Famous actors from Texas
Jason LaVeris// Getty Images
Famous actors from Texas
Admiring and envying the world’s biggest stars is easy to do on Instagram. From A-list movie stars and major musicians to pro ball players and comedians who landed their own sitcoms, there’s no shortage of evidence of just how good the good life is. They post pictures of themselves with other big shots on rooftop bars, at exclusive clubs, at backstage parties, and at restaurants where regular people can’t get a reservation.
But the vast majority of these celebrities were born and raised outside of Hollywood, finding their way to the bright lights and big money of superstardom from obscure beginnings in regular small towns or cities across the country.
Stacker compiled a list of actors that were born in Texas from IMDb’s most popular list. For each actor, we included a movie poster image from a film he is known for (all movie poster images from OMDb). Keep reading to see which favorite actors are from your home state.
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Axelle/Bauer-Griffin // Getty Images
Jesse Plemons
– Born: Dallas, Texas (4/2/1988)
– Known for:
— Chuckie O’Brien in “The Irishman” (2019)
— Gary in “Game Night” (2018)
— Boatswain Mate Seaman Jimmy ‘Ordy’ Ord in “Battleship” (2012)
OMDb
Tony Dalton
– Born: Laredo, Texas (2/13/1975)
– Known for:
— Lalo Salamanca in “Better Call Saul” (2018-2022)
— Roberto Ávila in “Sr. Ávila” (2013-2018)
— Lito’s Agent in “Sense8” (2016-2017)
OMDb
Caleb Landry Jones
– Born: Garland, Texas (12/7/1989)
– Known for:
— Red Welby in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017)
— Cassidy in “X-Men: First Class” (2011)
— Andy in “Contraband” (2012)
Rick Kern // Getty Images
Matthew McConaughey
– Born: Uvalde, Texas (11/4/1969)
– Known for:
— Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013)
— Dallas in “Magic Mike” (2012)
— Killer Joe Cooper in “Killer Joe” (2011)
OMDb
Kevin Alejandro
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (4/7/1976)
– Known for:
— Sebastian Blood in “Arrow” (2013-2014)
— Detective Nate Moretta in “Southland” (2009-2011)
— Director in “Bedtime Story” (2018)
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Jason LaVeris// Getty Images
Owen Wilson
– Born: Dallas, Texas (11/18/1968)
– Known for:
— Eli Cash in “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001)
— John Beckwith in “Wedding Crashers” (2005)
— Dignan in “Bottle Rocket” (1996)
Justin Sullivan // Getty Images
Woody Harrelson
– Born: Midland, Texas (7/23/1961)
– Known for:
— Detective Marty Hart in “True Detective” (2014-2019)
— Larry Flynt in “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996)
— Mickey Knox in “Natural Born Killers” (1994)
OMDb
Scoot McNairy
– Born: Dallas, Texas (11/11/1977)
– Known for:
— Joe Stafford in “Argo” (2012)
— Andrew Kaulder in “Monsters” (2010)
— Brown in “12 Years a Slave” (2013)
OMDb
Ethan Hawke
– Born: Austin, Texas (11/6/1970)
– Known for:
— Jake in “Training Day” (2001)
— Jesse in “Before Sunrise” (1995)
— Jesse in “Before Midnight” (2013)
OMDb
Henry Thomas
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (9/9/1971)
– Known for:
— Elliott in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
— Jack in “0.468055555555556” (2003)
— Samuel in “Legends of the Fall” (1994)
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OMDb
Gil Birmingham
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (7/13/1953)
– Known for:
— Martin in “Wind River” (2017)
— Billy Black in “Twilight” (2008)
— Alberto Parker in “Hell or High Water” (2016)
Michael Kovac // Getty Images
Bill Paxton
– Born: Fort Worth, Texas (5/17/1955)
– Died: 2/25/2017
– Known for:
