--- name: "Chris Klein" canonical: "https://film.one/person/chris-klein" fi1m_id: "chris-klein" imdb_id: "nm0005098" tmdb_id: 21594 wikidata_id: "Q343453" roles: ["Actor"] born: "14 March 1979" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 68 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-05T02:18:21.058590+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Chris Klein ## Identity Chris Klein - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/chris-klein - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** chris-klein - **IMDb ID:** nm0005098 - **TMDB ID:** 21594 - **Wikidata ID:** Q343453 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Klein_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q343453, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005098/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21594 Actor. Born 14 March 1979 in Hinsdale, Illinois, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 14 March 1979, Hinsdale, Illinois, USA - **Active:** 1999–present - **Also known as:** 크리스 클라인, Frederick Christopher "Chris" Klein - **Frequently works with:** [Adam Herz](https://film.one/person/adam-herz.md), [Chris Moore](https://film.one/person/chris-moore.md), [Craig Perry](https://film.one/person/craig-perry.md), [Jason Biggs](https://film.one/person/jason-biggs.md), [Thomas Ian Nicholas](https://film.one/person/thomas-ian-nicholas.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 68, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 75 (2), 2000s 49 (1), 2020s 71 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 66 to 62 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 1 of 4 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Romance 2 - **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $538m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Klein_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q343453, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005098/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21594 ## Streaming the US now - **Hulu:** [*Election*](https://film.one/film/election.md) (86) - **Netflix:** [*Sweet Magnolias*](https://film.one/tv/sweet-magnolias.md) (71) - **The Roku Channel:** [*American Pie*](https://film.one/film/american-pie.md) (64) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Chris Klein > Chris Klein makes clean-cut athletes worth caring about, and *Election* is the clearest reason to value him. His sincerity works especially well in a cruel comedy; repeated casting as the nice young man narrowed what he could show. In *Election* (1999), Chris Klein's Paul Metzler is guileless enough to make the people around him seem worse without trying. We warmed to Paul because Klein gives his innocence a sincerity that the film's self-deceiving adults cannot manage. It is a good performance in a sharply funny film, and the clearest example of why his familiar casting as the decent athlete can work. Alexander Payne needs someone whose goodness survives the satire, and Klein supplies him without making decency seem like a plea for our approval. That matters in a school comedy where Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick make cruelty so watchable. Klein does not have to compete with them for nastiness, and the film benefits from having somebody we need not distrust. Payne sometimes presses a joke too hard, a reservation worth keeping even in a film we rate this highly. Klein gives us a reason to care when the comedy gets cruel, because Paul seems so ill-equipped to recognise it. Making him more knowing would spoil the performance; his innocence is what makes him useful to Payne. *American Pie* (1999) supplied his breakout role as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher, another comfortable fit for his sincere charm. He reprised Oz in *American Pie 2* (2001) and *American Reunion* (2012), keeping that early association alive. The limitation was the casting: repeated clean-cut jocks offered fewer chances to complicate the impression. *Rollerball* (2002) drew poor notices for both film and performance, while the villainous Dusty Dinkleman in *Just Friends* (2005) gave him a different comic task. Later television work brought more antagonistic characters, including Orlin Dwyer, also known as Cicada, in *The Flash* (2018–2019). That recurring villain role is a substantial change from the teen-comedy romantic lead, though a darker part alone is no reason to call a performance better. We would be more interested in seeing another director find a good use for his sincerity than in seeing him discard it altogether. Start with *Election*, where Payne understands how funny a decent young man can be among people behaving badly. ## Biography Chris Klein is an American actor. He made his screen debut as Paul Metzler in the 1999 film *Election*, directed by