Jason Ritter

Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor.

Ritter was born on February 17, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, to actors Nancy Morgan and John Ritter.

He is a grandson of actors Tex Ritter, who died six years before Ritter was born, and Dorothy Fay.

His stepmother is actress Amy Yasbeck.

Ritter has three siblings, including actor Tyler Ritter.

Ritter appeared as a toddler in the opening credits of his father's show, Three's Company.

He attended middle and high school at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, with Simon Helberg, who became his roommate at NYU.

Ritter attended and graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied at the Atlantic Theater Company.

He later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Ritter made his professional acting debut at age 10, playing Harry Neal Baum in the 1990 television movie The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story.

Several years later, he had a supporting role as Martin Brockett in the 1999 film Mumford, a dramedy directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

Ritter's film work throughout the early 2000s included prominent parts in teen-oriented projects such as Swimfan (2002), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and Raise Your Voice (2004).

Ritter's film credits include Swimfan (2002), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Happy Endings (2005), The Education of Charlie Banks (2007), W. (2008), The Meddler (2015), The Tale (2018), and Frozen II (2019).

Ritter is married to actress Melanie Lynskey, with whom he has a daughter.

He is known for his work in television series such as Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005), Gravity Falls (2012–2016), Another Period (2015–2018), and Raising Dion (2019–2022).

Between 2003 and 2005, he appeared as Kevin Girardi, the disabled brother of the titular main character, on the CBS family drama series Joan of Arcadia.

Next, he played a young man struggling to come terms with his sexuality in the dark comedy Happy Endings (2005), with Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post commenting, "The acting in this ensemble is of such a high order that the movie simply takes you in and makes you feel these lives as real".

Ritter's portrayal of an Ivy League college student in The Education of Charlie Banks (2007) was met with critical acclaim: The Hollywood Reporter referred to it as a "head-turner" performance that combined "a believably brooding intensity with a bad boy swagger that brings to mind [a] young Matt Dillon".

Following a supporting role in the satirical 2008 comedy The Deal, Ritter appeared briefly as Jeb Bush in the biographical drama W, directed by Oliver Stone.

On preparing for the role, he said, "I watched everything that I possibly could and read some books about [the] Bush family [and] Jeb".

That same year, he produced and starred in the independent dramedy Good Dick with his girlfriend at the time, Marianna Palka, making her directorial debut.

A look at the relationship between an introverted girl (Palka) and the video store assistant (Ritter) vying for her attention, the film drew a mixed reception, but Empire's Anna Smith was enthusiastic in her appraisal: "Ritter's character — a romantic reformed druggie — is one to root for, and [the film] entertains enough to get by, marking Palka and Ritter as talents to watch".

He received an Emmy nomination for his recurring portrayal of Mark Cyr on NBC's Parenthood (2010–2014), and starred as Kevin Finn on ABC's Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (2017–2018).

In 2010, Ritter began playing the recurring role of Mark Cyr on NBC's Parenthood.

His next project was the 2011 independent comedy A Bag of Hammers, where he starred as a felon who winds up taking care of a neglected child; in a mixed review, The Hollywood Reporter felt that its tone was "muddled", but believed it "starts off strong, offering funny, well timed dialogue between Sandvig [and] Ritter".

Also that year, he co-starred in The Perfect Family, which critic Frank Scheck felt worked solely on the strength of its performances: "Turner is deeply sympathetic as the religious matriarch (...) while Ritter and Deschanel are thoroughly believable as the grown children who love their mother despite her oft-expressed disapproval of their actions".

The performance earned him a nomination for the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Between 2012 and 2016, Ritter starred in the voice role of Dipper Pines on the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, a show about a pair of twins deciphering the weird goings-on in the mysterious titular town.

The series was universally praised, with Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club calling it "funny, emotional, beautiful, and terrifying in equal measure".

Ritter had prominent parts in five independent features between 2012 and 2013: The End of Love, Free Samples, I Am I, The Big Ask, and The East.

It was announced in February 2013 that he would star as Gavin in Us & Them, a sitcom pilot based on the British television comedy Gavin & Stacey.

While subsequently picked up as a series by Fox, Us & Them was cancelled before it could premiere, with the show's seven episodes eventually being released by Crackle.

Ritter's appearance in Wild Canaries (2014), a throwback to classic whodunits, was met with praise: Justin Chang of Variety called the film "eventful, plot-driven [and] fun", adding that "Corrigan and especially Ritter are solid in their hefty supporting roles".

He headlined the independent drama About Alex that same year, playing a young man who finds solace in a group of old friends after attempting to take his own life.

In his review for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico said, "What's kind of refreshing about About Alex is that the predictable map through the clichés of this subgenre that seems to be charted in the opening scenes isn't quite followed", adding, "Ritter finds [the] emotional undercurrent that's often missing from these troubled characters. There's something honest in the way his voice quivers that makes his depression seem more genuine".

Ritter had a supporting role as the ex-boyfriend of main character Lori in the 2015 comedy-drama The Meddler, and began playing Lord Frederick Bellacourt—an illiterate twin—that same year on the acclaimed historical sitcom Another Period, a parody of Downton Abbey.

In their review of the latter, which ran for three seasons on Comedy Central, The A.V. Club felt that Ritter brought "an earnestness" to the wacky material.

Next, he starred as a man suffering from retrograde amnesia in the post-apocalyptic drama Embers (2015); Sight and Sound critic Anton Bitel called it "a reflection of the human condition as philosophically compelling as it is emotionally intelligent", adding, "No film has either moved or provoked me as much this year".

In 2016, Ritter co-starred in the well-reviewed ensemble comedy The Intervention and received positive notices for his role in Carrie Pilby, an adaptation of the novel of the same name.

In the satirical dark comedy Bitch (2017), Ritter re-teamed with director Marianna Palka to play Bill, a promiscuous husband whose wife suddenly takes on the mannerisms of a wild dog.