Dan Heder
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| Dan Heder | |
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| Born | Daniel James Heder October 26, 1977   Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Heder |
Daniel James Heder (pronounced "heeder") (born October 26, 1977) is an American producer and filmmaker. He is best known for being the identical twin brother of Jon Heder and partner in his production company.
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[edit] Early life
Heder was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, one of six children of family practice physician Dr. James Heder and his wife Helen, the first-born of a pair of identical twins (his brother is Jon Heder). He has an older sister and brother, Rachel and Doug, and two younger brothers, Adam and Matthew.
As children, he and Jon were interested in film-making, and instead of traditional book reports, they would shoot home movies. Older brother Doug recalls the twins using their mother's new husky dog to shoot a book report on White Fang [1]. Their interest led them both to study film-making (later computer animation) at college. Doug also recalls that the three of them (Doug, Dan and Jon) would write and publish morality tales (heavily based on Aesop's Fables).
He is related to former NFL running back and current WCAU sports caster, Vai Sikahema.
He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served his two year mission for the church in Japan, serving the Komatsu, Takayama, Nonami, Takabata and Okazaki areas between 1997 and 1999 as part of the Japan Nagoya Mission. As a result, he, like his brother Jon, speaks Japanese.
Heder graduated from South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon in 1996. He is a 2003 alumnus of Brigham Young University, where he studied computer animation along with his twin Jon. Whilst there he attended acting classes with actress Emily Tyndall, who went on to play the character Trisha Stevens (as Emily Kennard) in the feature film Napoleon Dynamite opposite Jon.
[edit] Career
Heder acted alongside brother Jon in the short film The Wrong Brother (2000), and again with Jon and older brother Doug in Funky Town (2000), both while attending BYU.
In 2005 he appeared on the U.S. TV show Punk'd as one of the collaborators, in a prank played on his twin brother Jon (Season 4 Episode 6). Dan coaxed Jon to what Jon thought was an ordinary L.A. party (but which turned out to be a brothel), only to disappear with one of the "hookers" right before the "Vice Squad" (Punk'd cast members) arrived. Dan was taken outside (ostensibly being arrested), while Jon was interrogated by Chris Elwood (posing as an LAPD detective), who claimed he had footage of Dan with a hooker "doing some stuff". A visibly frightened Jon was vastly relieved when the joke was revealed (whilst he too was being "arrested").
In 2006, Heder worked as an animator on the animated film Monster House, and today he runs the production company Greasy Entertainment with brothers Jon and Doug.
[edit] Personal life
Dan currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Sarah. Both he and Jon are avid video-gamers, and of the two of them, Dan insists (and Jon admits) that he is the better gamer.
[edit] Dan and Jon
Jon stated during an appearance on the David Letterman show that he and Dan think alike and, as children, would often finish each other's sentences (a common occurrence with identical twins). When Letterman asked Jon whether being an identical twin is a good experience, Jon replied that it is mostly good, but that as children "people did treat you differently . . . like we were really just clones." He admitted that he had suffered identity crisis as a child, and recounted a story when he and Dan went to a friend's birthday party at the age of eight or nine and gave a box of candy as a gift. Their friend's father shared the candy out amongst the children, but was left with one short. As a 'logical' solution, he cut the last candy in half and gave each half to one of the twins. Jon recalls that that was the only time in his life he truly felt offended.
When they were young, Dan and Jon would (like many identical twins) swap places to confuse their friends and teachers [2], and interviewers like to ask whether they still do. David Letterman asked Jon "from my perspective, how do I know I'm talking to the right one?" when he interviewed him in 2006, to which Jon simply replied, "you don't".
They have rarely been interviewed together. One occasion was the Jimmy Kimmel show, which only happened because Dan happened to be sitting in the front row of the studio audience while Jon was being interviewed. The host asked Dan up onto the stage, and the twins bantered back and forth for the benefit of the audience. On other occasions, Dan and Jon have attended public events together (such as the premiere for The Nightmare Before Christmas (3D)). At the premiere for The Nightmare Before Christmas (3D) Dan gamely pretended to be Jon for the benefit of a reporter until Jon was also available for interview.
The twins share a very close relationship, and Jon has commented that when they get together they "block everything else out. Nothing exists in our world except for us" [3]. On the few occasions they have appeared together in public, Dan has appeared to be slightly more forward than Jon, and sometimes answered questions directed at his brother.
Dan often gets mistaken for Jon, and some fans will not believe he is actually Jon's twin, not Jon himself.
Actor Will Ferrell, who starred with Jon in Blades of Glory, claimed in an interview (tongue in cheek) that Dan was mean, would not talk to him, and would just stare at him from across the room and give an evil laugh. Jon followed this comment by claiming that Dan is "the evil one"[4].
Dan and Jon share a very particular sense of humour, and appear to enjoy peoples' confusion when they can't tell them apart [5].
Links to Pictures of Dan and Jon together:
- At the Premiere of The Nightmare Before Christmas (3D). Dan is on the left, Jon on the right.
- Playing Halo 3 at the launch party. Dan is again on the left, wearing a hat, Jon on the right.
- 7 For All Mankind Robertson Boulevard Store Opening. Dan is on the left, Jon the right, with older brother Doug in the middle.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Wrong Brother | Audience Member | Actor |
| 2000 | Funky Town | Officer Laurel | Actor |
| 2005 | Punk'd | Himself | |
| 2006 | Monster House | Animator |
[edit] External links
- Dan Heder at the Internet Movie Database
