Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins
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Christian Slater, born August 18, 1969 in New York City, is an American actor who won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. He broke through in the cult classic Heathers 1989 and later starred in films like Broken Arrow 1996 and TV series such as Mr. Robot. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 9, 2025.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Christian Slater — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Christian Slater by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Christian Slater — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Christian Slater, born Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins on August 18, 1969, grew up in a show business family. His father Michael Hawkins was a soap actor and his mother Mary Jo Slater worked as a casting agent. At age 7, he appeared on the soap opera The Edge of Night 1956 in 1976. He attended the Dalton School and Professional Children’s School, and made his Broadway debut at age 9 in The Music Man. By 15, he was performing in Broadway shows like Macbeth and Merlin.
Slater’s film breakthrough came in 1985 with The Legend of Billie Jean as Binx Davey. He moved to Los Angeles in 1987 after dropping out of high school. In 1989, he starred as J.D. in Heathers, a dark comedy that became a cult classic. He played the Interviewer in Interview with the Vampire 1994 after River Phoenix’s death and turned down the lead in The Crow 1994. He starred in action films like Broken Arrow 1996 and worked with director John Woo. On television, he won a Golden Globe for Mr. Robot 2015. He received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on June 9, 2025.
Slater has two children with ex-wife Ryan Haddon: Jaden Christopher b. 1999 and Eliana Sophia b. 2001. He married Ryan Haddon in 2000; they separated in 2005 and divorced. In 2013, he married Brittany Lopez; they have a daughter born on August 16, 2019. He previously dated Winona Ryder, Christina Applegate, and Samantha Mathis. He was engaged to model Nina Huang. He divides his time between Miami and New York City.
Christian Slater is remembered for his role in Heathers 1989, which remains a cultural touchstone. He inspired a generation of actors with his anti-hero performances. He was awarded a Golden Globe in 2016 for Mr. Robot and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025. His career longevity and versatility across film, television, and stage have secured his place in Hollywood history.
The complete filmography of Christian Slater — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Christian Slater — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Christian Slater — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
People Need Something to Fill Their Papers, and I’m Happy to Provide.
Good Judgement Comes from Experience. Sometimes, Experience Comes from Bad Judgement.
I’ve Always Been Fond of Winona Ryder.
It Still Amazes Me When I Look at Some of the Films I’ve Been a Part Of, and Some of the People I’ve Gotten to Meet and Work With. I Also Look Back Sometimes and Realize That I Was Lucky to Have Lived Through Them and Even to Have Survived Them, at Times.
I’m Not a Religious Person by Any Means. but I Certainly Believe in Some Kind of a Higher Power and Something Looking Out for Me. I’ve Definitely Had Angels That Have Either Guided Me or Helped Me Through Moments in My Life, Without a Doubt.
If You Can Help Guide Somebody Through a Challenging Moment Because You’ve Been There, That Ends up Becoming a Great Gift.
I’ve Been Taking My Time Now Between Projects Looking for Stuff That Has a Little Bit More Substance, That Isn’t Surface. Some of the Films That I’ve Done in the Past Really Were Surface.
My Family Was Amazing; They Exposed Me to the World of Show Business, And, Boy, It Was the ’70S and I Got to Spend a Lot of Time Backstage at Theaters and See the Inner Workings of How This Entertainment Industry Is Really Put Together.
As I’ve Gotten to Know Myself Over the Years, I Realised I’m Kind of a Sweet, Sensitive Guy, a Shy Guy, and Communication Is Not Something I’m so Good At.
I Tried to Play the Outright Heroic Type, Like in Broken Arrow but I Could Tell John Travolta Was Having More Fun Than I Was Because He Got to Be the Fun Bad Guy.
I Was a Shy, Quiet Kid. I Was Happiest Playing by Myself with My Toys, Rather Than Hanging Around People.
I’ve Calmed Down, Certainly, from the Days of Being 18, but I’m Still Having a Good Time.
As You Get Older You Learn Some Balance and Mediation in Your Life – That’s Where I Am Right Now. I Feel Pretty Comfortable About Things.
Drama Can Be an Addiction. It’s So, so Sneaky. Jealousy – All of Those Things Can Really Send You in a Lot of Different Crazy Directions.
This Is What Hollywood Tends to Do. It Tends to Disregard Tradition, History and Anything Factual, Twisting It and Turning It and Making It All Okay Regardless of What the English May Think of It.
I Can Promote Until I Am Blue in the Face, but Ultimately Nobody Knows What Makes a Hit.
The ’80S Was a Wild Decade, and I Had Some Fantastic Times. and I Did Some Really Fun Work.
