Nick Stahl is an American actor best known for his roles in the films The Man Without a Face, Bully, Sin City, In the Bedroom, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Hailing from Harlingen Texas, Nick Stahl was born on December 5, 1979 to Donna Lynn and William Kent Stahl. He started his interest in acting at the young age of four, when his mother brought him to watch a children’s play. This was then followed by his appearance in numerous television commercials and community plays. He made his film debut in 1991, when he appeared in the TV movie Stranger at My Door, as Robert Fortier.
Nick Stahl had his big break in 1993, when he co-starred with Mel Gibson in the drama film The Man Without a Face, as Charles E. 'Chuck' Norstadt, the art student of the disfigured painter Justin Mcleod (Mel Gibson). The success of this film earned Stahl widespread recognition as a young actor. In 1994, he played Susan Sarandon’s son, Simon Singer, in the drama film Safe Passage. That same year, he co-starred with Patrick Swayze, Oliver Platt, Roger Aaron Brown, Scott Glenn, Catherine O'Hara, and Jared Harris in the Disney film Tall Tale. The following year, he went back in doing TV movies, as he appeared as the young Edward in Blue River.
In 2001, Stahl co-starred in Larry Clark’s Bully, with Brad Renfro, Rachel Miner, Bijou Phillips, and Michael Pitt. In the movie, Stahl played the abusive Bobby Kent. That same year, he co-starred with Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei, and William Mapother in Todd Field’s in the Bedroom, playing the young man Frank Fowler who falls in love with a much older woman. In 2003, Stahl played the grown up John Connor in the science fiction film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Stahl further gained recognition when he co-starred with Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba in the film adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel Sin City, playing the child molester Roark Jr. also known as the Yellow Bastard.