Owen Wilson Stars In Summer Hit

In the new big-screen comedy "Wedding Crashers," Owen Wilson teams up with Vince Vaughn to play best friends who have an unusual springtime hobby: They crash weddings to pick up women.

"I never realized how I actually am a good dancer," Wilson tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "People had me believing that I had two left feet. But in fact, I can really cut a rug. Vince always used to say to me, 'Owen, if you get a chance to sit one out or dance, I hope you dance.'" (He was poking gentle fun at country singer Lee Ann Womack's emotional anthem, "I Hope You Dance.")

Wilson plays John Beckwith, who falls hard for Claire (Rachel McAdams), a bridesmaid at one of their crashed weddings.

"Well, it is Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman. Even though it is this beautiful lady, it is still hard to get past that," says Wilson. "I come across, like, self-assured. I was very nervous doing that scene, because it is kind of like a Mrs. Robinson scene, where she wants me to feel her breasts. And I was nervous."

Having uncharacteristically fallen hard and fast for Claire, John convinces a reluctant Jeremy Grey (Vaughn) to bend the crashing rules and accept an invitation to an extended weekend party at the family household.

For Wilson, "Wedding Crashers" offered the opportunity to reunite with director David Dobkin and Vaughn.

"I liked the way David worked on 'Shanghai Nights' and remembered how comfortable he made me feel, creatively, on set," says Wilson. "I worked with Vince on 'Starsky and Hutch,' but we didn't have many scenes together, so it was a really enticing prospect to do a buddy comedy with him."

Fast Facts About Owen Wilson:

• Born in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 18, 1968
• Wilson's entry into the industry came with the 1992 short-film "Bottle Rocket", which he wrote with Wes Anderson and starred in with brothers Andrew and Luke. Wilson and Anderson created the expanded version of "Bottle Rocket" in 1996, but underwhelming test screenings resulted in little studio push.
• In 1996, Wilson played a small role as an obnoxious date for leading lady Leslie Mann in Ben Stiller's "The Cable Guy." A year later brought Wilson a role in "Anaconda," as well as an associate producer job on the Oscar-nominated "As Good As It Gets."
• Wilson signed up to play Oscar Choi, a member of a team of oil drillers sent to outer space to save the Earth from an asteroid in the summer blockbuster "Armageddon" in 1998. That same year, he acted in "Permanent Midnight." Wilson next re-teamed with Wes Anderson on "Rushmore" as a co-writer and producer.
• Wilson returned to acting with a starring role in Hampton Fancher's "The Minus Man" (1999).
• In 2000, Wilson starred in "Shanghai Noon." Later that year, the actor was featured alongside Robert De Niro and frequent co-star Ben Stiller in Jay Roach's black comedy "Meet the Parents."
• In 2001, Wilson played Hansel, the extreme sportsman nemesis of Stiller's "Zoolander." Wilson was next featured with Gene Hackman in "The Royal Tenenbaums," taking writing, producing and acting credits in this Wes Anderson film. He received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. By the end of that year, Wilson was playing an action hero in "Behind Enemy Lines".
• The year 2002 saw the actor hit star status with two action comedies, matched with Eddie Murphy in a feature adaptation of "I Spy" and re-teamed with Jackie Chan for the sequel "Shanghai Knights."
• "The Big Bounce" in 2004 re-teamed Wilson with frequent collaborator Ben Stiller to play TV cop Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson in the comedic, parody-minded big-screen adaptation of the 1970s ABC cop drama "Starsky & Hutch." That same year, he and his brother, Luke, played flying brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright in a cameo in the remake of "Around the World in 80 Days."
• Wilson recently starred in his fourth collaboration with director Wes Anderson in "The Life Aquatic" with Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett.