Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Bewitched, Rushmore, Spun, I ♥ Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He currently releases music through solo-project Coconut Records; formerly, he was the drummer of the rock band Phantom Planet. Schwartzman is also the star of the HBO series Bored to Death, where he plays a writer who moonlights as an unlicensed detective, advertising himself on Craigslist.Schwartzman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Talia Shire (née Coppola) and the late producer Jack Schwartzman. Many of his family members are involved in film; he is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, cousin of actor Nicolas Cage, director Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola, and Christopher Coppola, and grandson of Italia Coppola (née Pennino) and Carmine Coppola. His brother is actor/musician Robert Schwartzman (vocalist for the band Rooney), and his paternal half-brother is cinematographer John Schwartzman. Schwartzman is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent on his father's side and Italian (Catholic) ancestry on his mother's side, and was raised without religion.
Schwartzman's acting career began when he was 17 years old when he starred in Wes Anderson's Rushmore in 1998. Prior to Rushmore, Schwartzman had no acting experience.
He is also known for his roles in the films The Darjeeling Limited, Shopgirl with Steve Martin, I ♥ Huckabees, Spun, Funny People and Slackers. In 2006, he starred in Marie Antoinette under the direction of his cousin, Sofia Coppola, in which he appeared as King Louis XVI with Kirsten Dunst in the title role.
He made a cameo appearance in the Judd Apatow-produced musician biopic spoof Walk Hard as Ringo Starr. In 2009, he appeared in Apatow's third directorial feature entitled Funny People, in which he played Mark, a C-list television star.
Schwartzman stars in HBO's TV show Bored to Death in which he plays a writer who moonlights as a private detective who puts himself up for hire on Craigslist. In 2010, he performed as Gideon Graves in the film, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the movie adaptation of the comics by Bryan Lee O'Malley.
In 2011, Schwartzman made a cameo appearance as Vincent Van Gogh in the Beastie Boys short film Fight For Your Right Revisited.
Prior to acting, he was the drummer and a songwriter for the band Phantom Planet. Despite leaving the band for an acting career, music remains one of Schwartzman's passions and pastimes. He appears in the music video for the rock remix of "It's All About the Benjamins" by Puff Daddy. He also contributed to Ben Lee's 2005 album Awake Is the New Sleep.In 2007, he created the indie rock solo act Coconut Records. The first CD, entitled "Nighttiming" was produced by Mike Einziger of Incubus and features a cover photo from Roman Coppola. The album was first released on iTunes on March 20, 2007. Songs include "West Coast", "Nighttiming", and "This Old Machine". In 2009, the second album Davy was released on iTunes on January 20, 2009. The first single off of the CD was "Microphone".
In addition, Schwartzman has composed and performs the musical score for Funny People and the theme song for Bored to Death. He has also written tracks for Smallville and Slackers.