— Private Hudson in “Aliens” (1986)
— Dad Meiks in “Frailty” (2001)
— Fred Haise in “Apollo 13” (1995)
IMDB
Patrick Swayze
– Born: Houston, Texas (8/18/1952)
– Died: 9/14/2009
– Known for:
— Johnny Castle in “Dirty Dancing” (1987)
— Dalton in “Road House” (1989)
— Sam Wheat in “Ghost” (1990)
OMDb
Alan Tudyk
– Born: El Paso, Texas (3/16/1971)
– Known for:
— K-2SO in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016)
— Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne in “Firefly” (2002-2003)
— Sonny in “I, Robot” (2004)
OMDb
James Roday Rodriguez
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (4/4/1976)
– Known for:
— Shawn Spencer in “Psych” (2006-2014)
— News Co-Host #1 in “Gamer” (2009)
— Shawn Spencer in “Psych: The Movie” (2017)
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Vince Bucci // Getty Images
Jamie Foxx
– Born: Terrell, Texas (12/13/1967)
– Known for:
— Max in “Collateral” (2004)
— Ray Charles in “Ray” (2004)
— Django in “Django Unchained” (2012)
OMDb
Jensen Ackles
– Born: Dallas, Texas (3/1/1978)
– Known for:
— Dean Winchester in “Supernatural” (2005-2020)
— Tom Hanniger in “My Bloody Valentine” (2009)
— Eric Brady in “Days of Our Lives” (1997-2000)
OMDb
Dennis Quaid
– Born: Houston, Texas (4/9/1954)
– Known for:
— Jack Hall in “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004)
— Frank Whitaker in “Far from Heaven” (2002)
— Frank Sullivan in “Frequency” (2000)
OMDb
Jake McDorman
– Born: Dallas, Texas (7/8/1986)
– Known for:
— Alan Shepard in “The Right Stuff” (2020)
— Nelson Gardner in “Watchmen” (2019)
— Jeff Suckler in “What We Do in the Shadows” (2019-2020)
Kevin Winter // Getty Images for The Critics’ Choice Awards
Jim Parsons
– Born: Houston, Texas (3/24/1973)
– Known for:
— Sheldon Cooper in “The Big Bang Theory” (2006-2019)
— Tommy Boatwright in “The Normal Heart” (2014)
— Oh in “Home” (2015)
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OMDb
William McNamara
– Born: Dallas, Texas (3/31/1965)
– Known for:
— Peter Foley in “Copycat” (1995)
— Teenage Billy Wyatt in “Stealing Home” (1988)
— Matthew Anderson in “Radio Inside” (1994)
OMDb
Ryan Lee
– Born: Texas (10/4/1996)
– Known for:
— Cary in “Super 8” (2011)
— Champ in “Goosebumps” (2015)
— Andrew Myers in “Dimension 404” (2017)
Jun Sato // Getty Images
Tommy Lee Jones
– Born: San Saba, Texas (9/15/1946)
– Known for:
— Samuel Gerard in “The Fugitive” (1993)
— Ed Tom Bell in “No Country for Old Men” (2007)
— George Briggs in “The Homesman” (2014)
OMDb
Warren Kole
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (9/23/1977)
– Known for:
— Robert Stahl in “Shades of Blue” (2016-2018)
— Tim ‘Roderick’ Nelson in “The Following” (2013)
— Wes Mitchell in “Common Law” (2012)
OMDb
Randy Quaid
– Born: Houston, Texas (10/1/1950)
– Known for:
— Joe Aguirre in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005)
— Russell Casse in “Independence Day” (1996)
— Ishmael in “Kingpin” (1996)
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Matt Winkelmeyer // Getty Images
Nick Jonas
– Born: Dallas, Texas (9/16/1992)
– Known for:
— Alex in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (2017)
— Bruno Gaido in “Midway” (2019)
— Nate in “Camp Rock” (2008)
OMDb
Machine Gun Kelly
– Born: Houston, Texas (4/22/1990)
– Known for:
— Tommy Lee in “The Dirt” (2019)
— Ty in “Nerve” (2016)
— Jurgis in “Captive State” (2019)
OMDb
Tye Sheridan
– Born: Elkhart, Texas (11/11/1996)
– Known for:
— Parzival in “Ready Player One” (2018)
— Ellis in “Mud” (2012)
— Scott Summers in “X-Men: Apocalypse” (2016)
OMDb
Nicholas Gonzalez
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (1/3/1976)
– Known for:
