Quick Wiki
- Full Name Gus Halper
- Occupation Actor
- Nationality American
- Birthplace Manhattan, New York, USA
- Birth Date Jul 02, 1992
- Age 32 Years, 5 Months
Gus Halper | Biography
Set to appear on Broadway play 'Sing Street' in 2022. The eight-episode series chronicles the infamous murders of a Hollywood movie executive Jose Menendez and his former beauty queen wife, Kitty Menendez, by their sons, Lyle and Erik Menendez. When the Menendez brothers were tried on national television for brutally killing their parents in Beverly Hills in 1989, their story garnered public interest because of the disturbing abuse allegations against the parents. Their trials were also broadcast, which further ignited the debate over whether or not they were guilty.
Gus Halper is an American actor and producer best known for playing Erik Menendez in the NBC mystery crime drama miniseries Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.
Who is Gus Halper?
Gus Halper is a stage and screen actor born on 2 July 1992 in Manhattan, New York. He graduated from the UNCSA School of Drama in 2014.
Halper made his film debut at age 23, playing a minor role of an impatient traveler in the 2015 musical comedy-drama film Ricki and the Flash. The same year, while rehearsing for a role in Taksu Theatre's Brooklyn production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, he landed his first major role as Eli in the 2015 ABC pilot Kingmakers.
He then notably played the role of Chance in the 2016 film Goat, opposite Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas. Written by David Gordon Green, Andrew Neel, and Mike Roberts, Goat was based on Brad Land's 2003 book titled 'Goat: A memoir.'
He later appeared in films like Maine (2018), Cold Pursuit (2019), and Holler (2020).
Halper has also appeared in about a dozen television series. He appeared in television series like TNT's Public Morals, Starz's Power, NBC's Chicago P.D., and PBS Mercy Street before landing his breakout role as Erik Menendez on Law & Order True Crime in 2017.
His other television series credits include recurring roles on SyFy's Happy!, Cinemax's Jett, and Apple TV Plus' Dickinson. Furthermore, he made guest appearances on CBS' Madam Secretary, Hulu's Ramy, HBO Max's Love Life, and CBS/Paramount Plus' Evil. Most recently, he appeared in the role of Will in AMC's post-apocalyptic horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead in 2021.
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Additionally, he will be appearing in the role of Tom in the upcoming biographical film Rustin, which is due to be released in 2022.
The Law & Order True Crime actor made his New York theater debut in the 2016 Off-Broadway musical comedy Ride the Cyclone, for which he was nominated for the 'Lucille Lortel Award' in 2017. In 2020, it was announced that Halper would make his Broadway debut in the production of Sing Street.
'Law and Order'
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders is the true-crime anthology series created by Rene Balcer. The eight-episode series chronicles the infamous murders of a Hollywood movie executive Jose Menendez and his former beauty queen wife, Kitty Menendez, by their sons, Lyle and Erik Menendez.
When the Menendez brothers were tried on national television for brutally killing their parents in Beverly Hills in 1989, their story garnered public interest because of the disturbing abuse allegations against the parents. Their trials were also broadcast, which further ignited the debate over whether or not they were guilty.
The first season of the series details the day-to-day battles of the trial and unveils the shocking truth of what went down when the cameras stopped rolling. As of October 2021, the series is on hiatus.
Halper portrayed the role of a younger brother Erik Menedzed in the series, alongside Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning Edie Falco. Falco played Leslie Abramson, the defense attorney who represented Erik and Erik's older brother Lyle (played by Miles Gaston).
In an interview with Social News XYZ in September 2017, Halper said that he felt difficulty portraying the role of the real person because of the sense of responsibility. However, he added that it was often "surreal" to recreate real events.
In another interview with Broadway Box in December 2019, he admitted his role Erik Menendez was "mind-bendingly emotionally exhausting."
‘Holler’
Holler is a semi-autobiographical drama film written and directed by Nicole Riegel. It is expanded from Riegel’s 2016 short film of the same name and was released on 11 June 2021.
Holler follows the story of a resourceful yet rebellious high school student Ruth (played by Jessica Barden), who finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Halper portrayed the role of Ruth’s older brother Blaze, with whom Ruth joins a dangerous gang of scrap-metal pirates to pay for her education.
In a 2021 interview with Anthem magazine, Halper said he remembered feeling attached to the film when he read the script. He said he was mostly told about the relationship between Blaze and Blaze’s sister, which he felt like something he hadn't seen done that way before. He further said that Blaze and Ruth parented each other in the film.
‘Sing Street’
Sing Street is a musical adapted from John Carney’s 2016 musical romantic comedy-drama film of the same name. The musical features a book by ‘Tony Award’-winning playwright Enda Walsh, music and lyrics by Gary Clark and John Carney, and the production is directed by ‘Tony Award’-winning director Rebecca Taichman. Performances of the musical began on 25 November 2019 before it opened at New York Theatre Workshop on 16 December 2019. The show ran through 26 January 2020.
Halper performed the role of a bright young man Brendan Lawlor, who is in his 20s. He loves music and his little brother, but his depression and addiction keep him from leaving the family house.
In an interview with Broadway Box in December 2019, Halper said that the sibling relationship in the musical made him want to return to the stage following his successful screen career. He said, “It was the sibling relationship that really moved me. I have an older brother, and when I read the script I just cried and cried. Also, film and TV is fun, but there’s nothing quite as exhilarating as live theater.”
Personal Life
Halper has maintained a very low-key personal life as he has disclosed nothing about his romantic relationship. He has also remained private about his family.
Halper is not active on social media platforms. Describing the reason on Broadway Box, he said he doesn’t interact healthily with social media. He went on to say that he would be on social media all the time if he had it, which would make him obsessive and anxious. He added staying off of social media is easy since he has never started.
However, it is publicly known that he is the son of actress Deann Simmons Halper. His mother, a 1984 graduate of UNCSA School of Drama, was trained at UNCSA as part of an acclaimed class that included novelist/playwright/filmmaker Peter Hedges and award-winning actor/director Joe Mantello.
Halper has one sibling, but he hasn’t disclosed his name. “I have an older brother so there’s a special place in my heart for caring older brothers,” he told Anthem magazine in 2021. Further stating how siblings help each other grow, he said, “Our parents are a fixture and are wonderful, but there’s always I think with siblings a certain degree of self-parenting that you do for each other.”
