The Untold Truth Of Jason Beghe

Veteran actor Jason Beghe first appeared in the film "Compromising Positions," which starred Susan Sarandon. Then in 1991, the pair reunited on screen in "Thelma & Louise," with Beghe appearing as a state trooper who pulls the title characters over. With his charming looks, Beghe next landed the role as Demi Moore's "lover, a fellow Navy officer named Royce" in Ridley Scott's 1997 film "G.I. Jane," Roger Ebert wrote in his review. But years later, he found his on-screen home in Chicago. As sergeant Hank Voight, Beghe's character joined "Chicago Fire," and he went on to reprise the character in the series "Chicago Med," "Chicago Justice," "Chicago P.D.," and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

He's maintained a long and successful career, but it would be a few decades before that would sink in for him. "I'd been working my whole life as an actor and I just always thought, 'What am I going to do when I grow up?'" he recounted to The Derrick. "And then I finally realized, 'I AM an actor' because I never quite knew the point of it."

Of course, there is more to the story than just his films and TV roles. This is the untold truth of Jason Beghe.

Though he had deep family roots in Chicago and went on to star in multiple shows about the Windy City,  the Daily Beast described Jason Beghe as being "a New Yorker through and through," noting that he went to Upper West Side private institution the Collegiate School. While studying as a teenager, Beghe also spent time with future celebrities. "You have no idea the friends I had!" Beghe said in the Daily Beast about growing up in New York City. "I used to hang out with Andy Warhol, Truman Capote." The actor also said Harry Belafonte was like a "second father growing up."

One of Beghe's best friends from school was John F. Kennedy, Jr. "I was very close with John," Beghe explained to the outlet. This gave the future actor plenty of amazing experiences, like Jacqueline Kennedy taking the boys on a trip to Europe, which was young Beghe's first time on the continent. Since his best friend happened to be the son of a US president, Beghe remembered, "The Secret Service would watch us, but they were great! We would joke around with them and they stayed out of the way." 

After JFK Jr. died in 1999, Beghe spoke to CNN about growing up with the former president's son and around the Secret Service. "They respected our desire to be independent and if we did something naughty like puff on a cigarette ... they wouldn't rat on us," he said.

In the '90s, Jason Beghe was making appearances left and right in movies and TV. From features like "G.I. Jane" to a leading role in the sitcom "To Have & to Hold," Beghe seemed to be on his way to the Hollywood elite. But right before the new millennium, the actor nearly lost it all. He was in a serious car accident in 1999 that almost killed him. Beghe told the Daily Beast that as a result of the wreck, he "broke my neck, my back in a couple of places, all of my ribs, both of my lungs." Beghe shared that he spent nearly a month in a coma and had to be put on life support.

In an interview for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Beghe revealed even more facts about his time in the hospital. "Technically, I did die for a short period of time when I was in the coma," he said. According to the actor, the car accident "was definitely an experience that profoundly informed my perception of what life is." After a full recovery, Beghe continued acting and made a successful career in show business. As for looking back on the horrific experience, he said, "Twenty years later, it's not something I think about very often. But as you bring it up to me, I do believe that I've probably permanently changed since then."

In 1994, Jason Beghe took acting classes which, as the Daily Beast noted, turned out to fundamentally alter the trajectory of his life. The person at the helm was Milton Katselas, a big deal instructor — as The New York Times Magazine wrote in 2007, his former students are likely to call him "the best acting teacher in the world" — and Scientologist. Beghe proceeded to join the organization, like so many others in Hollywood. He rose up in the ranks, and not only became one of the most famous faces of Scientology, but, according to the Daily Beast, gave the church a whopping $1 million. 

In a separate Daily Beast interview, actor and longtime friend David Duchovny reflected on the way Beghe's personality began to change the longer he was a part of the Scientology community. "I noticed that his vocabulary was different. The way he described the world and his experiences, particularly his psychological experiences, was cult-ish and had changed completely," he said. Beghe allegedly said being a member of the church was a positive thing, but "The X-Files" star regretted not snapping the actor out of it and wondered if he "failed him as a friend during those years."

If you'd like to know more about Jason Beghe and David Duchovny's friendship story, look no further. As Beghe told Sioux City Journal, the two "have been best friends since ninth grade," when they both happened to be at the same NYC prep school. Even after both guys became famous actors, Beghe explained that he and Duchovny would still see each other. "When we get together, we talk about high school hijinks. We never talk about careers," Beghe said about his school buddy.