I Thought I’d Get Over Being Insecure If I Became Famous, but It Hasn’t Happened. It Just Gets Worse, Really. You Get More and More on Edge, More Nervous. These Are All the Things I’m Dealing With. You Think If You Get Famous, Fear Will Go Away and Problems Will Go Away. but They Don’t.
How Do I Feel About Being a Star Now? Well I Still Try to Live Life and Enjoy What I Am Doing.
Jail Was a Result of Me Not Taking Time for Myself. so I Was Forced to Take Some Time for Myself.
Hopefully, That People Could See a Progression in My Performances Because That’s How It’s Always Felt to Me.
Art Does Imitate Life, It Has to Come from Somewhere. to Put Boundaries and Limitations on It Doesn’t Make a Lot of Sense to Me.
Tony Scott Was One of the Best Directors I’ve Ever Worked With, and I Was Devastated When I Heard About His Death. He Was a Great Guy with Great Energy. but This Is a Difficult Business, and People’s Lives Are Sometimes Difficult.
I Don’t Think of Myself as Offbeat and Weird. as a Kid, I Saw Myself as the Type of Guy Who Would Run into a Burning Building to Save the Baby.
The Movies I’ve Made at a Certain Time of My Life Were Exactly Right for the Stage of My Life, the Frame of Mind I Was in at the Time. Each Character I’ve Had to Play Has Been Me in That Time in My Life.
Well, Obviously, as Soon as I’d Finished the Script I Read a Lot of Books on Winston Churchill, and Started to Gain Weight and Really Prepare Emotionally, Mentally and Physically for the Role.
In Truth, Making Films Doesn’t Feel Like Hard Work Because I Always Have Such a Good Time Doing It.
I Did Regret Not Graduating High School, but I Made a Point of Going Back and Getting My GED Later. It Was Important for My Kids.
My Mom Put Me in a Pampers Commercial on TV.
I Have Brought a PS2 on Set with Me Before. but Games Can Be Really Addicting, and That’s Dangerous. so I Tend to Keep It Fairly Limited on a Certain Level.
I Think Games Are Starting to Branch Out. It’s Not Just Guys Sitting at Their Computer Stations. Games Are so Fun, That Everybody Gets into Them a Little Bit.
I’m Trying Not to Put Myself into Anything I’m Not 100 Percent Confident About.
I Was Always Such an Incredible Fan of John Woo, I Just Wanted to Do This Film with Him.
I’m Blown Away by the Graphical Detail of Today’s Games. I Can’t Imagine That It’s Going to Get Any Better, but It’s Just Going to Continually Progress and Soon We’ll Be Living in That World.
I Want to Do Films I Can Relate to Emotionally.
There’s Something About Doing Theatre in London – It Sinks a Little Bit Deeper into Your Soul as an Actor. It’s Something About the Tradition of Theatre, About Performing on the West End Stage.
The Way I See It, If You’re Going to Make an Action Movie, You’ve Got to Make One with John Woo.
The Guys from Atari That Are Making the Next Alone in the Dark Game Came and We Had a Great Meeting. I’d Love to Do That. I’m a Fan of Video Games. I Like Them. and to Get to Be Part of One of Them Would Be a Fun and Exciting Thing.
There Was a Time When I Felt I Should Do Everything That Was Offered to Me, You Know, Ride the Wave.
It’s Almost Like These Games Are the Modern Day Comic Books, Especially When You Play Alone in the Dark. There’s a Real Story That Goes Along with It and a Movie Seemed Like the Right Kind of Transition to Make.
I Enjoy the Process of TV; I Like the Pace of It; I Like the Continual Work.
Little-known facts about Christian Slater — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Donated most of his paycheck from Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles 1994 to River Phoenix’s favorite charities after the young actor’s untimely death at age 23.
The trousers worn by him in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 1991 are the same ones worn by William Shatner in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 1982. He noticed the name label still inside them. In subsequent interviews, he quipped that he was proud to get into Shatner’s pants.
Won the roles of the Interviewer in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles 1994 and Eric Draven in The Crow 1994 after the death of friend and fellow actor River Phoenix who had been cast in the first role and turned down the second. Slater also turned down the lead in The Crow 1994, leading producers to actor Brandon Lee – who would become permanently linked with the film and its story when he was accidentally killed on the scenery.
The long-standing rumor about Christian’s eyebrows that he shaved them off to look like Spock and they never grew back properly is actually false. Christian was joking with a reporter in one of his first interviews, and this was somehow printed as fact. He actually stated that he regretted mentioning this, as he still gets asked about the Halloween costume gone bad nearly twenty years later.
