There's nothing about Skip West's childhood that he'd deem worth spending much time on other than his mom moved them from England when he was three, because of some strange life long obsession with California. Other than that, estranged father, check. Hyper intelligent, check. Skinny, check. Bullied, thrown in dumpsters, and beaten up? Check. Watch a movie on the subject, you'll get the picture (yeah, okay, there was a goth phase, get over it). Taking theater never helped the situation, but it wasn't really making it worse and it was fun enough. In 10th grade his drama teacher let him write a one-act play which he wrote about reality vs fantasy in regard to asking a girl out. People told him it was great. Those people = his Mom (x two, because she counts twice). School was easy if you discounted the social aspect (which he does), he got the kind of grades that made skipping a grade and getting an early acceptance into Stanford a Thing.

Stanford at sixteen was as daunting as one would imagine. Finally, he'd met his academic match, only, he'd also met weed, and a string of rejection (of the literary, acting, grades, and ladies kind). Lucky for him, he met KIP REISBERG through the theater department. The two were fast friends and made a great sounding board for one another's strolls down writing lane. This encouragement also lead to Skip submitting an audition tape for MYSTERIOUS SKIN. He booked the gig, to his own surprise, and the film shot in the summer of 2003 for a couple weeks. Going back to school after a thing like that proved difficult. That summer had been thrilling, daring, the material was everything he loved about film. At first he just submitted for the kind of quality he'd experienced with Gregg Araki, except... that seemed to be too few and far between. Eventually he just started to submit to everything. Right around the time he was supposed to be deciding which classes he'd want to take the next semester, he booked a gig with Disney. They wanted him to come in and meet with them, and would the following day do? The role was silly, the show was embarrassing, but, holyshitthatpaycheck. They were even willing to help him with housing. Without consulting anyone, he accepted. Skip West was going to be a nerdy high school student on PHIL OF THE FUTURE.

A lot of extensional crises followed. What the fuck was he doing?? Who made money as an actor?? Did he really just drop out of Stanford? Had he truly become a Hollywood cliche? Of course, in the middle of this, Mysterious Skin went on to get the kind of acclaim one can dream of and even premiered at the 61st Venice International Film Festival in 2004. While most of the praise was reserved for his co-star and director, Skip landed an agent out of the ordeal and went on to book Catherine Hardwick's Lords of Dogtown. This was it! He was doing! Sorta! Disney just really wanted him for Sky High and that paycheck was so much bigger than the ones from the indies. Just do it! Just one more and then you're on your way to being a Sundance darling, kid!

So went the course of his career, he'd landed a great (albeit small role) in an indie film, then begrudgingly beg for one in a larger one just to pay the rent. All he could do is laugh at what paid the rent, what paid for the month he'd use to pound away at a script, what helped him meet 'the right kind of people.' Around his Disney days, he met one Ellie Creeley who he couldn't quite explain to himself how far she'd snuck in under his skin. When he landed the role of Paulie Bleeker in Juno he couldn't have been more ecstatic that he was going to get paid to act with her (okay, so they had very few scenes together, but she was totally on set with him). Despite all the time spent together, it still took him till early 2008 he finally got over his perpetual shyness and made a move on her. Didn't matter to her that in the midst of all of this, he was going through a career crisis, unsure of how to deal with the instant fame Juno brought with it, she went for him anyway. On a roll of good fortune, with a rag tag group of friends, he was able to pull together a short he wrote & directed, Protect You + Me. The short gained enough traction to play at Sundance and was awarded an Honorable Mention for their Short Filmmaking Award competition. THINGS WERE HAPPENING!

Skip proved to be the poster boy for the stoner boyfriend who took his lovely girlfriend for granted. It didn't help that amongst a heap of other problems the two had, Ellie's career was on the rise, while he turned down any high profile role that came his way, preferring to take roles in smaller films and grab the attention of bloggers verses studio heads. Paulie Bleeker became a thing of the past, eventually he was just known as, Ellie Creeley's boyfriend. When they broke up in 2010, he began to channel all his shit into writing. What came of that time was the script for Simon Killer. A character whose own narcissism bars him from making intelligent choices, gee, that's not familiar. He was consistently told it was too dark, not enough happened, who wanted to watch a quiet meditation on a budding sociopath? Too much sex, not even blood, blah, fucking, blah. But... he eventually did find the right people. Director, Antonio Campos (the producer on Martha Marcy May Marlene) stepped on board, along with another writer, who would go on to play the leading actress, and before he knew it, he was playing the title role in his own creation. Nothing could possibly be better. Fucking nothing. Okay, his film landing a premiere date at Sundance film festival might've given the filming a run for its money, but he was addicted. He couldn't just settle for playing one for me, one for you, now he wanted not just one for him, but one where he was creatively involved. And finally, that wasn't such a tall order order anymore. The roles were finally coming in alongside his own creative opportunities. The Sleepwalker, his follow up script with director Mona Fastvold, was selected to premiere Sundance in 2014, and funding came through for his upcoming directorial debut, The Childhood of a Leader.

