2020 has been a year of great loss, both to the world at large as well as the entertainment community. The latter realm has seen the passing of legends such as Kirk Douglas, or most recently Sean Connery, who left behind decades of performances for their fans to pour over into eternity. But sadly, younger talent has also been taken from the world too soon, which sadly has happened again, as actor Eddie Hassell, best known for roles in TV shows like Surface, and films like the 2011 Best Picture nominee The Kids Are All Right, has unfortunately passed at the age of 30.
According to Variety’s reporting on the matter, Eddie Hassell was shot yesterday morning, as part of an alleged carjacking somewhere in Texas. Not many other details are known at the moment, as Hassell’s death is still being investigated at this time. His death was confirmed by his manager, who spoke with Variety to break the unfortunate news.
A child actor from the age of 13, Eddie Hassell’s first big credit was an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which in turn kicked off a prodigious career in TV that saw Hassell making a name for himself in that particular medium. His most lengthy series gig was the NBC cult sci-fi favorite Surface, where he played the role of Phil Nance for 10 of the show’s 15 episode run. A couple of years later, Eddie Hassell would start his film career, with some pretty large gigs to get him on his feet.
Both Roland Emmerich’s 2012 and Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right hit for Hassell within a year of each other, with the latter film putting him in one of the movies that competed for the best of 2011’s top honors. Playing the friend of Josh Hutcherson’s protagonist Laser, Eddie Hassell found himself beginning a run that would see him shift between TV and movies, with future roles on the TNT series Southland, and movies like Family Weekend, throughout the rest of his career. Besides his acting, Eddie Hassell was passionate about some very active sports, which helped him land various gigs as well as performing his own stunts.
Everything from rodeo riding to surfing and skateboarding was in his bag of tricks. Which is probably why he landed that role in 2012, seeing as he was practically born to play a part simply named “Surfer.” With his final performance coming from the 2017 film Oh Lucy, Hassell leaves behind a career that still feels like it was cut short way ahead of its time. We here at CinemaBlend would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Eddie Hassell’s family and friends, during this difficult time of grieving.
