Peter Hedges

PETER HEDGES

Date of Birth: July 6, 1962

A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Peter Hedges founded the Edge Theater in 1985 along with Mary-Louise Parker and Joe Mantello. Over the next three years he wrote and directed twelve plays for the company. His first novel, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, was the basis for the 1993 film, for which he wrote the screenplay. Starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie won a Silver Guild Film Award. Hedges next co-wrote the screenplay for the film A Map of the World (1999), based on the novel by Jane Hamilton. He collaborated with Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz on the screenplay About a Boy (2002), based on Nick Hornby’s novel, and the three were nominated for an Academy Award ® as well as a BAFTA and a Writers Guild of America Award.

He made his directing debut with the small budget film Pieces of April (2003), which he also wrote. Starring Katie Holmes and Patricia Clarkson, the quirky but sentimental film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance film Festival as well as the Open Palm Award by the Gotham Awards. As well, Variety Magazine named him one of the 10 Directors to Watch for in 2003. It took a few years but in 2007, Hedges released his second feature, Dan in Real Life starring comedians Steve Carell and Dane Cook. He followed that up with the 2012 Disney film The Odd Life of Timothy Green starring Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton.

Hedges’ second novel, An Ocean in Iowa, was published in 1998 by Hyperion Press. His novels have been published in fifteen languages. His plays include Baby Anger, Good as New and Imagining Brad, all of which have been published by Dramatists Play Service. Hedges has taught at Bennington College, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and at Northwestern University’s National High School Institute. He grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Susan Bruce, and their two children, Simon and Lucas.

Filmography (director):

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)
Dan in Real Life (2007)
Pieces of April (2003)