Peter Berg

Early life

Berg was born on March 11, 1964 in New York City, the son of Laurence "Larry" Berg, a US Marine, and Sally (née Winkler) Berg. Berg's father was Jewish, as was his maternal grandfather. His mother was Christian.

Through his mother, Berg is a second cousin of writer H. G. Bissinger, whose book Friday Night Lights provided the basis for Berg's film and TV series of the same name. His mother co-founded a nonprofit directory of youth-focused charities named Catalog for Giving, and worked at a psychiatric hospital when Berg was growing up. He has a younger sister, Mary.

Peter was a student in the Chappaqua School System. After graduating from The Taft School in 1980, Berg attended Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he majored in theater arts and theater history and graduated in 1984. Berg later moved to Los Angeles to pursue his film career.

Career

In his early days in Los Angeles, Berg worked such jobs as a prop assistant and a driver. Berg acted in 21 Jump Street He acted in Genuine Risk in 1990 and in Late for Dinner and Crooked Hearts in 1991. In the early 1990s, he appeared in Fire in the Sky Aspen Extreme, Across the Moon and F.T.W..

In 1992, Berg gained recognition for playing a World War II soldier in the film A Midnight Clear. In 1998, Berg made his feature directorial debut with Very Bad Things, a black comedy starring Jon Favreau, Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern, and Leland Orser. The film, which was shown at the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals, received mixed critical reception. In 2000, he created Wonderland, an edgy dramatic television series set in a psychiatric emergency room. While the ABC show received rave reviews and garnered a cult following, it failed to deliver ratings and was canceled after the second episode had aired.

In 2003, Berg directed the action comedy The Rundown. Starring Dwayne Johnson and Seann William Scott, the film received mixed reviews from critics and disappointed at the box office, only grossing $80 million of its reported $85 million budget.

In 2004, Berg began work on his third directorial effort, Friday Night Lights, a football film based on The New York Times bestseller written by Buzz Bissinger. In 2006, Berg developed and became executive producer of NBC's Peabody and Emmy Award-winning drama Friday Night Lights, which takes inspiration from the book and Berg's film of the same name, but features an original storyline and new characters.

Berg appeared alongside Tom Cruise in the Robert Redford directed war film Lions for Lambs (2007) as Lt. Colonel Falco. Berg followed up in 2007 with directing The Kingdom, a Michael Mann-produced action-political thriller set in Saudi Arabia, starring Academy Award winners Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper, also with Jennifer Garner whom Berg met when he appeared on the television series Alias.

Berg directed the 2008 film Hancock, starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman, that grossed over $600,000,000 million worldwide.

Berg directed a Hulu commercial featuring Alec Baldwin, which both The New York Times and Time named best spot of Super Bowl XLIII. In 2009, Berg directed a two-hour pilot movie for the Fox television series Virtuality. Even though the show was not picked up for a full season, the pilot was released on DVD exclusively through Best Buy. Berg also directed the ESPN documentary 30 for 30: Kings Ransom in 2009. Berg also co-wrote the film The Losers (2010).

Berg also directed the science-fiction action film Battleship (2012), a live-action adaptation of the board game, and the war film Lone Survivor (2013), an adaptation of Marcus Lutrell's book of the same name. Variety writer Justin Chang said Berg delivered "his most serious-minded work to date with Lone Survivor." The following year, Berg acted as producer on the 2014 film Hercules, which he was originally slated to direct before being replaced by Brett Ratner.

In 2013, Berg created the opening animation sequence for ESPN's Monday Night Football, the 80-second graphic featured Darth Vader, Pac-Man, President Ronald Reagan and football highlights of 44 years.

In 2014, he directed the first two episodes of HBO's The Leftovers.

In 2015, Berg launched the nonfiction studio Film 45 to complement his fiction studio Film 44.

In 2016, Berg directed the film Deepwater Horizon, based on the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Berg replaced director J. C. Chandor, who had exited the film due to creative differences. That same year, he directed CBS Films' Patriots Day, about the Boston Marathon bombing, and the following year directed the action thriller Mile 22. All three films starred Mark Wahlberg.

In 2017, Berg directed an ambitious commercial for Hyundai, which was recorded after the kickoff of Super Bowl LI and aired right after the game. His Film 44 company was recently signed to a first look deal with Netflix, which saw the release of his most recent film Spenser Confidential, the director's fifth collaboration with Wahlberg.

In 2019, Berg directed a historic commercial for the National Football League, "...football fans witnessed another milestone moment with the premiere of the NFL's Super Bowl commercial entitled The 100-Year Game. The two minute ad, which kicked off the celebration of the NFL's 100th season garnered the No. 1 spot in USA Todays Ad Meter with the publication describing it as "a tour de force starring an assemblage of many of the greats of NFL history."

