The Early Years: 1979-1985
In 1979, a young Adam Baldwin - at the time attending the New Trier High School in Chicago - was cast in the title role of "Ricky Linderman" for a small Chicago production called 'My Bodyguard' by the films director, Tony Bill - "Adam was one of many kids - hundreds, whom we interviewed and read for the part. I wanted what turned out to be a very difficult quality: a hulking, intimidating presence (in a 16 year old) with a hidden vunerability. I tested kids from all over the U.S. I really only found one: Adam".
It is on the filming of this movie where Adam met a young Dean Devlin (now a big time writer/producer) who's father (Don Devlin) was producing. After it's release in 1980, Adam received critical praise for his performance in this great little film and he was promptly cast in a small role by Robert Redford for his Oscar Winning movie 'Ordinary People'. His next role was to be about 4 years away for the lead part in the 1983 Joel Schumacher directed comedy 'D.C. Cab'. This movie wasn't so well received and was a critical flop, although the film itself wasn't that bad. Several more meaty roles followed, with such notable films as 'Reckless' (1984) and 'Hadley's Rebellion' (1984), but his next big role came in the form of the 1985 movie '3:15' in which he starred in the lead role. The movie also marked the second time Adam would work with Dean Devlin, whom had a small part in the movie and also received special thanks. This would be crucial in Adam's later career.
The Move to L.A.: 1986-1990
In 1986 Adam moved to L.A. to pursue his acting ambitions, and while there he took a job as a truck driver to fund his efforts. His first big L.A. movie was to be 'Bad Guys' (1986) in which he played one of the lead roles. This comedy wasn't a massive hit but it did lead to bigger and better things, and also got him noticed in L.A.; an important thing for any actor. In 1987, legendary film-maker Stanley Kubrick cast Adam as the war loving lunatic "Animal Mother" for the classic movie 'Full Metal Jacket'. This marked the highest point (critically) in Adam Baldwin's career so far. Lots of great roles naturally followed this, starting with a small role in the brilliant 1988 adaption of 'The Chocolate War'. Next came the one of the title roles in 'Cohen & Tate' (1989), a big part in the star-studded Patrick Swayze movie 'Next of Kin' (1989) and finishing up with a smaller part in 1990's 'Predator 2'. These films, although great at the time, unfortunetly got Adam type-cast as a tough guy, and so more followed. I'm not sure that his career has ever recovered from this so far.
Mid-Career Slump: 1991-1995
The 1990's saw many made-for-television movies for Adam Baldwin. Most of which have never made it past the TV screen. The first notable movie of this period though, would be the 1992 feature film 'Where the Day Takes You', this film was very well received and had a great cast, but Adam's role wasn't massive. His next film is most definetly the biggest of this era in his career, even though the role was of a drunk child-beater for the Richard Donner directed 'Radio Flyer'. A few more poor movies followed that up, until the delightfully evil 1993 thriller 'Deadbolt', a television movie in which Adam takes the serial killer stand. A personal favorite of mine :). After that a small part in the Kevin Costner epic 'Wyatt Earp' (1994), and a very small part in the chick-flick of the century 'How to Make an American Quilt' (1995) came about. TV movie's such as 'Sawbones' (1995) and 'Shadow-Ops' (1995) came afterwards.
Settling in Support: 1996-2000
1996 saw a great reunion with Dean Devlin - now writer & producer - in the alien invasion epic 'Independence Day', a movie which really must be seen in the cinema to be fully appreciated. Around this time Adam was cast in a role which would gain him a big fan following, the part of "Colonel Jack Riles" in the short lived but well produced and received TV series 'The Cape'. Adam seemed to use this as a spring-board to greater, deeper parts...thank god :). The true life story of sky-diving firefighter "Don Mackey" was next for one of the "In the Line of Duty" series of films called 'Smoke Jumpers' (1996), a very nice TV movie and among Adam's favorites. In 1997 Adam once again worked with Dean Devlin and continued to make his mark on television with the series 'The Visitor', a short lived but good tv series. Again, television seemed to be all the rage, and in 1998 a part in the Tom Hanks mini-series 'From Earth to the Moon' was well received. In 1999 Adam got the lead in the Francis Ford Coppola produced Hong Kong/American action movie hybrid 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Working with Mr. Coppola can never be bad and this was even primed for a TV series, but was never picked up. Soon after Adam would again work with Dean Devlin for the Mel Gibson movie 'The Patriot' (2000), a story about the American revolution, in which Adam gives a fine performance as the Loyalist.
A New Start for a New Century: 2001-Present
More recently Adam seems to be taking roles more for the character and less for exposure, I present the following small indie movies as proof, 'Pursuit of Hapiness' (2001), 'Above and Beyond' (2001), and 'Jackpot' (2001), the follow-up movie to the Polish Brother's indie hit 'Twin Falls Idaho'. In 2001 Adam gained an excellent part in perhaps the biggest TV series of all time, the excellent 'The X-Files' as the military informer/alien super soldier "Knowle Rohrer", this certainly gained him more fans, especially on the internet. Also that year Adam starred in another independent film called 'The Keyman', which is certainly looking to be a good one. Director Daniel Millican was very pleased with Adam's performance - "Adam is an incredibly good actor. I had no idea he was that good. Adam offered me a lot of help and went way beyond what I think a lot of other actors would do. He had really good ideas. One in particular was that I had the Keyman mumbling throughout the movie. I had him saying ryhmes and also Milton. Adam suggested doing soley nursury rhymes. It was a great move."
In early 2002, Adam was cast in the Joss Whedon created space/western series 'Firefly', which turned out to be a quality show. Adam played "Jayne", the ships muscle and comedic relief. Unfortunetly the series was cancelled but it did showcase him to a whole new fanbase. Adam still frequents the 'Firefly' message boards, talking to fans, posting updates and keeping the spirit of this excellent show alive. Soon after, Adam guest-starred in a couple of episodes of the Richard Dean Anderson series - 'Stargate SG-1', producer Joseph Mallozzi would like to see Adam return - "Sitting in the room watching the dailies, we were blown away by his performance. Word from the set was that Adam loved doing the show. Without a doubt, we'd love to have him back." - and he may get his wish, Adam is currently up for a role on the 'Stargate' spin-off series called 'Stargate: Atlantis'.
In year 2005, Serenity movie(Big damm movie!) was released with Adam acting in it!
