Jason Butler Harner

Harner was born in Elmira, New York and grew up in suburban Northern Virginia, where he saw a handful of plays at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage.[2] His middle name Butler is his mother’s maiden name.[1] He graduated from T. C. Williams High School, Alexandria, Virginia, in 1988.[3] Although Harner was the president of his high school drama club, he spent his time building sets rather than acting since many of his relatives were carpenters or plumbers.[4]

At 17, after graduating from high school, he worked as an usher at the Eisenhower Theater, part of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.[5]

He graduated from VCU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting in 1992. After graduating from VCU, he was an apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville; he subsequently moved to New York City and received a Master of Fine Arts in the Graduate Acting Program from Tisch School of the Arts in 1997.[6] Harner returned to VCU as a Master Teacher during their 2007-08 Guest Artist program.[7]

Harner completed filming for Changeling in December 2007. He played Gordon Stewart Northcott, a mechanic accused of murder.