Jay Mohr

JAY MOHR

Date of Birth: August 23, 1970

When Jay Mohr was a boy growing up in Verona, New Jersey, he dreamed of becoming a comedian. In high school, he was mostly an unsuccessful class cutup with a comedic batting average even lower than his SATs. "I was more annoying than funny," Mohr has said. "I wasn't the guy everyone liked. I was the guy that wouldn't shut up." His first brush with an appreciative audience occurred at a teen comedy night at a nearby stand-up club where the laughs came freely. Soon, Mohr was a traveling teen comic with two rules from Mom: "Don't say the F-word, and no comedy on a school night." The gag orders were canceled after graduation when he began pursuing comedy full-time. In 1991, at age 20, Mohr landed a real job hosting MTV's mouthing-to-the-oldies game show, Lip Service. Although it's not something he likes to reminisce about, it got other people talking. His season of service led to a brief stint on Saturday Night Live and he joined the cast in 1993. While that wasn't a write-home experience either (his two-year run included little airtime beyond the occasional Christopher Walken impression), he did receive an Emmy nomination for his work.

When SNL stalled during Mohr's contract renegotiations, he left the show unemployed--and undaunted. Case in point: his high-pressure Jerry Maguire screen test opposite Tom Cruise, which simulated their tense lunchtime firing scene. He landed the role of Bob Sugar, the rival sports agent who fires Cruise. It was during that film that he got an audition for Picture Perfect opposite Jennifer Aniston. Studio executives weren't quite sold on him, but lobbying from Cameron Crowe and Mr. Cruise himself sealed the deal. Suicide Kings followed, in which he played a rich kid opposite Mob boss Chistopher Walken, as well as the children's feature Paulie where Mohr lent his voice to a parrot.

He began 1998 with Small Soldiers and Jane Austen's Mafia and then left all comedic impulses at the door with a turn as Ellen Burstyn's AIDS-stricken son in Playing By Heart (1998). In 1999, Mohr had starring roles in two high-profile projects: the eagerly awaited but ultimately disappointing 200 Cigarettes and Doug Liman's acclaimed Go. In both films, Mohr acted as part of a Who's Who of Up-and-Comers cast, appearing as the man who literally screws over Kate Hudson in the former, and as a gay actor in the latter. The same year, he returned to his television roots with Action, a short-lived Fox show that featured him as a loathsome, foul-mouthed film executive. In addition to his acting roles, Mohr continued to appear on numerous televised stand-up comedy showcases and on talk shows such as Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

Mohr lives in L.A. with his girlfriend, actress Nicole Chamberlain, and rottweiler, Shirley.

Filmography:

Street Kings (2008)
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
Fair Hope, USA (2001)
Simone (2001)
Speaking of Sex (2001)
Pluto Nash (2001)
Pay It Forward (2000)
Cherry Falls (2000)
Go (1999)
200 Cigarettes (1999)
Playing by Heart (1998)
Jane Austen's Mafia (1998)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Paulie (1998) (voice)
Suicide Kings (1997)
Picture Perfect (1997)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
For Better or Worse (1996)