Frederick Christopher Klein (born March 14, 1979) is an American actor who is best known for playing Paul Metzler in Election, Chris "Oz" Ostreicher in the American Pie comedy teen films, the serial killer Cicada on The Flash and most recently as Bill Townsend in the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias.
Early life
Klein was raised in Brookfield, Illinois. He is of German, Irish, and English descent. His mother, Terese (née Bergen), is a kindergarten teacher, and his father, Fred Klein, is an engineer. Klein was the second of three children. His older sister, Debbie, was born in 1978, and his younger brother, Timothy, was born in 1982. As a child, Klein had his first on stage experience by singing This Little Light of Mine in a community theater at the Sheraton Convention Center in Chicago. He lived in the town for thirteen years before his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. At Millard West High School in Omaha, Klein acted in his high school's performance of West Side Story, played cornerback and linebacker for the football team, and swam on the Millard West Swim Team. In his senior year, Klein was offered his first professional acting job by director Alexander Payne, who was scouting Omaha, his hometown, as a potential filming location for the film Election. He attended Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Career
Klein at an American Pie reunion
After auditioning for Election, Payne chose Klein and they began filming. The film was released in April 1999, to positive reviews. Soon after, Klein found steady work in the film industry while briefly attending TCU, where he studied theater and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He was next seen in American Pie, acting as Christopher Russell Ostreicher, which opened on July 9, 1999, and was a box office success. The following year Klein starred in Here on Earth alongside LeeLee Sobieski and Josh Hartnett (2000). Klein reprised his role in American Pie 2 (2001) and American Reunion (2012), but was not in American Wedding reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. In 2002, Klein had a role in the Mel Gibson Vietnam War film We Were Soldiers. Klein starred in the 2002, remake of the film Rollerball, but the film was a massive critical and financial failure. Klein has also appeared in several teen movies, including Just Friends (2005) and American Dreamz (2006).
In 2014, Klein was cast as an American pilot in the Damien Lay film The Uberkanone. He co-starred in the 2014, comedy indie film Authors Anonymous with Kaley Cuoco. In 2018, Klein was cast as Cicada, the main villain of the fifth season of superhero television series The Flash.
