Emile Davenport Hirsch (born March 13, 1985)[1] is an American actor. His portrayal of Chris McCandless in Into the Wild (2007) earned him widespread acclaim and multiple nominations. Other notable roles include The Girl Next Door (2004), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Alpha Dog (2006), Speed Racer (2008), Milk (2008), Lone Survivor (2013), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), The Chinese Widow (2017), An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

Emile Hirsch
Hirsch in 2012
Born
Emile Davenport Hirsch

(1985-03-13) March 13, 1985 (age 39)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active1996–present
Children1

Early life

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Emile Hirsch was born in the Palms section of Los Angeles. His mother, Margaret Esther (née Davenport), is a visual artist, teacher, and pop-up book designer, and his father, David Milton Hirsch, is an entrepreneur, manager, and film producer.[2][3] He has an older sister, Jennifer, and was raised in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lived with his mother for several years.[3] Hirsch attended Alexander Hamilton High School where he studied in the Music program.[4]

Career

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Hirsch began acting on television roles in the late 1990s. He starred in the Showtime original film Wild Iris (2001), with Laura Linney and Gena Rowlands. He made his cinematic film debut for The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002)[5] and next starred with Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club (2002).

 
Hirsch at Hollywood Life Magazine's 7th Annual Breakthrough Awards in 2007

In 2004, Hirsch starred in The Girl Next Door. He starred with Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver in the limited release Imaginary Heroes (2004).[6][7] In 2005, Hirsch starred in Catherine Hardwicke's film Lords of Dogtown (2005) about a group of skaters in the 1970s and their role in the birth of skateboard culture. Hirsch played Jay Adams. He played a character based on a real-life drug dealer, Jesse James Hollywood, in Alpha Dog (2006).

Hirsch played Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild (2007). He lost 40 pounds for the role, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild nomination for best actor.[8] Esquire said, "[Hirsch] creates a vivid, unforgettable character you at once admire and pity."[9]

Hirsch had the title role in the Wachowskis' Speed Racer, which was released on May 9, 2008[10] and was a box office bomb. Hirsch played gay-rights activist Cleve Jones in Gus Van Sant's biopic Milk (2008). He also appeared in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (2009), based on a screenplay of the Elliot Tiber memoir Taking Woodstock. He then starred in William Friedkin's 2011 southern gothic thriller Killer Joe.

In April 2011, he was cast in Oliver Stone's Savages, which was released in July 2012.[11]

In 2012, Hirsch starred with Penélope Cruz in Venuto al Mondo, a film by Italian director Sergio Castellitto. In 2013, he was in Prince Avalanche, co-starring Paul Rudd.

Hirsch starred in The Motel Life, co-starring Dakota Fanning and Stephen Dorff, directed by the Polsky brothers. In 2013, he starred with Holliday Grainger, Holly Hunter, and William Hurt in the miniseries Bonnie & Clyde. Hirsch co-starred in the film Lone Survivor, based on the memoir of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.

In February 2017, it was announced that Hirsch would star with Aubrey Plaza in the comedy An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn.[12]

In May 2018, Hirsch became the new voice for character James Lake Jr. in the Netflix original DreamWorks show Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia from Guillermo del Toro, replacing Anton Yelchin in its third season following his death. Hirsch continues to reprise the role of Jim in 3 Below, Wizards and Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans.

In 2019, Hirsch portrayed Hollywood hairdresser and Manson family victim Jay Sebring in the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Music

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On October 25, 2019, Hirsch released his first album under Hirsch called Mnemonic. Two of its songs, "Tooth Fairy" and "Angels Will", were selected to be on the New Alt playlist on Spotify. KROQ DJ Megan Holiday also picked Mnemonic as one of her favorite albums of the year. After that album's release, Hirsch released the single "American Dreamin'", and on 2/14 released his new single "Casual Animal."[13]

Hirsch has recently released five singles, "Remember Days When," (which he co-wrote with Foster The People's Mark Foster)[citation needed] and "Hard Hearts" (both on 03/13/20). He released "Prisoners" on 03/27/20 & "The Same Different" on 04/03/20, and then "Favors" on 05/08/20. Both "Prisoners" and "Favors" were both put on Spotify's New Noise Playlist. "Favors" was also put on multiple playlists on Deezer, including #3 placement on "Seleccíon Editorial Mexico y Central America," one of Deezer's biggest playlists worldwide, with 6.7 million followers.