In 2024, Berg announced he was working on a film based on the book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II. The Mosquito Bowl is set to release on Netflix in 2026.

Personal life

In 1993, Berg was married to Elizabeth Rogers; they have one child and divorced in 1998.

In July 2015, Berg criticized ESPN's decision to honor Caitlyn Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award by sharing his opinion on Instagram, where he posted a Facebook photo of Army veteran and double amputee Gregory D. Gadson alongside one of Jenner. The meme's caption said: "One man traded 2 legs for the freedom of the other to trade 2 balls for 2 boobs. Guess which man made the cover of Vanity Fair, was praised for his courage by President Obama, and is to be honored with the 'Arthur Ashe Courage Award' by ESPN?" After being criticized for the meme, Berg later said: "I have the utmost respect for Caitlyn Jenner and I am a strong supporter of equality and the rights of trans people everywhere. I also believe that we don’t give enough attention to our courageous returning war veterans, many of whom have sacrificed their bodies and mental health for our country and our principals--principals that include the freedom to live the life you want to live without persecution or abuse."

Filmography

Film

Acting roles

Television

Acting roles

Music video

Awards and nominations

References

References

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8. "Caught in the Crossfire: Politics, Religion, Blockbuster Action Hold the Keys to This 'Kingdom'". Goliath.ecnext.com.
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11. (2012). "Berg and Smith". The Taft School.
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13. White, Tom. (April 8, 1995). "Peter Berg: A Man of Action and Words". Los Angeles Times.
14. (June 11, 2008). "Filmography". The New York Times.
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23. "Hancock (2008)". Box Office Mojo, LLC.
24. (August 9, 1988). "ESPN 30 for 30". 30for30.espn.com.
25. Dargis, Manohla. (April 22, 2010). "A Band of Brothers, Seriously Ticked Off". The New York Times.
26. "Peter Berg Puts Lone Survivor on Hold to Sink My Battleship". Beyond Hollywood.
27. Chang, Justin. (December 16, 2013). "'Lone Survivor' Review: Mark Wahlberg Stars in Peter Berg's Grueling War Drama". Variety Media, LLC.
28. Fleming, Michael. (July 23, 2008). "Peter Berg to direct 'Hercules'". Variety Media, LLC.
29. Couch, Aaron. (August 14, 2013). "Peter Berg Talks ‘Monday Night Football’ and His NFL ‘Man Crushes’ (Video)".
30. Sharf, Zack. (May 31, 2017). "‘The Leftovers’: The 7 Filmmakers That Made It One of Television’s Best Directed Series". [[IndieWire]].
31. (March 10, 2015). "Peter Berg Starts Film 45 Non-Scripted Company; Rihanna Documentary, Special Forces Series Among First Projects".
32. (January 30, 2015). "Peter Berg in Talks to Replace J.C. Chandor on 'Deepwater Horizon'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
33. (August 4, 2015). "Peter Berg Eyes CBS Films' Boston Marathon Thriller 'Patriots' Day' (EXCLUSIVE)". variety.com.
34. "Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg Talk Making a "Character-Driven Action Movie" with 'Mile 22'".
35. (February 2, 2017). "Hyundai's 'live' commercial puts deployed soldiers at Super Bowl with families". usatoday.com.
36. (March 29, 2021). "'Spenser Confidential' Director Peter Berg Signs First-Look Deal With Netflix".
37. "'Making of the 100-Year Game' on NFL Network Offers Behind-The-Scenes Look at Award-Winning NFL Super Bowl Commercial".
38. "Peter Berg visits III Marine Expeditionary Force facilities, leaders".
39. (January 7, 2026). "Netflix's 2026 Film Slate: Dates For 'War Machine' & Other Titles, New Cast For Animated 'Swapped' Plus First-Look Pics For 'Enola Holmes 3,' More". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
40. Spindler, Amy M.. (August 29, 1995). "Fashion Hitches a Ride With Hollywood's Shining Stars".
41. Jordan, Pat. (August 15, 2013). "Peter Berg Threw Himself Under a Bus. Now What?".
42. (July 16, 2015). "Peter Berg denounces Caitlyn Jenner's ESPY win with transphobic meme". [[The Guardian]].
43. (July 17, 2015). "'Friday Night Lights' Producer Apologizes for Anti-Jenner Post".
44. (July 16, 2015). "Peter Berg shares transphobic meme after Caitlyn Jenner ESPY win".
45. (July 16, 2015). "Friday Night Lights producer Peter Berg slams Caitlyn Jenner's ESPYs courage award". [[The Washington Post]].
46. (July 16, 2015). "Director Peter Berg Slams Caitlyn Jenner's ESPYs Award".
47. Widjojo, Conchit. (June 29, 2022). "Everything to Know About Hulu's Victoria's Secret Documentary: Release Date, How to Watch and More Details". WWD.