Craig Chester

Craig Chester (born November 8, 1965) is an American actor, writer, and screenwriter.

Early life Chester was born in West Covina, California, the son of Cecil, lead singer in the rock band "Whiskey", and Linda, a homemaker. He moved with his family to Carrollton, Texas at the age of twelve when his father accepted a corporate job with Nestlé. At age fifteen, Chester was diagnosed with the facial deformity long face syndrome. The condition's most striking symptom is an excessively long lower face height. At eighteen, Chester spent a year undergoing multiple reconstructive surgeries. Chester moved to New York City in 1985, with a new face, to study at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Following graduation, he performed in various stage productions in New York, including a play written by Joanne Woodward who, upon noticing his naturalistic acting style, encouraged Chester to pursue a career in film.

Career Chester's acting debut was in the feature film Swoon, a contemporary re-telling of the infamous Leopold & Loeb murder case, which earned Chester an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor. Janet Maslin of The New York Times described the film as "dazzling". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone described Swoon as "a great film...haunting and visionary". Chester went on to act in a string of critically acclaimed independent films. He has been openly gay since the inception of his career, rare at that time.

As a result, St. Martin's Press approached Chester to write about his life and experiences. His memoir Why the Long Face?: The Adventures of a Truly Independent Actor was published in 2003. In 2009, Showtime optioned the book with Chester set to adapt it into a television pilot with Don Roos, Dan Bucatinsky and Lisa Kudrow as producers. Publishers Weekly described Why The Long Face as "witty, absorbing" with Chester an "engaging storyteller with a fresh voice". Kirkus Reviews described Chester's memoir as an "intriguing midpoint autobiography sure to rouse curiosity about what the next half has in store."

Chester transitioned into screenwriting with Adam & Steve, which he also directed and starred in with Parker Posey, Chris Kattan and Malcolm Gets. The film was released on April 24, 2005. Writing for The Village Voice, Melissa Levine described writer-director Chester's debut as "truly enjoyable", while Ronnie Scheib of Variety praised his performance: "Chester's Adam, effortlessly able to slide from bathos to pathos and back again with none of the smarmy schmaltz of sitcom humanism, is a marvel of nuanced comic timing." Chuck Wilson, writing for LA Weekly described the film as "something certain to make John Waters cackle with glee." Adam & Steve has since developed a cult following.

Since adapting his book for Showtime, Chester has been writing for television. He wrote for season seven of the hit HBO series, True Blood and has developed pilots with NBC and Ryan Seacrest for E! amongst others. On the June 5, 2013, edition of NPR's "Moth Radio Hour", Chester recounted how he has been haunted by the Academy Award-nominated actor, Montgomery Clift, who has been dead for over 40 years.

In 2021, Chester shared that he had experienced homelessness for several months, beginning in mid-2019.

In early 2024, Michael Musto announced that a sequel to "Adam & Steve" was in development and that Chester had penned the screenplay, titled "Adam & Steve 55+".

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1992 Swoon Nathan Leopold Jr. 1993 Grief Mark 1994 Out of Darkness Bill TV film 1995 Frisk Henry 1996 I Shot Andy Warhol Fred Hughes 1997 David Searching Mercedes Guy 1997 Kiss Me, Guido Terry 1998 The Misadventures of Margaret Richard Lane 1998 Shucking the Curve Steven 1999 Charlie! 2001 The Anniversary Party Party Guest 2001 Circuit White Party Customer 2001 The Experience Box Ryan 2001 Sex and the City "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" Hermes Clerk TV series 2002 Bumping Heads Craig short film, 22 minutes; released in 2003 in Boys Life 4: Four Play 2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent "Phantom" "Anti-Thesis" Thor Derek TV series 2003 The Look Henrik 2003 Quintessence Thomas short film, 25 minutes 2004 Anonymous Auditor 2004 Out on the Edge writer 2005 Adam & Steve Adam Bernstein actor; writer; director 2007 Save Me writer 2007–2008 The Big Gay Sketch Show writer (9 episodes) 2008 Pedro Counselor 2013 Kill Your Darlings Businessman 2021 Cam Boy Wegman