— Dr. Neil Melendez in “The Good Doctor” (2017-2020)
— Agent Lopez in “Narcos” (2017)
— Alex Santiago in “Resurrection Blvd.” (2000-2002)
OMDb
Jared Padalecki
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (7/19/1982)
– Known for:
— Sam Winchester in “Supernatural” (2005-2020)
— Wade in “House of Wax” (2005)
— Clay Miller in “Friday the 13th” (2009)
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OMDb
Steve Howey
– Born: San Antonio, Texas (7/12/1977)
– Known for:
— Daniel in “Bride Wars” (2009)
— Marcus in “Something Borrowed” (2011)
— Weatherby in “DOA: Dead or Alive” (2006)
OMDb
William Jackson Harper
– Born: Dallas, Texas (2/8/1980)
– Known for:
— Josh in “Midsommar” (2019)
— Chidi Anagonye in “The Good Place” (2016-2020)
— Everett in “Paterson” (2016)
OMDb
Luke Wilson
– Born: Dallas, Texas (9/21/1971)
– Known for:
— Mitch in “Old School” (2003)
— Richie Tenenbaum in “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001)
— David Fox in “Vacancy” (2007)
OMDb
Marc Menchaca
– Born: San Angelo, Texas (10/10/1975)
– Known for:
— Russ Langmore in “Ozark” (2017-2018)
— Lauder Wakefield in “Homeland” (2011-2012)
— Johnny in “She’s Lost Control” (2014)
Kevin Winter // Getty Images
Forest Whitaker
– Born: Longview, Texas (7/15/1961)
– Known for:
— Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland” (2006)
— Cecil Gaines in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” (2013)
— Zuri in “Black Panther” (2018)
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OMDb
Peter MacNicol
– Born: Dallas, Texas (4/10/1954)
– Known for:
— Stingo in “Sophie’s Choice” 1982
— John Cage in “Ally McBeal” 1997-2002
OMDb
James Jordan
– Born: Houston, Texas (3/14/1979)
– Known for:
— Livestock Agent Steve Hendon in “Yellowstone” (2019-2021)
— Ed in “Mayor of Kingstown” (2021)
— Pete Mickens in “Wind River” (2017)
OMDb
Jon-Michael Ecker
– Born: San Marcos, Texas (3/16/1983)
– Known for:
— El Guero in “Queen of the South” (2016-2019)
— The Lion in “Narcos” (2015-2016)
— Max in “Firefly Lane” (2021)
OMDb
Troy Baker
– Born: Dallas, Texas (4/1/1976)
– Known for:
— Joel in “The Last of Us” (2013)
— Booker DeWitt in “BioShock Infinite” (2013)
— Arkham Knight in “Batman: Arkham Knight” (2015)
OMDb
Christian Kane
– Born: Dallas, Texas (6/27/1972)
– Known for:
— Peter Prentiss in “Just Married” (2003)
— Eliot Spencer in “Leverage” (2008-2012)
— Young Hub in “Secondhand Lions” (2003)
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OMDb
Dallas Roberts
– Born: Houston, Texas (5/10/1970)
– Known for:
— Grayson Butterfield in “3:10 to Yuma” (2007)
— David Wayne in “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013)
— Sam Phillips in “Walk the Line” (2005)
OMDb
Sean Faris
– Born: Houston, Texas (3/25/1982)
– Known for:
— Jake Tyler in “Never Back Down” (2008)
— William Beardsley in “Yours, Mine & Ours” (2005)
— Steve in “Sleepover” (2004)
OMDb
Brigette Lundy-Paine
– Born: Dallas, Texas (8/10/1994)
– Known for:
— Billie in “Bill & Ted Face the Music” (2020)
— Maureen in “The Glass Castle” (2017)
— Braylin Student in “Irrational Man” (2015)
OMDb
Rex Linn
– Born: Spearman, Texas (11/13/1956)
– Known for:
— Agent Whitney in “Rush Hour” (1998)
— Richard Travers in “Cliffhanger” (1993)
— Frank McLaury in “Wyatt Earp” (1994)
OMDb
Dabney Coleman
– Born: Austin, Texas (1/3/1932)
– Known for:
— McKittrick in “WarGames” (1983)
— Nelson Fox in “You’ve Got Mail” (1998)
— Franklin Hart, Jr. in “9 to 5” (1980)
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OMDb
Rip Torn
– Born: Temple, Texas (2/6/1931)
– Died: 7/9/2019
– Known for:
— Zed in “Men in Black” (1997)
— Jim Brody in “Freddy Got Fingered” (2001)
— Arthur in “The Larry Sanders Show” (1992-1998)