After releasing a couple of new singles over a year, Hirsch released his second album called Denihilism on March 12, 2021.[14][15]

Personal life

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Hirsch is of German Jewish,[16] English, and Ulster-Scot ancestry. He resides in Los Angeles. In October 2013, Hirsch's first child was born, a boy. His child's mother is a woman Hirsch dated. They are no longer in a relationship.[17][18]

Assault conviction

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On February 12, 2015, Hirsch was charged with aggravated assault after attacking and strangling a female Paramount Pictures executive with his bare hands on January 25, 2015, at Tao Nightclub in Park City, Utah.[19][20] Hirsch claimed he did not remember what had happened as the event happened when he was taking stimulants while inebriated.[21] On August 17, 2015, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to 15 days in jail. He was also fined $4,750, received 90 days of probation, and was ordered to undergo 50 hours of community service.[22][23] Hirsch entered a rehab facility following the assault.[24]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1996 Sugared Peas Brad Short film
2002 The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys Francis Doyle
The Emperor's Club Sedgewick Bell Nominated – Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor
2003 The Mudge Boy Duncan Mudge
2004 The Girl Next Door Matthew Kidman Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Elisha Cuthbert)
Imaginary Heroes Tim Travis
2005 Lords of Dogtown Jay Adams Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Movie Actor
2006 Alpha Dog Johnny Truelove
2007 The Air I Breathe Tony
Into the Wild Chris McCandless National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Male Performance
Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor
Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Drama Movie Actor
2008 Speed Racer Speed Racer Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Action Movie Actor
Milk Cleve Jones Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009 Taking Woodstock Billy
X Games 3D: The Movie Narrator Documentary
2011 Killer Joe Chris Smith
The Darkest Hour Sean
2012 Savages Spin
Twice Born (Venuto al mondo) Diego
The Motel Life Frank Flannigan
2013 Prince Avalanche Lance
Lone Survivor Danny Dietz
2015 Ten Thousand Saints Johnny
Just Jim Dean
2016 Vincent N Roxxy Vincent
The Autopsy of Jane Doe Austin Tilden
2017 All Nighter Martin
I Am Heath Ledger Himself Documentary
The Chinese Widow Jack
2018 An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn Shane Danger
The Outsider Paulie Bowers
Freaks Henry Lewis
2019 Peel Peel Munter
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Jay Sebring
Never Grow Old Patrick Tate
2020 Force of Nature Cardillo
The Comeback Trail James Moore
2021 Son Paul Also executive producer
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans Jim Lake Jr. (voice)
Midnight in the Switchgrass Byron Crawford
American Night Michael Rubino
2022 The Immaculate Room Mike
Pursuit Rick Calloway
Dig Victor
Devil's Workshop Donald
The Price We Pay Alex
State of Consciousness Stephen [25]
2023 Inside Man Bobby Belucci
The Engineer Etan [26]
Helen's Dead Adam
Walden Walden Dean Also executive producer
2024 Prey Grun aka Kalahari [27][28]
Bau, Artist at War Joseph Bau [29]
Dead Money Andy aka Degenerate[30][31]
TBA Good Side of a Bad Man Pretty Boy Floyd Post-production[32]
Woozy Dusty Post-production[33]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1996 Kindred: The Embraced Abel Episode: "Romeo and Juliet"
1997 3rd Rock from the Sun Punk "Bernstein boy" Episode: "Scaredy Dick"
1997 Early Edition Lance Foster Episode: "March in Time"
1998 Players Adam Paprelli Episode: "Con-Vivants"
1998 Gargantua Brandon Elway Television film
1998 Houdini Young Harry Houdini Television film
1999 Two of a Kind Jeremy Episode: "Let's Dance"
1999 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Darryl Episode: "Sabrina, the Matchmaker"
1999 Promised Land Walter Elliott Episode: "A Day in the Life"
1999 The Pretender Bryce Banks Episode: "End Game"
1999 Profiler Bryce Banks Episode: "Grand Master"
1999 NYPD Blue Marcello Parisi Episode: "Voir Dire This"
1999 ER Chad Kottmeier 2 episodes
2001 Wild Iris Lonnie Bravard Television film
2013 Bonnie & Clyde Clyde Barrow 2 episodes
2018 Trollhunters Jim Lake Jr. (voice) 11 episodes
2018–2019 3Below: Tales of Arcadia Jim Lake Jr. (voice) 3 episodes
2020 Robot Chicken Nick Jonas, Ron Weasley (voice) Episode: "Petless M in: Cars Are Couches On The Road"
2020 Wizards: Tales of Arcadia Jim Lake Jr. (voice) 9 episodes

Video games

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Year Title Voice role
2008 Speed Racer: The Videogame Speed Racer
2017 Walden, a game Henry David Thoreau
2020 Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia[34] Jim Lake Jr.

