SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — When it comes to movies, Sacramento is one of the least talked about cities. There aren’t many set in Sacramento and there are barely any fictional characters from the city either. However, there are a few notable actors that have a relation to the capital of California. Here is a list of celebrities who are from Sacramento.
Video above: SacTown Movie Buffs
Sam Elliott
You would be forgiven if you thought Sam Elliott was born in the southern part of the U.S. with some of his most recognizable roles pitting him as a cowboy or rancher. The 77-year-old actor is best known for The Ranch, A Star is Born (2018), 1883, and Ghost Rider.
In an interview with SacTown Magazine, Elliott answered several questions about his early life and what it was like growing up in the state capital.
“I was born in ’44 at Sutter [Memorial] Hospital and lived in Hollywood Park. I didn’t want to move, but my father worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and we had to move up to Oregon for [his job]. It was tough. I had my whole life here,” said Elliott in the December 2007-January 2008 issue.
Elliott said he enjoyed growing up in Sacramento in the 50s and that he spent a lot of his time bike riding to places like William Land Park and the Sacramento River.
“Life was pretty carefree and a lot simpler in those days. I really got my first taste of the outdoors in Sacramento—this is a great place to live if you’re into nature.”
Colin Hanks
Critically acclaimed actor Tom Hanks is known to have attended Sacramento State University but did you know his son lived in East Sacramento?
Colin Hanks lived on 44th Street and said that he loved the city while promoting his work in Broadway and talking about what it was like acting with his dad in The Great Buck Howard in Sactown Magazine April-May 2009 issue.
“I have a real fondness for East Sacramento and Sacramento. And the older I get, the more I appreciate my time there. There’s just something about that neighborhood and also Sacramento on the whole; it was and is just a fantastic place to grow up,” Hanks said in the interview.
Hanks is best known for King Kong (2005), The House Bunny, Orange County, and the two latest Jumanji movies.
He also directed All Things Must Pass which was a documentary on the rise and fall of Tower Records in Sacramento.
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, Lady Bird, saw major success having been nominated for many awards. It also shined a major spotlight on the city of Sacramento.
The coming of age story not only brought pride to the state capital’s residents but it is also just the start of Gerwig’s career as well as the start of more movies set in the city.
“The first thing [I thought about when writing ‘Lady Bird’] was that I wanted to make a movie set in Sacramento,” Gerwig said. “I tend to make proclamations out loud cause then I’ll feel the pressure to deliver on them, it’s a very silly way of going about it, but I’d like to make a total of four films that take place there. I’d like to do a quartet of Sacramento films,” said Gerwig in an A24 podcast in 2018.
Gerwig stated that she is motivated to accomplish four films set in Sacramento because she still has a home in Sacramento, on top of all her friends and family also living there as well.
Brie Larson
Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers, better known as Brie Larson, was born in Sacramento on October 1, 1989. According to History-Biography.com, Brie Larson is her stage name which honors the actor’s maternal great-grandmother.
Unlike the other actors mentioned on the list, Larson hasn’t been as open about her thoughts on Sacramento however it is noted she was homeschooled as a child and later moved to Los Angeles and San Francisco later on.
Larson is best known for her roles in Captain Marvel, Room, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Just Mercy.
Jessica Chastain
Academy Award winning best actress Jessica Chastain was born in Northern Sacramento and even attended Sacramento City College.
According to a post on California Community College’s website, Kim McCann-Lewis, a former adjunct theatre arts professor, said Chastain was a very driven drama student, she was sure would succeed in the business, whether on stage or in front of a camera.
“The No. 1 thing I remember about Jessica was that she was quiet, but incredibly smart,” McCann-Lewis said. “No. 2, she made the decision to be an actress and there’s was no fall back, no Plan B. She was very dedicated and there was no doubt that she would be successful.”
Chastain recently won an academy award for her role as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye in 2022.
She is also known for her performances in Zero Dark Thirty, It Chapter Two, The 355, Molly’s Game, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Interstellar, The Martian, Lawless, and The Help.
