Though he lived in Los Angeles before moving to New York and founding the Court Jesters Improv Troupe, actor Alan Tudyk freely admits that he will always be a Texan at heart. Born in El Paso and raised in Plano, Tudyk was a ham even before he pursued a serious acting career at Julliard from 1993 to 1996. Frequently dressing in cowboy garb on family dinner outings and faking fainting spells in school to get a rise out of teachers, it was easy to see that Tudyk had found his calling early in life. Later, performing at the Dallas Shakespeare Festival and founding the city's Rubber Chicken Standup Improv Troupe, Tudyk moved to the West Coast and bounced to the East Coast before making his feature debut in 1997, with 35 Miles From Normal. It didn't take long before Tudyk found more roles in such popular films as Patch Adams (1998) and The Wonder Boys (2000), though his breakthrough role would come as Sandra Bullock's rehab-mate in 28 Days (also 2000). Tudyk's character was so popular with audiences in test screenings, that director Betty Thomas called him back to shoot a scene giving closure to his character within the film. Larger roles began to pour in, such as his turn in the energetic jousting adventure A Knight's Tale (2001).