BARRY PEPPER
Birth Name: Barry Robert Pepper
Date of Birth: April 4, 1970
From early on, Barry Pepper's life has been anything but conventional. Born in Campbell River,
British Columbia, his childhood was like an adventure of the Swiss Family Robinson. In 1975, his
parents built a 50-foot sailboat and launched it into the coastal waters off of Vancouver Island. For
five years they traveled down the coast of Canada to Mexico, across to the Marcase Islands and all
through the South Pacific for the next three years after that. Pepper, along with his two older
brothers, was educated partially by his parents and partially at schools where they stopped along the
way; places like Rarotonga and New Zealand.
Upon return to their Vancouver farm, Pepper's grades from his round-the-world schooling allowed him
to attend high school in an advanced grade. Pepper then went on to take first-year studies at two
different colleges. Convinced that his future would be that of an artist, his major focus was graphic
design and then business college, where he studied marketing management. Pepper wanted to learn how
to build a strong business foundation for himself so that he could learn to market his own artwork.
Post-secondary education did not work out. Finding it unfulfilling, he answered an ad in the paper
and found himself acting within a year. While he had dabbled in drama in high school, he had never
really considered it a tangible career, believing it to be for the rich and famous.
Pepper began acting in Vancouver on the award-winning television show Madison in 1992, where he had
a recurring role for four years. He also appeared in films and other television shows, such as The
Outer Limits. Five years later, with his sights set on breaking into the American market, he and a
friend got into his Dodge Dart Swinger and headed off to Hollywood.
In just three months, Pepper was at the cattle call for the part of Roy Jackson in Saving Private
Ryan. Ultimately he was called in to meet Steven Spielberg in person while the famed director was
taking a break in between shooting Amistad. He got the part and followed it up with another big
project, Tony Scott's Enemy of the State with Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Pepper teamed up
with Tom Hanks again the following year in The Green Mile (1999). More recently he appeared in the critically acclaimed remake True Grit (2010).
Still a Canadian at heart, Pepper lives in Vancouver with his wife Cindy, when he's not busy
auditioning in L.A. They have a daughter together.