▸ full name Skip Arthur West ▸ birth date & age March 21st, 1986; 30 ▸ hometown London, UK (born); Santa Rosa, CA (grew up) ▸ currently resides Los Feliz, Brooklyn, Paris ▸ occupation professional bullshitter (actor, writer, & budding director) ▸ relationship status not even thinking about it ▸ sexuality kinsey 2 ▸ family Laura Ward (mother, 59, writes romance novels ala Nora Roberts), Frank West (father, 60, estranged), Rose West (half-sister, 30, reporter for The Seattle Times), Madison West (step-mother, 51, estranged)

FACTS
& Pisces/Aries Cusp (while he doesn't give a shit, it describes him to a tee) & INTP Personality

& Amateur graffiti artist in the vein of Mr. Zero. Once created a portrait of Ellie on a building he knew she'd pass by after a particularly bad fight. It remained up for almost a year. Tags under, "Cool Hand Lucrative" though only a few close friends know that's him.

& Took up free-running before he knew what it was. Has been doing it since he was in middle school. It's the only athletic thing he can succeed at (unless you count pool, which he'd hustle you out of $50 and a round of drinks over)

& Has an American accent, but can slip easily into any other, especially British; Speaks fluent French & some Spanish.

& Musically inclined - goes by ear; plays jazz piano & trumpet.

& Has a dog named Bukowski

&Was runner up to play Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Made the list for Peter Parker in the reboot of Spider-man, made the short list for Quicksilver in Age of Ultron, The Thing for the Fantastic Four reboot, Doctor Strange & the Blade Runner reboot. Originally was cast in Django Unchained for a small role, but had to drop out due to scheduling issue.

& Hopelessly devoted cinephil to the point of trying to create film like moments in his actual life.

& Smokes weed the way people go through cigarettes, has little interest in any other drug, but occasionally dabbles in other psychedelics, coke, and Adderall. Is a big whiskey drinker

& Doesn't discuss his sexuality. Is fairly candid about his failures with the fairer sex, but has never publicly admitted to his attraction to men, and all of his indiscretions have been completely behind closed doors.

& Estranged from his father after the man ran off with his secretary when Skip was six years old. Skip legally kept his name as a big, "fuck you, we exist" to his father.

& Has never worked, "a real job." Since high school he's found a way to make money under the table. Usually bizarre jobs from Craigslist, a lot of selling weed (though in college he peddled Adderall and dabbled in coke to the tune of higher profits), & sometimes he would just get "recommended." He's never asked what any of his jobs have amounted to, though he suspects he's been involved with the mob more than once. He also has a fantastical imagination.

& Allergic to every food known to man (or not, but it feels that way). Plays this off with dark jokes about being anorexic, and avoids eating with others in public if he can help it.

& Collects t-shirts with dead celebrities/historical figures on them.

& For being a shy guy, he has no qualms with nudity or sex scenes. He's never had an issue with being naked.

MUSICIAN AS DEAD HEARTS 2009 Dead Man's Bones

ACTOR 2020 The Devil All the Time ... Roy Laferty
2018 Tyrel ... Pete
2017 Get Out ... Jeremy Armitage
2016 Swiss Army Man ... Hank
2016 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (1 ep - " Kimmy Drives a Car!") ... Bob Thompson
2016 Broad City (1 ep - "Co-Op") ... Craig
2016 La La Land ... Sebastian
2014 Clouds of Sils Maria ... Piers Roaldson
2014 Hannibal (3 episodes) ... Mason Verger
2014 The Sleepwalker ... Ira
2014 Nightcrawler ... Lou Bloom
2014 Heaven Knows What ... Ilya
2013 Magic Magic ... Brink
2013 Nymphomaniac: Vol II ... K
2013 Horns ... Lee Tourneau
2012 Simon Killer ... Simon
2012 Antiviral ... Syd March
2011 Martha Marcy May Marlene ... Watts
2011 Killer Joe ... Chris Smith
2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ... Lollipop Hipster
2010 Black Swan ... Tom / Suitor
2010 Beautiful Boy ... Sammy
2009 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men ... Evan / Subject #28
2009 World's Greatest Dad ... Kyle
2009 Jennifer's Body ... Colin Gray
2007 Funny Games ... Peter
2007 Juno ... Paulie Bleeker
2006 She's the Man ... Sebastian
2006 Alpha Dog ... Zack Mazursky
2005 Lords of Dogtown ... Sid
2005 Sky High ... Zach
2004-2005 Phil of the Future (5 episodes) ... Seth Wosmer
2004 Mysterious Skin ... Brian
WRITER
???? The Brutalist
2018 Vox Lux
2015 The Childhood of a Leader
2014 The Sleepwalker
2012 Simon Killer
2008 Protect You + Me. (Short)
DIRECTOR
???? The Brutalist
2018 Vox Lux
2015 The Childhood of a Leader
2012 Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Man on Fire
2008 Protect You + Me. (Short)
PRODUCER
2018 Vox Lux
2015 The Childhood of a Leader
2014 Nightcrawler