Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), Boogie Nights (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Under Suspicion (2000), The Punisher (2004), The Mist (2007), Mutant Chronicles (2008), 1922 (2017), and The Predator (2018). Jane's television roles include Mickey Mantle in the television film 61* (2001), and starring in the HBO series Hung (2009–2011) and the Syfy/Amazon Video series The Expanse (2015–2022). He is the founder of RAW Studios, an entertainment company that releases comic books he has written, the first of which was Bad Planet. He made his directorial debut with the crime thriller Dark Country (2009), in which he also starred. Early life Jane was born February 22, 1969, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Cynthia (née Jane), an antiques dealer, and Thomas Elliott, Jr., a genetic engineer. He is of Irish, Scottish, and some German-Jewish and Native American descent. He attended Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School but dropped out and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He was initially homeless and lived out of his car, often doing street performances to earn money: "I had two songs in my repertoire that I hammered to death, 'Hey Joe' and 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'. People used to pelt me with change just to shut me up." Career Jane began his acting career with the Indian Telugu language film Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), directed by Jandhyala. His early roles included the Hustler in I'll Love You Forever … Tonight (1992), Zeph in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), and Billy in Nemesis (1992). He also had supporting roles in several high-profile films, including The Crow: City of Angels (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Thursday (1998), and Magnolia (1999). After receiving critical acclaim as baseball player Mickey Mantle in 61*, Jane received offers for leading roles beginning with Andre Stander in the South African film Stander (2003), for which he gained further critical acclaim. Along with director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad, Jane has said he was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role in the film The Punisher (2004). He turned down the role twice, as he did not have much interest in the superhero genre. When they asked him the second time to play the Punisher, Tim Bradstreet's artwork of the character