Biography for
Seth Green More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

8 February 1974, Overbrook Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Birth Name

Seth Benjamin Gesshel-Green

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Seth was raised in Overbrook Park by his parents; Herb, a math teacher, and Barbara, an artist. He attended public school and played soccer. Seth decided to make acting his career at age six after appearing in a summer camp performance of "Hello, Dolly!"

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Trivia

Jodie Foster's production company, Egg Pictures, is named after Green's character in The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), in which she also starred.

Has an older sister, Kaela Green.

He had a part filmed for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992); the part was left on the cutting room floor, but a still from the scene appeared on the read or the commercial release videocassette box. Seth eventually got to be in Buffy, though, on the TV series.

At 13-years-old he played Alyson Hannigan's boyfriend 'Fred' in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988). Ten years later, at the age of 23, he played her boyfriend again when he landed the role of 'Oz' on the TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).

Seth is thanked in the sleeve notes of Blink 182's "Enema of the State". Blink also thanks Idle Hands (1999) and Can't Hardly Wait (1998) -- both movies featuring a Blink 182 song and coincidentally both have Seth Green in them. Seth also had an uncredited role in Enemy of the State (1997).

Shares a birthday with Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil, his The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) co-star Mary Steenburgen, James Dean and Ethan Phillips.

Was once room-mates with crooner Brian Evans in California. In Macleans Magazine (Canada), Evans called the experience "Unfortunate for Seth", adding that "I wasn't stable enough to live alone, never mind have a roommate."

Named #7 of the Top Ten Sexiest Men of the Buffy / Angel universe in a fan poll by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanzine (2004).

Not many people know that he was responsible for one of the most overused catchphrases of the 1990s. In 1992 he appeared in a commercial for Rally's Burgers as an obnoxious drive-thru cashier who kept repeating the line "Cha-CHING!!" over and over again and the line entered the popular culture.

Based the gravelly voice of Chris Griffin in "Family Guy" (1999) on the Buffalo Bill character from The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

He played Lyle in The Italian Job (2003). His Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) co-star Michael Caine appeared in the original The Italian Job (1969).

Has made his entrance in two separate films to two separate Clay Aiken songs. They are "Invisible" in Without a Paddle (2004) and "The Way" in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004).

Was among the guests at Jessica Simpson's 25th birthday party.

Revealed in a 2005 "Fresh Air with Terry Gross" interview that he had auditioned for the American Beauty (1999) role that eventually went to Wes Bentley, and he was the runner-up for the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) role that went to Elijah Wood.

Seth is not related to Bruce Seth Green, who directed some episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997). On occasion, some sources confuse the two and have credited Seth as the director.

In the movie Mallrats (1995), the studio had prepared to replace Jason Mewes with Seth Green to play the character of "Jay". Director Kevin Smith insisted that Mewes reprise his part from Clerks. (1994) so the studio had Green on stand-by and ready to fly to the mall where they were filming while they viewed Mewes' first scene. In the end, all parties agreed to Mewes keeping the part.

1998: Named on Entertainment Weekly's "It List" of the 100 Most Creative People in Entertainment.

In his free time enjoys playing pool and seeing as many films as possible.

Graduated high school with honors.

He is an avid fan of the NFL team New Orlean Saints.

Besides Joss Whedon and Fran Rubel Kuzui, he is the only other person to have been involved in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) and "Angel" (1999).

Attended the same middle school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as pop artist Eve.

Has been long time friends with actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, and has collaborated with her quite a few times. They can be found together in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) and "Robot Chicken" (2005).

Personal Quotes

There are two kinds of people in this world: Michael Jackson fans and losers.

"Doing something because it's quote-unquote a good career move doesn't really appeal to me. There's never a surefire good career move except doing good work." [May 30, 2003]

[of being famous:] "It's a period of adjustment. I've gotten a lot better at it. After working for 18 years, all of a sudden I became successful on a level where other people knew it. It's not a cat you can put back in the bag."

[about being a child star:] "My childhood success came and went real fast. Between 12 and 16, I grew -- as much as I was going to, anyway -- and no longer looked the same. Like most child actors, I found it a difficult adjustment. Still, I've done so many things that I wasn't associated with one thing. I'm an actor, not a celebrity. When recognition became an issue a few years ago, part of me felt undeserving. Desperate to maintain my popularity, I was performing all the time. Then, I caught a glimpse of myself at the MTV Music Awards -- dressed in leather, grasping for jokes -- and set about changing my habits. Now that I've stopped trying so hard, I'm more comfortable in my skin."

[on improvising:] "... three movies with Mike Myers certainly loosened me up. He told me that there's a switch in your brain that censors you, makes you second- guess. You have to turn it off, shut out the fear of being embarrassed and making a mistake. Being a good improvisational actor is all about being in the scene, getting out of your head. Conan O'Brien is my favorite interviewer because he pays attention and has no game plan."

[of his character Lyle in The Italian Job (2003):] "There's no greater way to gain an audience's sympathy than by being unfortunate. My main goal was to not make him this mono-dimensional computer guy. There had to be a reason this guy could hang with this tough crew. I didn't want him to be dorky, but a little unfortunate and a little embittered, the kind of guy who has this massive motorcycle he can't even ride."

[on his character Lyle in The Italian Job (2003) (who speaks a lot of technical jargon:] "I don't believe in e-mail. I rarely use a cell phone and I don't have a fax. But part of the reason I got this job is that I'm good at making complicated technical terms sound normal. It sounds obnoxious, but I compare it to doing Shakespeare. You just figure out the emotional content of the line and go with that. It doesn't matter what you're saying if you come from an honest place. Though most people don't know half the words, you don't have to dumb down. I hate when they show a policeman saying "I've got a 3-U at Baker Street ... breaking and entering." No one talks like that."

God is, to me, pretty much an idea. God is, to me, pretty much a myth created over time to deny the idea that we're all responsible for our own actions.

[on improvising dialogue as Scott Evil in scenes with Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997):] "[Dr. Evil's] whole shhh! thing was made up on the spot. It's a testament to Mike Myers' brilliance. They just keep going after the written scene is over, and fucking magic happens." (May 14, 1999)

[on playing the character Oz in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997):] "The script that wooed me was for the episode where I first turn into a werewolf. Before I signed, Joss said, 'Read this. This is what we're thinking.' It had all this metaphorical stuff and gave strong shades to the character. I said, 'Yeah, I want to be a part of this.'" (May 14, 1999)

I've met him a bunch and hung out a handful of times. He's great, very smart and knowledgeable about world history and politics. Always fun to be around. - on Marilyn Manson.

Where Are They Now

(October 2003) In Wellington, New Zealand, filming Without a Paddle (2004)

(November 2006) Currently working on his show Robot Chicken.

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