References

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  1. ^ "Emile Davenport Hirsch 03/13/1985". California Birth Index. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "Margaret Davenport - California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985". Ancestry.com. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  3. ^ a b McLean, Craig (October 20, 2007). "Call of the wild". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
  4. ^ "Alumni". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  5. ^ Holden, Stephen. "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) FILM REVIEW; Altar Boys Will Be Altar Boys, and They're Drawing Comics, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2002.
  6. ^ "The Numbers.com". Emile Hirsch. Retrieved March 16, 2006.
  7. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". Emile Hirsch. Archived from the original on December 22, 2005. Retrieved March 16, 2006.
  8. ^ Levine, Stuart (September 18, 2007). "Emile Hirsch is here to stay". Today.com. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  9. ^ D' Angelo, Mike (November 20, 2007). "Actors of the Year - Page 6". Esquire.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  10. ^ Dicker, Ron (September 16, 2007). "Two Postcards From Toronto: Evan Rachel Wood, Emile Hirsch Give Hollywood a Glimpse of Its Future". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
  11. ^ "Emile Hirsch Joins Oliver Stone's 'Savages'". Indiewire. April 22, 2011. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  12. ^ McNary, Dave (February 8, 2017). "Aubrey Plaza, Emile Hirsch to Star in Indie Comedy 'An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn'". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  13. ^ "Emile Hirsch Details His 'Weird and Sci-Fi' Debut Album 'MNEMONIC'". October 24, 2019.
  14. ^ "Emile Hirsch Reaches Artistic Apex with Second Record, 'Denihilism'". March 12, 2021.
  15. ^ https://www.ottumwacourier.com/cnhi_network/emile-hirsch-drops-new-album-and-movie-all-in-1-week/video_751bd3fc-83d3-5b67-b2d3-b2b4ea895834.html Archived April 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine [bare URL]
  16. ^ "August 30, 2012 - Image 62".
  17. ^ Malec, Brett (November 2, 2013). "Emile Hirsch Is a Dad! Actor Welcomes a Baby Boy with Former Flame". E!. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  18. ^ Eggenberger, Nicole (November 2, 2013). "Emile Hirsch Welcomes Baby Boy Valor With Ex -- First Photo". Us Weekly. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  19. ^ "Emile Hirsch Charged With Felony Assault In Sundance Fight". February 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "Actor Emile Hirsch charged with Sundance assault", BBC News, February 13, 2015
  21. ^ Clarke, Donald. "Emile Hirsch on remorse, Bono's daughter and shooting an Irish western". The Irish Times. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  22. ^ "Emile Hirsch Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Paramount Exec, Gets 15 Days in Jail". Variety. August 17, 2015.
  23. ^ Dominic Patten (August 17, 2015). "Emile Hirsch Gets 15 Days in Jail Over Paramount Exec Assault at Sundance – Update". Deadline Hollywood. (also cited by IBTimes)
  24. ^ "'So sorry' Emile Hirsch breaks silence over assault". RTÉ.ie. December 14, 2016.
  25. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (November 3, 2020). "Emile Hirsch-Starring Psychological Thriller 'State of Consciousness' Starts Shooting in Italy". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  26. ^ Grobar, Matt (June 13, 2022). "Emile Hirsch To Reteam With 'The Gemini Lounge' Director Danny A. Abeckaser For Action Pic 'The Engineer'". Deadline. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  27. ^ Grobar, Matt (May 5, 2023). "Ryan Phillippe, Emile Hirsch & Mena Suvari Set For Vertical's Action Thriller 'Kalahari' From Writer-Director Mukunda Michael Dewil; Voltage Pictures To Handle Sales At Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  28. ^ McPherson, Chris (February 15, 2024). "Emile Hirsch, Ryan Phillippe and Mena Suvari Fight to Survive the Wild in First 'Prey' Trailer". Collider. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  29. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (March 15, 2023). "Emile Hirsch Joins Cast of Holocaust Drama 'Bau, Artist at War' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  30. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 19, 2023). "Emile Hirsch & India Eisley Join Feature 'Degenerate'". Deadline. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  31. ^ DeVore, Britta (August 7, 2024). "Emile Hirsch and India Eisley Are On the Run in 'Dead Money' Trailer [Exclusive]". Collider. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  32. ^ Andreas Wiseman, Matt Grobar (November 1, 2022). "Pretty Boy Floyd Biopic Attracts Emile Hirsch, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Jane, Ashley Benson, Shawn Hatosy, More; Vertical Pre-Buys North America - AFM". Deadline. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  33. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 2, 2024). "Emile Hirsch Gets 'Woozy', Boards Keith Kjarval Indie Horror Production". Deadline. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  34. ^ "WayForward-Developed DreamWorks Trollhunters Defenders of Arcadia Hits Nintendo Switch This September". May 12, 2020.
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