Jason Biggs Biography: In His Own Words – Exclusive Video, News, Photos

 

Jason Biggs is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in American Pie (1999), Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019) and As the World Turns (1995).

JASON BIGGS BIOGRAPHY: AGE, EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, EDUCATION

Jason Biggs was born on May 12, 1978 (Jason Biggs age: 43) in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. His mother, Angela Biggs, is a nurse, and his father, Gary Louis Biggs, is a shipping company manager. The family is Roman Catholic. He attended Hasbrouck Heights High School, and then went to New York University for college. He ended up transferring to Montclair State University, but dropped out before he graduated.

JASON BIGGS BIOGRAPHY: CAREER

Biggs began acting at the age of five, working as a model and an extra in Nine and a Half Weeks, The Flamingo Kid, and more. Biggs made his television debut at the age of 12 in the sitcom Drexell’s Class. He made his Broadway debut that same year in Conversations with My Father with Judd Hirsch. His next big role was in the daytime soap opera As the World Turns, which got him a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Younger Actor. Biggs had his first big feature film break with the role of Jim Levenstein in American Pie (1999). The film eventually developed into a franchise, with Biggs starring in three sequels. Between 2000 and 2003, Biggs starred in the films Loser, Saving Silverman and Anything Else. He returned to Broadway in 2002 for a production of The Graduate. Biggs continued his work in the rom-com genre with the 2008 film Over Her Dead Body. Also in 2008, Biggs starred in the film My Best Friend’s Girl.

Biggs made his literary debut in 2010 with his poem “Scratch and Sniff,” which was published in the anthology What’s Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey. He also contributed the ironic article “This is a Roman nose, OK?” to the 2012 anthology Oy! Only Six? Why Not More: Six-Word Memoirs on Jewish Life. 

In 2013, Biggs took on the role of Larry Bloom in Orange Is the New Black. He was a cast member on the Netflix show for two years before departing in 2015. In 2016, Biggs starred in the comedy Amateur Night, in which his real-life wife plays his wife. In 2020, Biggs starred in the drama The Subject.

JASON BIGGS BIOGRAPHY: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ON ACTING ROOTS

In October of 2021, Biggs spoke exclusively with uInterview about how he got his start acting.

Biggs explained that he began acting at an extremely young age.

“I started when I was a little kid,” he said. “I was five years old – 1983 is when I got my first agent… It’s crazy, I’ve been doing it since I was in diapers, basically.”

Growing up in New York, Biggs started out doing mostly modeling and commercial shoots. He also was an extra on several films, including Sea of Love (1989), 9½ Weeks (1986) and The Flamingo Kid (1984). He explained that the extra work “was sort of [his] introduction to the TV and film industry.”

Biggs told uInterview that his experience working on the Broadway play Conversations with My Father in 1991 was when he realized that he wanted to be an actor.

“It was just the most fulfilling experience,” he said. “Doing a play… there was a real sort of ‘oh, this is my job’ component. Not like showing up to do a day of modeling, or to do a two-day commercial shoot. This was like I showed up at the same place every day for a year, it felt like real work, and to have that audience feedback, it was just all so amazing, and I was like this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Catch the full interview at the top of the page.

JASON BIGGS BIOGRAPHY: PERSONAL LIFE

During filming for My Best Friend’s Girl, Biggs met and became engaged to his co-star Jenny Mollen. The pair got married in April of 2008. They welcomed their first child, son Sid Biggs, in 2014, and their second son Lazlo Biggs was born in 2017.

JASON BIGGS BIOGRAPHY: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ON ‘THE SUBJECT’

Biggs starred in the drama The Subject in 2020. The film, which was directed by Lanie Zipoy, follows a white documentary filmmaker (played by Biggs) who films the murder of his subject – a black teenager. He spoke to uInterview about the experience of making such a culturally-loaded film.

“For me, this movie just raises a lot of really important questions,” Biggs said of his role. “I’m not used to doing stuff like this – not to say comedy isn’t important, but the films that I’ve done specifically don’t necessarily have much important things to say – so for me, that was a large part of the appeal, also because dramatically speaking I don’t get to access these kinds of things in roles I normally play.”

While the movie was released before the Black Lives Matter movement hit national headlines in the summer of 2021, Biggs explained that the film is hugely relevant to the message of the movement.

“We shot this movie pre-Black Lives Matter movement, and here we are [in] 2021, the world is a little bit different – I feel like some of the questions the movie asks are now being asked in more public forums,” he said.

Biggs also explained that the Black Lives Matter movement allowed him to see the film differently than when he was making it.

“I don’t think I realized when we made the movie that there was a bigger question of ‘Should Phil [Bigg’s character] even be making this film in the first place.’ I thought it was pretty simple, ‘What is the moral obligation of a filmmaker when he sees that his subject’s in trouble. Post-Black Lives Matter, my question is, ‘Should Phil even be making this film in the first place? Is it his right to make it?”. Biggs continued to describe how his perspective on the film changed with the current context. “There’s a problem inherent to that, in that it just perpetuates the divide. That’s what I got post-Black Lives Matter, so I see the movie differently from when I actually made the movie.”

You can check out the full interview below.

Fact Sheet:

Full Name: Jason Matthew Biggs

Date of Birth: May 12, 1978

Birthplace: Pompton Plains, New Jersey

Religion: Roman Catholic

Height: 5’9″

Education: Hasbrouck Heights High School, New York University, Montclair State University

Relationship Status: Married to Jenny Mollen

Family: Angela Biggs (mother), Gary Biggs (father), Heather Biggs (sister), Chiara Biggs (sister), Sid Biggs (son), Lazlo Biggs (son)

Twitter Handle: @JasonBiggs

Known For: American Pie, Orange is the New Black

Notable Roles: Jim Levenstein, Larry Bloom

Fun Fact: While Biggs is frequently typecast into Jewish roles, he was actually raised Roman Catholic.