Mark Waters

MARK WATERS

Date of Birth: June 30, 1964

The brother of writer/director Daniel Waters, Mark Waters was born in South Bend, Indiana. He worked as an actor and theater director in San Francisco after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986. After a number of years on stage, he decided to return to school and work towards his M.F.A. in directing.

In 1994 he accomplished this from the American Film Institute, and three years later made his directorial debut with The House of Yes, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Parker Posey. Based on a stage play, Waters adapted the comic script to screenplay format. The film received various award nominations from festivals and won Special Recognition at Sundance for Posey's performance.

Waters started off the new millennium with his second directorial attempt, Head Over Heels, again starring Freddie Prinze Jr. He made his first foray into television with the TV movie Warning: Parental Advisory (2002) starring Jason Priestly and Mariel Hemingway. Waters returned to the big screen with the remake of the Disney flick, Freaky Friday (2003) starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in the roles originated by Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster in 1976. The film was a box office success, grossing over $110 million at the domestic box office alone.

In 2004, he again worked with Lohan, this time in Mean Girls (2004). It was a big hit at the box office, as was his next film, the adult comedy Just Like Heaven, starring Reese Witherspoon.

Since then, he's filmed The Spiderwick Chronicles with Freddie Highmore, and the comedies Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) with Matthew McConaughey and Mr. Popper's Penguins with Jim Carrey.

His latest film is the raunchy comedy Bad Santa 2 (2016) with Billy Bob Thornton.

In 2008, Waters was awarded the Franklin J. Schaffner Award by the American Film Institute.

Filmography:

Bad Santa 2 (2016)
Vampire Academy (2014)
Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
Just Like Heaven (2005)
Mean Girls (2004)
Freaky Friday (2003)
Head Over Heels (2001)
The House of Year (1997)