Jason James Richter

Jason James Richter (born January 29, 1980)<ref name="Oregonian-2014apr30">Template:Cite news</ref> is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role in the Free Willy film series as Jesse, the boy who befriends Willy the orca.<ref name="Oregonian-2014apr30" />

Early life

Richter was born on January 29, 1980, in Medford, Oregon,<ref name="Oregonian-2014apr30" /> the son of Sandra "Sandy" Montgomery, an actress, and Gregory Lynn Richter, who was in the U.S. Navy. At the age of 3, he and his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where a Japanese casting agency discovered him and signed him up for three TV spots. In 1989, his family moved back to the mainland, settling in San Diego, California.Template:Cn

Career

Richter starred as Jesse in Free Willy (1993), a role for which he was chosen out of more than 4,000 candidates.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

His other films include Cops & Robbersons, The NeverEnding Story III, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Laserhawk, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, and The Setting Son. He also reprised his role as Jesse in the music video for Michael Jackson's "Childhood", which was featured in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home. In 2021, he appeared in the thriller The Little Things, his first studio film since the Free Willy films. Between the Free Willy roles, he had TV guest roles on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Rugrats and The Client.

Following his appearance in Ricochet River, Richter took a decade long hiatus from acting where he was the bassist Fermata.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Free Willy	Jesse
1994	Cops & Robbersons	Kevin Robberson
1994	The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia	Bastian
1995	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Jesse
1997	Free Willy 3: The Rescue	Jesse
1997	The Setting Son	Big Bully
1997	Laserhawk	Zach Raymond
2001	Ricochet River	Wade
2009	Tekken	Bonner's Associate	Also assistant director
2013	The Quiet Loud	Paul	Short film; also director, writer & producer
2014	Life's a Pitch	Jimmy	TV film
2016	Vicious	Jeff	Also producer
2017	Last Rampage	Brawley	Also associate producer
2017	3 Solitude	Elliot
2017	High & Outside: A Baseball Noir	Johnny
2018	Inhumane	Dr. Aaron Graybor
2018	Remember the Sultana	Corporal Erastus Winters/ Corporal William Norton/ Private John Zazier (voice)
2018	818	Alex
2018	Driver	Alexander Hutchins
2019	The Brawler	John Olson
2019	Infidelity	Garret Walker
2021	The Little Things	Detective Williams
2021	Last Call	Saville
2023	Natty Knocks	Leo
2023	Nothing to See Here	Daniel
2024	Final Heist	Template:TBA

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Movie Magic	Himself	Episode: "Aqua Animatronics"
1996	The Client	Chris Love	Episode: "The Morning After"
1997	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Dante	Episode: "Dante's Inferno"
1997	Rugrats	Ringo the Bull	Episode: "He Saw, She Saw/Piggy's Pizza Palace"
2001	Mega Movie Magic	Himself (archive footage)	Episode: "Free Willy 2/Independence Day"
2009	Bones	Clown No. 2	Episode: "Double Trouble in the Panhandle"
2011	Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior	Matthew Keane	Episode: "Nighthawk"

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Artist	Director
1995	"Childhood"	Jesse	Michael Jackson	Nicholas Brandt
2018	"Pink Honey"	Tall Man	Houses	Brook Linder

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Template:Abbr
Young Artist Awards	1994	Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Drama	Free Willy Template:Small	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
MTV Movie & TV Awards	1994	Breakthrough Performance	Free Willy	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Best Kiss	Free Willy Template:Small	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

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