Arrested in West Hollywood, California, after allegedly leading sheriff’s deputies on a car chase. A sheriff’s spokesman said Slater crashed into a telephone pole, kicked a police officer after getting out of his car, then tried to escape over a fence. He was charged with evading police, driving under the influence, assault with a deadly weapon his cowboy boots and driving with a suspended license.
During his interview and director’s commentary on the DVD for The Name of the Rose 1986, director Jean-Jacques Annaud reported that after 15-year-old Christian Slater had been cast as Adso of Melk, he was asked to read with three actresses auditioning for the role of The Girl. He read first with Valentina Vargas and was scheduled to read with the other two actresses the next day, but that evening, he sent his mother casting agent Mary Jo Slater to inform Annaud that young Christian was so smitten with the 22-year-old Vargas that he didn’t want the other two women to be considered. An amused Annaud complied with Slater’s wish.
Sentenced to three months in prison he served 59 days in a private Los Angeles prison in La Verne, California, and 36 months probation for assaulting his girlfriend Michelle Jonas and a police officer, as well as cocaine abuse.
Made his theater debut in the musical The Music Man at age 9. His other Broadway credits include Macbeth, David Copperfield and Merlin along with many other theatre venues.
His favorite movies are The Witches of Eastwick 1987 and The Shining 1980, both starring his idol Jack Nicholson.
London stage debut as Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in August 2004, delayed by a bout of chicken pox. Received a standing ovation on his first night performing.
He was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport in December 1994 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon the actor had packed a handgun. Slater reached a plea agreement in early 1995 that required him to spend three days working with homeless children.
No relation to actress Helen Slater, who played his sister in the movie The Legend of Billie Jean 1985.
Past girlfriends include Kim Walker, whom he broke up with during the filming of Heathers 1989 for Winona Ryder, later Samantha Mathis, Christina Applegate and Patricia Arquette. Has also been engaged to actress/model Nina Huang.
Sold his house in the Hollywood Hills to Tim Allen.
Has co-starred with each of the two leads of Face/Off 1997, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, in Broken Arrow 1996 and Windtalkers 2002, respectively. All three films were directed by John Woo.
His mother, Mary Jo Slater, was the casting director in four of his film appearances: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 1991, Murder in the First 1995, The Contender 2000 and Who Is Cletis Tout? 2001.
As a teenager, he appeared in the musical Merlin, one of the most expensive and most notorious flops in Broadway history. The show had been conceived as a vehicle for Doug Henning’s magic, with Henning playing the eponymous wizard. Slater played Young Merlin and Arthur; other stars included Chita Rivera and Nathan Lane in what was only his second Broadway role.
Married 26-year-old Brittany Lopez, whom he had dated for three years, in Coral Gables, Florida.
His godfather was the late soap actor Michael Zaslow.
Arrested by Los Angeles police and charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of battery.
Began his three-month prison sentence. Released after 59 days for good behavior.
His characters frequently suffer gruesome hand injuries, as in Heathers 1989 finger shot off, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves 1991 arrow through palm, and Untamed Heart 1993 both hands are left bleeding after carrying a spruce tree.
Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was a suggestion in the Worst Actor category for his performances in Alone in the Dark 2005 and Mindhunters 2004. However, he failed to receive a nomination, had he gotten the nomination, this would have been his first in 14 years. He was previously nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the 1992 Razzie Awards for his roles in Mobsters 1991 and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves 1991.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history #79.
Good friends with actress Sandra Bernhard.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 9, 2025. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar and director Michael Lehmann were guest speakers at the ceremony.
His favorite television series are Boston Legal 2004 and Entourage 2004.
His second wife Brittany Lopez gave birth to their daughter on August 16, 2019. The child’s name has not been announced publicly.
Attended Dalton School and the Professional Children’s School.
Stepson of William Henry Taron, his mother’s third husband. His is the stepbrother of Taron’s two children Joshua b. 1977 and Emily b. 1980.
Sold his house in Brentwood, California, to move back to his native New York.
Older half-brother of actor Ryan Slater.
Has a green belt in kempo karate and divides his time between Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida and Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, New York City.
Has English, German, Irish, Welsh, and small amounts of Dutch and Scottish, ancestry.
Attended the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival in France.
Attended the 63rd International Venice Film Festival.
Attended the Duo Grand Opening at Four Seasons Maui in Hawaii.
Attended the 60th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Christian Slater.
Celebrities similar to Christian Slater — same craft, ranked by reach.
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