--- name: "Jesse Bradford" canonical: "https://film.one/person/jesse-bradford" fi1m_id: "jesse-bradford" imdb_id: "nm0103038" tmdb_id: 17772 wikidata_id: "Q461238" roles: ["Actor"] born: "28 May 1979" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 83 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-24T07:26:04.367702+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." --- # Jesse Bradford ## Identity Jesse Bradford - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jesse-bradford - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** jesse-bradford - **IMDb ID:** nm0103038 - **TMDB ID:** 17772 - **Wikidata ID:** Q461238 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Bradford, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q461238, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103038/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/17772 Actor. Born 28 May 1979 in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 28 May 1979, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA - **Active:** 1990–2000 - **Also known as:** Jesse Watrouse, Jesse Bradford Watrouse - **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m against the critics:** 83 to 79 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 1 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 2, Crime 1, History 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $370m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Bradford, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q461238, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103038/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/17772 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Romeo + Juliet*](https://film.one/film/romeo-juliet.md) (82) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Jesse Bradford > Jesse Bradford makes a child's confidence look practised, necessary and fragile in *King of the Hill*. His romantic lead in *Bring It On* brought wider recognition, but we would start with the boy trying to conceal his poverty. Jesse Bradford's Aaron Kurlander tells his classmates that his family has money, and Bradford lets us see how carefully the boy has learnt to sound convincing. In *King of the Hill* (1993), confidence is something he needs to get through the day. He watches the adults and works out what they will believe, without asking us to applaud his cleverness or pity him. We were moved by that effort to keep up appearances, because the confident talk comes from a child left in a hotel with no money. Steven Soderbergh trusts him to carry the film, and the performance holds up without any pleading for our sympathy. We believe Aaron can manage for a while, even as we can see that no child should have to. Our reservation concerns the last half hour, which tidies things up more than it should; Bradford has made the uncertainty worth sitting through. There is no need to qualify the praise by calling him promising, as though the acting only counted as practice for a later role. The later casting often favoured sympathetic young men in teen films. *Bring It On* (2000), with Bradford as Cliff Pantone, brought wider recognition; leading parts in *Clockstoppers* and *Swimfan* (both 2002) followed. He then moved towards supporting feature work, including Rene Gagnon in Clint Eastwood's *Flags of Our Fathers* (2006), and recurring television roles. Those shifts make a straight line from child actor to leading man a poor way of reading the work. We would look for the alertness he brought to Aaron, rather than judge each part by its size. That also keeps our enthusiasm for Baz Luhrmann's *Romeo + Juliet* (1996) in proportion when considering Bradford. He plays Balthasar, but our praise for the romance rests chiefly on Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, whose performances make Shakespeare's words credible in the modern setting. The noisy interruptions remain a caveat, and a strong film does not automatically give every actor equally revealing work. Start with *King of the Hill* if the teenage romantic leads are all that come to mind. ## Biography Jesse Bradford is an American actor. Born Jesse Bradford Watrouse on 28 May 1979 in Norwalk, Connecticut, he began working as a child actor and received Young Artist Award nominations for his performances in *King of the Hill* (1993) and *Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog* (1995). He is known for roles including Balthasar in *Romeo + Juliet* (1996), Cliff Pantone in *Bring It On* (2000) and Rene Gagnon in *Flags of Our Fathers* (2006). Bradford graduated from Columbia University with a degree in film in 2002 and appeared as Ryan Pierce in nine episodes of *The West Wing*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Romeo + Juliet* (1996), Fi1m 82, as Balthasar — [page](https://film.one/film/romeo-juliet.md) - *King of the Hill* (1993), Fi1m 84, as Aaron Kurlander — [page](https://film.one/film/king-of-the-hill.md) - *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Fi1m 82, as Nat Sabich — [page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) ## Complete filmography (53) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Hunting Party* (2025), series, as Mark Marsden - *High Potential* (2024), series, as Solomon — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/high-potential.md) - *Merry Kiss Cam* (2022), as Danny Carmody Jr. - *California No* (2018), as Colton - *Magnum P.I.* (2018), series, as Neal Conlan - *The Year of Spectacular Men* (2018), as Aaron Ezra - *Deception* (2018), series, as Rafe Willems - *Shooter* (2016), series, as Harris Downey - *Dead Awake* (2016), as Evan - *Teachers* (2016), series, as Jacob - *Badge of Honor* (2015), as Mike Gallo - *Code Black* (2015), series, as Gordon Heshman - *The Keyboard Cowboys: A Look Back at Hackers* (2015), Actor - *Sequestered* (2014), series, Actor - *10 Rules for Sleeping Around* (2013), as Vince Johnson - *The Power of Few* (2013), as Dom - *Guys with Kids* (2012), series, as Chris - *Marvel One-Shot: Item 47* (2012), as Bennie Pollack - *Son of Morning* (2011), as David - *Outlaw* (2010), series, as Eddie Franks - *Perfect Life* (2010), as Jack Parsons - *I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell* (2009), as Drew - *Table for Three* (2009), as Ryan - *The Eastmans* (2009), as Dr. Seth Eastman - *W.* (2008), as Fraternity President - *My Sassy Girl* (2008), as Charlie Bellow - *The Echo* (2008), as Bobby - *Flags of Our Fathers* (2006), as Rene Gagnon - *Heights* (2005), as Alec - *Happy Endings* (2005), as Nicky - *Eulogy* (2004), as Ryan Carmichael - *NCIS* (2003), series, as John Bishop — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/tv/ncis.md) - *Swimfan* (2002), as Ben Cronin - *Clockstoppers* (2002), as Zak Gibbs - *According to Spencer* (2001), as Spencer - *Dancing at the Blue Iguana* (2001), as Jorge - *Bring It On* (2000), as Cliff Pantone - *Cherry Falls* (2000), as Rod Harper - *The West Wing* (1999), series, as Ryan Pierce — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-west-wing.md) - *Speedway Junky* (1999), as Johnny - *A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries* (1998), as Billy Willis, Age 14 - *Romeo + Juliet* (1996), as Balthasar — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/romeo-juliet.md) - *Hackers* (1995), as Joey Pardella - *Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog* (1995), as Angus McCormick - *King of the Hill* (1993), as Aaron Kurlander — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/king-of-the-hill.md) - *The Boy Who Cried Bitch* (1991), as Mike Love - *The Boys* (1991), as Walter Farmer, Jr. - *My Blue Heaven* (1990), as Jamie - *Presumed Innocent* (1990), as Nat Sabich — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) - *Prancer* (1989), as Boy #1 - *Classified Love* (1986), as Anthony Leonetti - *Falling in Love* (1984), as Joe Raftis - *20 Questions*, series, Actor ## Gallery - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-75270c12eb70.jpg) Jesse Bradford — David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Jesse_Bradford_by_David_Shankbone.jpg/1280px-Jesse_Bradford_by_David_Shankbone.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Jesse Bradford (2007)](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-683920df3b46.jpg) Jesse Bradford (2007) — David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Jesse_Bradford_by_David_Shankbone_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-714aadd0b5c6.jpg) Jesse Bradford — Image via TMDB - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-016ac661298a.jpg) Jesse Bradford — Image via TMDB - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-9f7f0c9f4f28.jpg) Jesse Bradford — Image via TMDB - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-5766a506f45b.jpg) Jesse Bradford — Image via TMDB - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-89704e5f1dcf.jpg) Jesse Bradford — Image via TMDB - ![Jesse Bradford](https://film.one/media/person/9934/gallery-780fa8c93df7.jpg) Jesse Bradford — Image via TMDB --- © 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/jesse-bradford