Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He was born on April 4, 1970, in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada. He is the son of a lumberjack. When he was five years old, his family set sail in a homemade ship, navigating through the South Pacific islands for five years. Due to the lack of television as entertainment, the family created and performed sketches for each other. When the family had finished their travels, they returned to Canada and set up a shop on Denman Island. Pepper has been married to Cindy Pepper since 1997. The two have one child together.
Pepper is best known for roles such as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler in Battlefield Earth, Sergeant Michael Strank in Flags of Our Fathers, Dean Stanton in The Green Mile, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, and "Lucky" Ned Pepper in True Grit.
Pepper portrays Vince in the sequel to the Maze Runner film, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and reprises his role in the 2018 sequel Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
Education
Pepper's education was completed in both public schools and correspondence courses.
Past and Current Works
Pepper is perhaps best known for his role as the sniper Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan. He portrayed prison guard Dean Stanton in The Green Mile, appeared as Frank Slaughtery in Spike Lee's 25th Hour, as journalist Joseph L. Galloway in We Were Soldiers, his leading role in the film Battlefield Earth, his depiction of Roger Maris in Billy Crystal's HBO film 61*, as Dale Earnhardt in the ESPN produced film 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, and as Dan Morris in the film Seven Pounds, with Will Smith. He recently had roles in Casino Jack and the Coen brothers' True Grit. Pepper provided the voice for Alex Mercer, the protagonist of the video game Prototype and the voice for Corporal Dunn, a character in the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He also appeared in Jagged Edge's music video for "Goodbye". Pepper will star in psychological thriller Frost Road which is being directed by Call of Duty director Keith Arem.
In 2015, Pepper appeared in The Maze Runner sequel, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, as Vince, "a survivalist who is one of the last remaining soldiers of a legendary unit called the Right Arm".
Awards
Pepper won the Online Film Critics Society Awards in Best Cast for Saving Private Ryan. He won the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzie Award) in Worst Supporting Actor for Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000. He has stated that, had he known he was going to win the award in advance, he would have gladly accepted it in person. Pepper also won the Leo Awards in Best Male Performance in a Drama for The Snow Walker. He also won the Gemini Awards in Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and the Primetime Emmy Awards in Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Kennedys.
Selected Filmography
Film
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Enemy of the State (1998)
- The Green Mile (1999)
- Battlefield Earth (2000)
- We All Fall Down (2000)
- 61* (2001)
- We Were Soldiers (2002)
- 25th Hour (2002)
- The Snow Walker (2003)
- Unknown (2006)
- Seven Pounds (2008)
- Casino Jack (2010)
- True Grit (2010)
- The Lone Ranger (2013)
- Kill the Messenger (2014)
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
- Monster Trucks (2016)
- Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Television
- Madison (1993–1996)
- The Sentinel (1996)
- Viper (1996)
- The Kennedys (2011)
Video games
- [PROTOTYPE] (2009)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