Alexander Payne, after being discovered while still in high school in Omaha, Nebraska. He briefly attended Texas Christian University, where he studied theatre. Klein is known for his role as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher in the *American Pie* film series, appearing in *American Pie* (1999), *American Pie 2* (2001) and *American Reunion* (2012). Other credits include *We Were Soldiers* (2002), *Rollerball* (2002), *Just Friends* (2005) and television appearances in *The Flash* and *Sweet Magnolias*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Sweet Magnolias* (2020), Fi1m 71, as Bill Townsend — [page](https://film.one/tv/sweet-magnolias.md) - *American Pie 2* (2001), Fi1m 49, as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher — [page](https://film.one/film/american-pie-2.md) - *American Pie* (1999), Fi1m 64, as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher — [page](https://film.one/film/american-pie.md) - *Election* (1999), Fi1m 86, as Paul Metzler — [page](https://film.one/film/election.md) ## Complete filmography (41) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Bad Counselors* (2026), as Pastor Tom - *Labyrinth* (2025), Actor - *Fear Street: Prom Queen* (2025), as Dan Falconer - *Sweet Magnolias* (2020), series, as Bill Townsend — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/tv/sweet-magnolias.md) - *Intensive Care* (2020), Actor - *Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls* (2019), as Ben McGrath - *The Competition* (2018), as Calvin Chesney - *Game of Aces* (2016), as Jackson Cove · Producer - *The Grinder* (2015), series, as Benji - *Damaged* (2015), as Sam Luck - *The Flash* (2014), series, as Orlin Dwyer / Cicada - *Authors Anonymous* (2014), as Henry Obert - *American Reunion* (2012), as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher - *Wilfred* (2011), series, as Drew - *Franklin & Bash* (2011), series, as Tommy Dale - *Raising Hope* (2010), series, as Brad - *Caught in the Crossfire* (2010), as Briggs - *The Good Guys* (2010), series, as George Jenkins - *Play Dead* (2009), as Ronnie Reno - *The Six Wives of Henry Lefay* (2009), as Stevie - *Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li* (2009), as Charlie Nash - *Welcome to the Captain* (2008), series, as Marty Tanner - *Hank and Mike* (2008), as Conrad Hubriss - *New York City Serenade* (2007), as Ray - *Day Zero* (2007), as George Rifkin - *The Valley of Light* (2007), as Noah - *The Good Life* (2007), as Tad Tokas - *Lenexa, 1 Mile* (2006), as Andy Lausier - *American Dreamz* (2006), as William Williams - *Just Friends* (2005), as Dusty Dinkleman - *The Long Weekend* (2005), as Cooper - *American Dad!* (2005), series, as Gary / Rick (voice) - *The United States of Leland* (2003), as Allen Harris - *We Were Soldiers* (2002), as 2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan - *Rollerball* (2002), as Jonathan Cross - *American Pie 2* (2001), as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher — Fi1m 49, [page](https://film.one/film/american-pie-2.md) - *Say It Isn't So* (2001), as Gilbert Noble - *Here on Earth* (2000), as Kelvin Morse - *American Pie* (1999), as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/american-pie.md) - *Election* (1999), as Paul Metzler — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/election.md) - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Noah Locke ## Gallery - ![Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/88736/gallery-e11fc2ad8b95.jpg) Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012) — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/American_Pie_Reunion_%286811664988%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/88736/gallery-214aa1b8d663.jpg) Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012) — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/American_Pie_Reunion_%286811665202%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/88736/gallery-721935d10542.jpg) Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012) — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/American_Pie_Reunion_%286811665354%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/88736/gallery-9cdeb4e2d0ac.jpg) Cast and writers of American Reunion at a media event at Harry's Cafe de Wheels in Woollomooloo. (2012) — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/American_Pie_Reunion_%286811665456%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Chris Klein](https://film.one/media/person/88736/gallery-a7845f11ea37.jpg) Chris Klein — Image via TMDB - ![American Pie Reunion. (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/88736/gallery-a68ebc7a0a9e.jpg) American Pie Reunion. (2012) — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/American_Pie_Reunion_%286811667198%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/chris-klein