His innocent blue eyes and charming smile may look familiar to some. That’s because this is the face of the child actor who stole our hearts in the 2003 remake of Peter Pan. Jeremy Sumpter has taken on a wide range of roles since his acting debut as Peter Pan. Soon, the actor will star in two chilling horror movies, 2013’s The Culling and 2014’s Animal.
Although Sumpter was born in California, he lived in Kentucky until he was 11 years old. At that age, Sumpter won a Kentucky-based talent competition and subsequently signed with a personal manager. He ended up moving back to California in 2000 to pursue his acting career in Los Angeles.
His first major role was in the thriller Frailty where he was hand-picked by both the director and star of the film, Bill Paxton. He showed off his surfing skills in the film Local Boys and starred alongside Danny Glover in Just a Dream. Finally, after a worldwide search, Sumpter earned the lead role in Peter Pan where he successfully captivated his audience. He starred in the television series Clubhouse and later on returned to the television scene in the acclaimed series Friday Night Lights.
In The Culling, a group of college students journey on a road trip where they encounter a peculiar little girl and eventually find themselves amidst supernatural forces. Sumpter will star as Tyler, one of the college students. In the film Animal, a group of friends end up stranded in an isolated cabin as they attempt to thwart off a bloodthirsty predator. Sumpter will star as the character Matt. Clearly, Sumpter is not in Neverland anymore.
Sammi Brennan can be reached at samantha.brennan@theminaretonline.com