Casper Van Dien

Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor, best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the science-fiction action film Starship Troopers (1997). Other credits include Sleepy Hollow (1999), Sanctimony (2000), The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006), Watch Over Me (2006–2007), Born to Ride (2011), Shiver (2012), Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2013), Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine (2017), Alita: Battle Angel (2019), and Mad Heidi (2022).

Van Dien was born in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane (née Morrow), a nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien Sr., a U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot.

There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a Marine during World War II. Van Dien is descended from an old Dutch family long settled in the New York area; his other heritage includes Swedish, French, and English.

The street that he grew up on: Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey, was named after his great-great-great-grandfather. When Van Dien was older, his family returned to Florida, where he enrolled at the St. Petersburg campus of the Admiral Farragut Academy, graduating 3rd in command. After high school, Van Dien attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.^{[citation needed]}

After moving to Los Angeles, Van Dien landed a number of small parts in various television series and movies. Two early breaks were recurring roles as Ty Moody on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live and the prime time drama Beverly Hills, 90210. Keen to expand his acting talents, Van Dien took a big part in the video game, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom.

In 1996, Van Dien played King Tal in Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus, the second sequel to the 1982 cult classic, The Beastmaster. Van Dien also starred in the 1997 James Dean biopic James Dean: Race with Destiny. Soon after, he got the breakthrough role of Johnny Rico in Paul Verhoeven's 1997 science fiction action film Starship Troopers. His success in Starship Troopers subsequently resulted in his casting as Tarzan in Tarzan and the Lost City (1998). Van Dien next played Brom von Brunt in Tim Burton's 1999 film Sleepy Hollow, a reworking of the classic Washington Irving tale.

In 2000, Van Dien appeared in Cutaway as well as Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC prime time soap Titans with Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Perry King and Victoria Principal. He filmed several scenes as Patrick Bateman, in 2002's The Rules of Attraction. However, the scenes were unused in the final film.

In 2008, Van Dien returned to the role of Rico in Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, a direct-to-video sequel to Starship Troopers.