 2014–2016 TV series , and Sean H. Keyes in the Predator franchise.
Busey is the son of actor Gary Busey.[1] Busey spent his childhood on film sets and touring with bands in which his father sometimes played, such as Leon Russell, Willie Nelson and Little Feat.
Busey's motion picture debut was in the 1978 crime film Straight Time with his father Gary, along with Dustin Hoffman and Theresa Russell. His two most notable appearances are as the murderous religious fanatic opposite Jodie Foster in Contact and as smart-mouthed soldier Ace Levy in Starship Troopers, both in 1997. He appeared in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005 film adaptations of the novel by H. G. Wells, alongside C. Thomas Howell. Additionally, he has had major roles Peter Jackson's The Frighteners with Michael J. Fox (1996),Tomcats (2001) opposite Jerry O'Connell and Shannon Elizabeth, in James Mangold's thriller Identity (2003), with C. Thomas Howell in The Hitcher II (2003), and Road House 2 (2006). Busey played the role of "Backfire" in Patrick Durham's movie Cross which was released directly to DVD and download in May 2011, and stars in the independent film Don't Pass Me By.
He has also had minor parts in films like Windrunner: A Spirited Journey starring Jason Wiles, Christmas with the Kranks starring Tim Allen, I'll Do Anything, Enemy of the State, The Killing Jar, The Stoned Age, PCU, Fast Sofa with Jennifer Tilly and Natasha Lyonne, and Reaper with Danny Trejo and Vinnie Jones. He also had a main role on the television series Shasta McNasty. Busey portrayed Professor Aiden "Sex Machine" Tanner since 2013 in .[2]
He also provided the voice of The Radioman in the 2012 video game and of the DJ of Resistance Radio in . Additionally, he voiced Teenage Tom during flashback scenes in the 1989 film Hider in the House which his father, Gary Busey starred in as Tom Sykes. In 2016, Busey starred in the feature film Deserted.
In 2018, Busey appeared in two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. portraying Mack's old friend Tony Caine. Busey later joined the cast of Stranger Things in the third season portraying a journalist named Bruce.[3]
In 2012, he and his girlfriend April Hutchinson had a daughter, Autumn.[4]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Straight Time | Henry Darin | ||
| 1982 | Barbarosa | Cook Boy | ||
| 1989 | Hider in the House | Teenage Tom Sykes (voice) | ||
| 1993 | Shimmer | Richard Halverson | ||
| 1994 | Foot Shooting Party | Unknown | Short film | |
| S.F.W. | Morrow Streeter | |||
| The Stoned Age | Jimmy Muldoon | |||
| PCU | Mersh | |||
| I'll Do Anything | Unknown | |||
| 1995 | Quiet Days in Hollywood | Curt | ||
| Windrunner | Dave Promisco | |||
| 1996 | The Frighteners | Johnny Charles Bartlett | ||
| Twister | Mobile Lab Technician | |||
| 1997 | Contact | Joseph | ||
| Starship Troopers | Private "Ace" Levy | |||
| 1998 | Black Cat Run | Deputy Norm Babbitt | ||
| Enemy of the State | NSA Agent Krug | |||
| Home Fries | Angus | |||
| 1999 | Held Up | Beaumont | ||
| Tail Lights Fade | Bruce | |||
| 2001 | Tomcats | Kyle Brenner | ||
| 2002 | The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest | Darrell | ||
| 2003 | Identity | Robert Maine | ||
| Lost Junction | Matt | |||
| Jack | Direct-to-video | |||
| 2004 | Christmas with the Kranks | Officer Treen | ||
| 2005 | H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds | Lieutenant Samuelson | Direct-to-video | |
| The Rain Makers | Shaw | Associate producer | ||
| 2006 | Road House 2 | Bill "Wild Bill" Decarie | Direct-to-video | |
| Brian | ||||
| Broken | Vince | |||
| 2008 | Time Bomb | Jason Philby | Direct-to-video | |
| 2010 | The Killing Jar | Greene | ||
| 2011 | Cross | "Backfire" | Direct-to-video; Also producer | |
| Arbor Demon | Sean | |||
| 2012 | Play James Play | Paul | ||
| Don't Pass Me By | Fred Norwick | |||
| Nazis at the Center of the Earth | Adrian Reistad | Direct-to-video | ||
| Oscar (voice) | Direct-to-video | |||
| 2013 | Girl Meets Boy | Richard | ||
| Sparks | "Sledge" | |||
| 2014 | Reaper | Bill | ||
| 2015 | Most Likely to Die | Tarkin | ||
| 2016 | Last Man Club | Jim "Diamond Jim" | ||
| Deserted | Clay | |||
| Enclosure (aka Arbor Demon) | Sean | |||
| 2017 | Dead Again in Tombstone | Colonel Jackson Boomer | ||
| 2018 | The Predator | Sean Keyes | ||
| A Boy Called Sailboat | Mr. Bing | |||
| 2019 | Ghost in the Graveyard | Charlie Sullivan | ||
| 2020 | A Soldier's Revenge | Captain McCalister | ||
| TBA | Rust | Drum Parker[5] | Post-production |
| Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Cruel Doubt | Student | TV movie | |
| 1994 | Motorcycle Gang | Jake | TV movie | |
| 1994 | Tales from the Crypt | Frank | Episode: "Surprise Party" | |
| 1999 | Shasta McNasty | Dennis | Main role | |
| 2001 | Jeremiah | Jake Davenport | ||
| 2002 | The Twilight Zone | Vincent Hansen | Episode: "Chosen" | |
| 2004 | Charmed | Warlock | Episode: "WitchStock" | |
| 2005 | Code Breakers | Straub | TV movie | |
| 2009 | The Mentalist | Vern Nichols | Episode: "Red Badge" | |
| 2012 | The Finder | Bobby the Twin | Episode: "Swing and a Miss" | |
| 2013 | Psych | FBI Agent | Episode: "Santabarbaratown 2" | |
| 2014–2016 | Professor Aiden "Sex Machine" Tanner | 26 episodes | ||
| 2015 | Justified | Lewis "The Wiz" Mago | Episode: "The Trash and the Snake" | |
| Texas Rising | Samuel Wallace | 2 episodes | ||
| 2017 | Day 5 | Carl | Episode: "Lucid" | |
| Ray Donovan | Acid Man | 3 episodes | ||
| Freakish | Earl | 5 episodes | ||
| 2018 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Tony Caine | 2 episodes | |
| NCIS | Whit Dexter | Episode: "Handle With Care" | ||
| 2019 | Stranger Things | Bruce Lowe | 5 episodes | |
| L.A.'s Finest | Bishop Duvall | 5 episodes | ||
| Mr. Robot | Freddy Lomax | Episode: "401 Unauthorized" | ||
| Swamp Thing | Shaw | Episode: "Loose Ends" | ||
| 2022 | Rusty Filmore | Episode: "Star Crossed" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Robert "Radioman" Darden | Voice role | ||
| 2016 | DJ of Resistance Radio | Voice role | ||
| 2020 | Sean Keyes | Voice role |