Luke Cunningham Wilson was born on September 21, 1971 in Dallas, Texas, to Irish American Catholic parents.

Luke and older brother Owen Wilson co-wrote and co-starred in the 1992 short "Bottle Rocket", a 13-minute film about two Texans with too much time on their hands. The short played the festival circuit and was championed by screenwriter L M 'Kit' Carson who brought it to the attention of Polly Platt and James L Brooks. Four years later, an expanded feature version with the same title, focusing on a pair of drifters who get drawn into a life of crime, opened to mostly positive reviews and established the careers of the Wilson brothers and the film's director Wes Anderson.

Luke was more interested in sports (he attended and ran track at prestigious St. Mark's School of Texas where he holds top five all time records in the 400m and 800m) until he took a college course that sparked his interest in acting. After working with his brother and Anderson, he went on to play Calista Flockhart's co-worker with romantic designs in "Telling Lies in America" and made a cameo appearance in the film-within-the-film of "Scream 2" (both 1997). Wilson filmed back-to-back romantic films opposite Drew Barrymore, "Best Men", about a group of friends who pull off a heist on their way to a wedding, and "Home Fries" (both 1998), about two brothers interested in the same woman for very different reasons. Wilson remained in demand, playing the doctor beau of a schoolteacher in "Rushmore" (also 1998), directed by Anderson and co-written by brother Owen.

Luke continued to work primarily in Independent films like Dog Park, Bongwater and Committed, but has been gradually landing roles in a higher profile pictures - most notably Blue Streak, in which he plays straight man to manic comedian Martin Lawrence and Legally Blonde where he plays a love interest of Reese Witherspoon. Other notable performances include a guest stint on the extremely popular The X-Files as Sheriff Hartwell, in a fan favorite episode titled Bad Blood.

He also starred in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), The Family Stone (2005), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) and thriller Vacancy (2007).

Filmography

• Henry Poole Is Here (2008)
• Terra (2008)
• Blonde Ambition (2007)
• Vacancy (2007)
• Blades of Glory (2007)
• You Kill Me (2007)
• Idiocracy (2006)
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
• Hoot (2006)
• Mini's First Time (2006)
• The Family Stone (2005)
• "That '70s Show" (6 episodes, 2002-2005)
• The Wendell Baker Story (2005)
• Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004)
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
• Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)
• Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
• Alex & Emma (2003)
• Old School (2003)
• Masked and Anonymous (2003)
• The Third Wheel (2002)
• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
• Soul Survivors (2001)
• Legally Blonde (2001)
• Charlie's Angels (2000)
• Preston Tylk (2000)
• Committed (2000)
• My Dog Skip (2000)
• Blue Streak (1999)
• Kill the Man (1999)
• Rushmore (1998)
• Home Fries (1998)
• Dog Park (1998)
• "The X Files" (1 episode, 1998)
• Scream 2 (1997)
• Best Men (1997)
• Telling Lies in America (1997)
• Bongwater (1997)
• Bottle Rocket (1996)
• Bottle Rocket (1994)