Biography of the legendary director Jon Favreau

Jon Favreau is one of the most talented directors. In parallel, he acts in films, produces them and writes scripts, hosts a program on television. Collaboration with the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought him worldwide fame, and the path to fame was not easy and thorny.

Director's childhood

Jon Favreau was born on October 19, 1966 and grew up in Queens, New York. His parents are Charles and Madeleine Favreau. My father worked as a teacher in a special school, and already in those years, the future talented TV presenter went on stage, participated in the productions of the play. The director's father was a Catholic, but the boy went to a Jewish school. At the age of 13 he lost his mother, the woman died of leukemia. For a teenager, this was a very strong shock. Since the child was very upset by the loss, the father made every effort so that the son did not feel like an orphan.

Then Favreau did not think that he would connect his life with cinema, but he remembered for the rest of his life the first appearance on the stage, and in high school he dedicated the game in a play called “Guys and Dolls” to the memory of his mother, this play was her favorite during her lifetime. In 1980, Jon Favreau began to actively attend biology classes, was one of the leaders in the group, simultaneously took part in performances and went to the drama club. It was his leader who advised the future star to audition on Broadway, where a production called Glengarry Glen Ross was being prepared. The role in the musical Favreau received after entering the acting college.

How did Favreau's career begin?

After completing three years of college, the student left, wanting to perform with a theater troupe in Chicago. The future director got a job at Bear Stearns, performed with the troupe and showed his own improvisations at relevant shows. 8 years later he still went back to collegeto get an education, but could not pass the diploma exams. The screenwriter did not want to spend another year, so he returned to Chicago. There he was able to become an employee of the Improv Institute, a comedy theater, where he performed with a troupe.

In his spare time, Favreau took evening auditions, made a living washing dishes, and taking animation courses. In Chicago, he could not get the role, so he moved to live in Los Angeles. A few years later, Favreau still managed to get a few minor minor roles in TV series, and in 1993 he became a participant in the filming of a sports-themed drama called Rudy. There he met his friend and colleague Vince Vaughn, a famous actor.

Path to glory

The debut for the director and actor was the film "Party People", released on screens in 1996. He wrote an interesting script, co-produced and played one of the main roles. The new comedy was received with enthusiasm by the audience, although she did not manage to collect a large cash register. The next time Favreau appeared on the screen was in the legendary TV series Friends, however, in the cameo role of one of Monica Gellar's fans. In 1998, Favreau got one of the main roles in the film Very Wild Things, and Cameron Diaz worked with him on the set. He did not live up to the expectations of the studio and failed miserably.

Director Jon Favreau presented his first full film to the audience and critics in 2001. It was a picture called "Everything is captured", he wrote the script for it himself. On the screen, the actor appeared with his friend Vince Vaughn. The American public accepted the film favorably, although it could not become a super hit, and did not bring big box office receipts in cinemas. Two years later, another work by Favreau, Elf, appeared on the screens. The kind family comedy has already become a classic and has earned critical acclaim. The film was released before Christmas and collected a huge box office in theaters.

For several years, the actor managed to play many roles, becoming successful and recognizable, and in 2008 he was lucky enough to take the director's chair in the film "Iron Man" and sign a contract with Marvel. When released, it became the best film of the year and brought the studio multimillion-dollar revenues. It was "Iron Man" that became the first superhero film in the cinematic universe, and undoubtedly Favreau became one of the founders of the direction, having managed to win the audience's love for the genre.

It is not surprising that the director immediately began filming the second part, it was released in 2010 and also found popularity. Subsequently, Favreau resigned as director, stating that he wanted to take a break from comics. At the same time, he helped the team in creating subsequent films, although another specialist took the director's chair.

In 2013, Favreau played one of the roles in the comedy The Wolf of Wall Street by the outstanding director Martin Scorsese, and a year later he embodied on the screen a touching story about the life path of the Chef on Wheels. A year later, the director returned to Marvel, presenting The Jungle Book. In 2019 he re-shot the legendary cartoon The Lion King. The picture is still criticized for the "lack of soul." The technical performance this time turned out to be an order of magnitude higher than in the story about the life of a boy in the jungle. In parallel, Jon Favreau played several roles in Marvel films - the science fiction film Spider-Man: Homecoming, which managed to take the fifth place in the box office in the history of cinema in the United States, and the action movie Avengers: Endgame.

Director's personal life

In the early 2000s, Jon Favreau legalized his relationship with his fiancee Joya Till. The girl does not touch the world of cinema, and the spouses are very happy in marriage. In 2001, the director had a son, Max, and in 2003, a daughter, Madeline. Three years later, the couple had a youngest daughter, Brighton Rose. The wife often accompanies Favreau at social events, he actively maintains his pages on social networks and shares with fans pictures from family life.

Undoubtedly, Jon Favreau is one of the most talented directors in Hollywood, and his collaboration with Marvel brought him worldwide fame and a multi-million dollar fortune. His films have earned recognition from critics and viewers, these stories are known in all countries, and the characters of the movie universe have already become cult.