Unfortunately, the two hit a rough patch in their friendship as a result of Beghe's changing beliefs. "Well, Jason and I drifted apart during that time, because Scientology hangs with their own when they're doing it," Duchovny admitted to the Daily Beast.

After Beghe separated from Scientology, he and Duchovny reconciled. "Scientology affected our relationship in that we didn't get to enjoy each other as much as we could have," Beghe revealed in a different Daily Beast interview. "But after having gone through that, our reunion was that much better." Reportedly, he and Duchovny "had a wild night discussing his time in church" in their friendship reunion. Beghe said of reconnecting with his old pal through a day of laughter together, "I think we all love each other, and it's just about getting all the lies out of the way so you can truly appreciate it." Later, Beghe worked with his friend on Duchovny's hit show "Californication." Beghe joined the cast for 13 episodes of the Showtime series.

While working as a model across the pond, Jason Beghe decided to try his hand at acting after being told time and time again that he should give it a go, according to The Derrick. "I was 23, 24 when I left Europe and did OK in the [acting] class and everybody was professional, and I asked them if I could meet their agents," he said. The connections were a success: "I signed with an agent and started working." And even before he launched his showbiz career, he did not have to devote much energy to a side hustle, telling The Derrick, "I never really had the waiting-tables-thing." 

In the same interview, he remembered that in those early days of acting, he tried to imitate the people of New York "and understand them and started to be interested, which I think is a good axiom for life: try to be interested rather than interesting."

Even though he spent a lot of time researching people, one of his earliest major roles was working alongside a primate. Beghe was the lead character in George A. Romero's horror film "Monkey Shines." While filming, the real-life monkey that played Boo would tease Beghe. One time, the animal actor swapped out a grape that it was supposed to feed to the Beghe. "She takes the grape, teases, tosses it, grabs a turd, and throws it in my mouth," he told Scream Factory. Ah, when show business meets monkey business.

In 2000, Jason Beghe married Angie Janu, People reported. As recounted by Jason's friend David Duchovny who attended the wedding, the couple tied the knot at the Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles, per the Daily Beast. Duchovny also revealed that people associated with Scientology were also at the wedding and alleged "they made a play for" the "Californication" actor.

According to her IMDb page, Janu has two acting credits: One in a 1997 movie called "Too Good to Be True" and as Camille Voight in an episode of "Chicago P.D." In the episode, Jason's character Hank Voight watched wedding videos of he and his fictional wife Camille. Except the videos he watched were actually of Beghe and Janu. "It's far more powerful, for us, to see real footage than made-up footage. Once we saw the home movies that Jason submitted, we knew we had a home run," one of the show's producers said in The Hollywood Reporter. "To see him looking back and accessing those memories was the best ending we could have hoped for," the producer added about Beghe.

In 2017, nearly two decades of marriage, Beghe filed for divorce. Per People, this kicked off a long procedure and it took until 2020 for their divorce to be finalized. Included in the terms of the dissolution of their marriage were clauses on joint custody and child support of their two children, and part of the agreement prohibited either parent from saying anything bad about each other in front of the kids.

Just because Jason Beghe can expertly play a gritty character with a grittier voice doesn't mean he's always a tough guy in real life. Throughout his career, the actor became involved with multiple charities and organizations. For example, he's listed as a friend of the World War II Foundation, who create educational documentary films to honor "the legacy of the veterans and survivors of one of history's most important time periods."

Given his proximity to Chicago as a star of multiple series about the city, Beghe has become a local philanthropist. Like when he created a video on Facebook in support of the Chicago Fire Department Foundation. Beghe saluted "the men and women of the Chicago Fire Department," and said "they're out there every day putting their lives on the line for us," especially during the global pandemic.

More than just supporting tragedies like wars and fires, Beghe also used his one-of-a-kind voice in a surprising host role. As posted by the Chicago Scots Charity, Beghe hosted a bingo event for an assistant living facility. Outside of announcing numbers and letters for a good cause, Beghe also linked up with Chris Evert Charities, with Charity Buzz noting that the actor offered up a private virtual meeting and a signed hoodie as a prize in a charity auction.