Thomas Haden Church

Actor

• Born: June 17, 1960
• Birthplace: Woodland, California

Contribution: Thomas Haden Church is an Emmy Award–winning actor who is best known for his roles in the NBC sitcom Wings (1990–95) and his Oscar-nominated performance in the film Sideways (2004).

Background

Thomas Haden Church was born Thomas Richard McMillen on June 17, 1960, in Woodland, California, and raised in various cities throughout Texas. His father, Carl Richard McMillen, was a surveyor; his mother, Maxine Sanders, was a teacher. McMillen left the family when Church was one year old. In 1969, Sanders married George Quesada, and Church took his stepfather’s surname, though he chose to use a stage name when he began acting because people had difficulty spelling and pronouncing Quesada. (Haden and Church are both family names.) Church’s earliest ambition was to become a rancher, and he began working on a family friend’s cattle ranch at the age of thirteen. He dropped out of Harlingen High School in 1977 to work in the Louisiana oil fields but returned to Texas and received his diploma in 1979.

After finishing high school, Church moved to Dallas, Texas, and commuted from there to attend classes at the University of North Texas (then North Texas State University) in Denton. He graduated in the early 1980s. While living in Dallas, Church worked as a radio disc jockey and began doing voice-overs. He landed his first onscreen role in the 1988 independent film Stolen Moments. After his debut, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

Career

In 1989, Church guest starred in a number of television series. One notable appearance was in an episode of the hit show Cheers, which may have led to him being cast in Wings (1990–97), a sitcom about a small airport on the island of Nantucket. Church played a goofy mechanic named Lowell Mather. While Mather was an audience favorite on the popular show, Church became frustrated that he was not receiving meatier plotlines. He left the show when his contract ended in 1995.

After Wings, Church began working on a new Fox sitcom called Ned and Stacey. The show, which debuted in 1995, starred Church and Debra Messing as two semi-strangers who enter a marriage of convenience so she can move into his nice apartment and he can get a job promotion. Church was also a writer and producer on the show. It was canceled in 1997. The same year, he appeared in the Disney movie George of the Jungle, starring Brendan Fraser and Leslie Mann.

According to Church, his career had all but dried up by 2000. He was living on a Texas ranch that he had bought in 1998 when he realized that he wanted to return to acting. Church appeared in 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner, a comedic thriller about con men trying to rob a casino during an Elvis Presley convention, and made his directorial debut with the independent film Rolling Kansas (2003), a road-trip comedy about marijuana.

Church then auditioned for the role of Jack, a washed-up television star and sex addict, in Alexander Payne's comedy-drama Sideways (2004). Movie star George Clooney reportedly coveted the role, but Payne decided to cast Church, the only actor to strip naked during his audition. Church stars alongside Paul Giamatti, who plays a neurotic wine lover and unpublished novelist, and the two men make their way through California wine country. Sideways premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2004 to rave reviews and Church, who had been having trouble finding work, was offered roles in three different movies the day after the premiere. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for best picture and Church was nominated for best supporting actor.

After a small role in the film Spanglish (2004), Church voiced a character in the Disney animated movie Over the Hedge in 2006. The same year, he starred with Robert Duvall in the award-winning AMC miniseries Broken Trail. Church won an Emmy Award for best supporting actor in a miniseries or movie for his portrayal of Tom Harte, a dangerously silent cowboy. In 2007, he appeared as the villain Sandman in Spider-Man 3, starring Tobey Maguire. He passed on the role of Ellen Page’s father in the surprise indie hit Juno but later played the young actor’s uncle in another indie film called Smart People (2008), which also features Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker. He played an English teacher in the smart teen comedy Easy A (2010) and starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the film adaptation of the Tracy Letts play Killer Joe (2011). Also in 2011, Church appeared in the Cameron Crowe film We Bought a Zoo.

Further proving his versatility, between 2013 and 2016, he landed roles in a wide variety of films, including the drama Lucky Them (2013); the drama Heaven Is for Real (2014), which was based on a true story; the Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell comedy Daddy's Home (2015); and the heavy drama Cardboard Boxer (2016), in which he plays a homeless man. At the same time, he had joined with Parker once more for a new project, a blackly comedic HBO series about a formerly married couple titled Divorce. The show's first season began airing in 2016, and a third season, reported to be its last, wrapped up in 2019. Still pursuing other projects while filming for the series, Church appeared in the films Crash Pad (2017) and Hellboy (2019).

Impact

Whether he is playing a womanizing, B-list movie star or a nineteenth-century cowboy, Church is admired for his ability to breathe life into his characters and has been recognized through numerous awards and nominations. He once told a reporter that he does not “act”; rather, he prefers to think that he spends time living in that particular character’s soul.

Personal Life

Church lives on a ranch in Utopia, Texas, and owns several cattle ranches throughout the state that generate a solid profit. He has two children with actor Mia Zottoli, to whom he was once engaged.

Principal Works

Film

Tombstone, 1993

George of the Jungle, 1997

3000 Miles to Graceland, 2001

Rolling Kansas, 2003

Sideways, 2004

Spanglish, 2004

Over the Hedge, 2006

Spider-Man 3, 2007

Smart People, 2008

Easy A, 2010

Killer Joe, 2011

We Bought a Zoo, 2011

John Carter, 2012

Lucky Them, 2013

Cardboard Boxer, 2016

Hellboy, 2019

Television

Wings, 1990–95

Ned and Stacey, 1995–97

Broken Trail, 2006

Divorce, 2016–19

Bibliography

Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca. “Thomas Haden Church’s Choice Career.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2008. Web. 19 July 2013.

Buck, Jerry. “Wings Character Stumbles, but He’s Not Stupid, Star Says.” Deseret News. Deseret Digital Media, 3 Aug. 1992. Web. 19 July 2013.

Church, Thomas Haden. “Church’s Doctrine.” Interview by Andrew Goldman. Elle. Hearst Digital Media, 23 May 2007. Web. 19 July 2013.

Church, Thomas Haden. “Cowpoke: Thomas Haden Church.” Interview by Adam Sternbergh. New York Magazine. New York Media, 26 June 2006. Web. 19 July 2013.

Church, Thomas Haden. "How Sarah Jessica Parker Got Thomas Haden Church Back on TV." Interview by Tyler Coates. Esquire, 17 Oct. 2016, www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/q-and-a/a49667/thomas-haden-church-interview-divorce/. Accessed 31 Oct. 2019.

Frankel, Daniel. “Thomas Haden Church.” Variety. Variety Media, 3 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 July 2013.

Hiscock, John. “Enter Sandman.” Toronto Star. Toronto Star, 5 May 2007. Web. 19 July 2013.

Pilkington, Ed. “Naked Ambition.” Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 May 2008. Web. 19 July 2013.