Jon Heder

Jonathan Joseph “Jon” Heder is an American actor and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite. He has also acted in the films The Benchwarmers, School for Scoundrels, Blades of Glory, Mama’s Boy, and When in Rome, and provided voice talents in the animated films Monster House and Surf’s Up, as well as the Napoleon Dynamite animated series.

Napoleon Dynamite, filmed in Preston, Idaho, earned $44.5 million at the box office, more revenue than almost any other Sundance movie. For his appearance as Napoleon, Heder was paid just $1,000. In June 2005, Heder received the MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance and Breakthrough Male Performance for the role. Jon also reprised his roles in a self-parody sketch called “Napoleon Bonamite” on the animated series Robot Chicken.

Heder had a supporting role as a clerk in a new age bookstore in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven with Mark Ruffalo and Reese Whitherspoon. Heder also appeared with Rob Schneider and David Spade in producer Adam Sandler’s The Benchwarmers, a comedy about three grown men making up for lost chances by creating their own Little League baseball team. He was the voice of the character Skull in the animated film Monster House, and starred in the comedy School for Scoundrels, opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Jacinda Barrett. He co-starred in 2007 with Will Ferrell in the well-received ice-skating comedy Blades of Glory.

Heder’s second turn at voice acting came in 2007 when he voiced the character of Chicken Joe, a surfing chicken, in the animated film Surf’s Up. His first foray into web television was in the 2008 web series Woke Up Dead starring and produced by Heder. In 2012, Heder returned to the role that made him famous by supplying the voice of Napoleon Dynamite in the Fox Network animated series, Napoleon Dynamite, which debuted in January of that year. Heder also appeared as “Eagleclaw” an episode of The Aquabats! Super Show!

In 2013, Heder appeared in the music video for Imagine Dragons’ “On Top of the World” with numerous other Utah based actors and musicians.