Chris Pine

Christopher Whitelaw Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot film series (2009?2016) and Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films Wonder Woman (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).

Pine at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con

Pine first rose to prominence for his roles in the romantic comedies The Princess Diaries 2 (2004) and Just My Luck (2006). His roles also include Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods (2014); Jack Ryan in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014); Bernie Webber in The Finest Hours (2016); and Robert the Bruce in Outlaw King (2018). He has also starred in Unstoppable (2010), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Hell or High Water (2016), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) and Wish (2023). Pine made his directorial debut with Poolman (2023)

Early life

Pine was born on August 26, 1980[1][2] in Los Angeles, California.[3][4] His father, Robert Pine, is an actor who co-starred on CHiPs as Sergeant Joseph Getraer, while his mother, Gwynne Gilford, is a former actress who became a psychotherapist.[5] He has an older sister, Katherine, who has also acted.[6] His maternal grandmother, Anne Gwynne, was a Hollywood actress. His maternal grandfather, Max M. Gilford,[7] who came from a Russian Jewish family,[8] was an attorney who was elected president of the Hollywood Bar Association.[7] His uncle, Greg Max Gilford,[9] is a former recording artist for Dunhill Records, who became a computer consultant, then later a Recovery Mentor/Support Specialist for United Healthcare.[9]

Pine attended the Oakwood School for high school,[10] which he described as "a Jewish liberal school in the Valley,"[11] then went on to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.[12][13] While in college, Pine wanted to find a "place where he'd belong", and was not interested in joining a fraternity. Instead, he began doing theater.[14] As a member of the UC Berkeley Theater Department, Pine performed in a Caryl Churchill play at La Val's Subterranean Theater and performed Orestes and Shakespeare at Zellerbach Hall.[15][16]

He was an exchange student at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom for one year.[17] After graduating from Berkeley, he was an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.[18][19] He had a Berkeley professor who was an adjunct at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, which is often misstated as him studying at ACT itself.[20]

Personal life

Pine was in a relationship with South African model Dominique Piek from late 2011 to early 2013.[84] He was in a relationship with British actress Annabelle Wallis from 2018 to early 2022.[85][86]

On March 1, 2014, while filming Z for Zachariah in New Zealand, Pine was arrested by police near Methven after failing to pass a routine roadside breath alcohol test.[87][88] He pleaded guilty to drunk driving on March 17, stating that he drank four vodkas at a local pub. Pine was disqualified from driving in New Zealand for six months and ordered to pay NZ$93 in reparation. He had a clean record, and the judge said that "the incident was out of character".[89][90]

Regarding his outlook on religion, Pine said "I definitely have a spiritual outlook ... I am not a religious guy, I am probably agnostic."[91]

With Gal Gadot at 2018 San Diego ComicCon

Politically, Pine has called himself a "left-leaning liberal".[92] He has said that both Democrats and Republicans tend to be interchangeable when it comes to certain actions, citing President Obama's strengthening of the Patriot Act.[93]

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Pine along with fellow Star Trek coworkers J. J. Abrams, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, George Takei, Justin Lin, Bryan Fuller, and Adam Nimoy, endorsed a movement called Trek Against Trump. The movement endorsed Hillary Clinton.[94] On November 1, 2016, Pine, along with director Joss Whedon, released a video urging people to vote in the upcoming elections. While the video was a parody of Congress in general, certain commentators took the video to represent the Republican Congress.[95][96][97] In 2020, Pine supported Joe Biden's presidential campaign.[98] In October 2023, following Hamas' attack against Israel, he, among with more than 700 other Hollywood actors, signed an open letter demanding the safe return of hostages being held in Gaza.[99]