Aaron Edward Eckhart is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to England at the age of 13, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his high school senior year. Take a look below for 33 more awesome and interesting facts about Aaron Eckhart.

1. He left high school without graduating, but earned a diploma through an adult education course, and graduated from Brigham Young University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film.

2. For much of the mid-1990s, he lived in New York City as a struggling, unemployed actor.

3. As an undergraduate at BYU, Eckhart met director and writer Neil LaBute, who cast him in several of his own original plays.

4. Five years later, Eckhart made a debut as an unctuous, sociopathic ladies man in LaBute’s black comedy in the film “In the Company of Men.”

5. Under LaBute’s guidance, he worked in the director’s films “Your Friends & Neighbors,” “Nurse Betty” and “Possession.”

6. Eckhart gained wide recognition as George in Steven Soderbergh’s critically acclaimed movie “Erin Brockovich,” and, in 2006, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Nick Naylor in “Thank You for Smoking.”

7. Another mainstream breakout came in 2008 when he starred in the blockbuster Batman film “The Dark Knight” as District Attorney Harvey Dent.

8. His mother, Mary Martha, is a children’s book author and poet. His father, James Conrad Eckhart, is a computer executive.

9. He has two older brothers, and comes from a family of mixed ancestry.

10. He was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church, and served a two year LDS mission in France and Switzerland before moving to England.

11. During his senior year in school, he quit for a job at Warringah Mall movie theater, which also gave him time to enjoy surfing and skiing for three years in Hawaii and France.

12. In his time at the Brigham Young University, he appeared in the Mormon-themed movie, “Godly Sorrow,” which marked his professional debut.

13. He was cast in several of Neil LaBute’s original plays while he was at university.

14. Eckhart was featured in television commercials, which are his first official television roles.

15. Following the commercials, he was cast as an extra in the television series “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

16. He received the Best Actor Award at Taormina International Film Festival, along with the nomination for Most Promising Actor at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.

17. Eckhart met actress Emily Cline in the sets of “In the Company of Men,” and started dating her. Though engaged, the relationship didn’t last long and the duo separated in 1998.

18. In preparation for his role as Barry in the movie “Your Friends & Neighbors,” Eckhart had to gain over 30 pounds.

19. His character in “Erin Brockovich,” George, was based on Erin Brockovich-Ellis’s Mexican-american biker boyfriend Jorge. Later in an interview, he said that before he took the offer for the role, he hadn’t worked for nearly a year, and that it wasn’t a vacation also.

20. He learned to ride a motorcycle for his character George. He bought his own motorcycle after the movie.

21. He was initially considered for the role of “Leonard” in the 2000 movie “Memento.”

22. Eckhart was cast as Thomas Mackelway in E. Elias Merhige’s psychological thriller “Suspect Zero,” which received negative reviews.

23. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He was also nominated for the Best Actor Award at the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association as well as Independent Spirit Award for his performance as Nick.

24. His performance was praised by critics, including a contributor of USA Today, who wrote that Eckhart gave a, “standout, whip-smart performance,” citing that as Nick Naylor he kept him, “likable even in his cynicism.”

25. Eckhart was named as one of the 100 Most Beautiful People in 2006 by People Magazine.

26. He dated country music songwriter and member of SheDaisy, Kristyn Osborn, from 2006 to 2007.

27. He played the role of Nick in the 2007 movie “No Reservations,” a remake of the 2001 German romantic comedy, “Mostly Martha.”

28. During a scene in which he was cutting onions, he accidentally sliced off one of his fingernails, but didn’t notice the blood until Abigail Breslin screamed.

29. It’s reported that Nolan decided to cast Eckhart in “The Dark Knight,” after watching his portrayal of corrupt characters in the movies “In the Company of Men,” “The Black Dahlia,” and “Thank You For Smoking.”

30. He prepared for the role by studying split personalities and described his portrayal of Harvey Dent as, “simultaneously coming from and being apart from the same world as Batman,” and that the challenge was, “looking for the similarities and the tension between the two; to find what’s similar to Batman and then what’s opposite to him.”

31. Eckhart claims that he modeled his performance in part after Robert F. Kennedy, both in terms of his initially polished, dashing appearance and his preoccupation with revenge.

32. In the entire movie, he was asked by director Nolan not to perform any tics or slurping noises while portraying the character of Two-Face to make the character less “showy.”

33. Eckhart was personally hand-picked by Nicole Kidman to play her husband, Howie, in the 2010 movie “Rabbit Hole,” an adaption of David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2005 drama of the same name.