Emile Davenport Hirsch (born March 13, 1985) is an American actor. His portrayal of Chris McCandless in Into the Wild (2007) earned him acclaim and multiple award 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), Freaks (2018), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and Woozy (2025).
Early life 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, was an entrepreneur, manager, and film producer. He is of German Jewish, English, and Scots-Irish ancestry. 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. Hirsch attended Alexander Hamilton High School where he studied in the music program.
Career 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) and next starred with Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club (2002).
In 2004, Hirsch starred in The Girl Next Door. He starred with Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver in the limited release Imaginary Heroes (2004). 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. Esquire said, "[Hirsch] creates a vivid, unforgettable character you at once admire and pity."
Hirsch had the title role in the Wachowskis' Speed Racer, which was released on May 9, 2008 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.
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.
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 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."
Hirsch has released five singles, starting with "Remember Days When," (which he co-wrote with Foster The People's Mark Foster) and "Hard Hearts". He released "Prisoners" and "The Same Different" and then "Favors". 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 more singles over the course of a year, Hirsch released his second album called Denihilism on March 12, 2021.
Personal life Hirsch resides in Los Angeles. He has a son born in October 2013. His relationship with his son's mother ended before the birth of their child.
Assault charge In 2015 Hirsch was charged with aggravated assault after attacking and attempting to strangle a female Paramount Pictures executive with his bare hands at a nightclub in Park City, Utah."Actor Emile Hirsch charged with Sundance assault", BBC News, February 13, 2015 Hirsch claimed he did not remember what had happened as the event happened when he was taking stimulants while inebriated. 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 perform 50 hours of community service. (also cited by IBTimes) Hirsch entered a rehabilitation facility following the assault.
Filmography Film
Year Title Role Notes 1996 Sugared Peas Brad Short film2002 Francis Doyle Sedgewick BellNominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor 2003 Duncan Mudge 2004 Matthew KidmanNominated — MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Kiss Imaginary Heroes Tim Travis 2005 Lords of Dogtown Jay AdamsNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Choice Breakout Movie Actor 2006 Alpha Dog Johnny Truelove2007 Tony Into the WildChris McCandlessNominated — Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated — Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer
Nominated — National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance
Nominated — Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Unforgettable Moment
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society for Best Actor
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Drama
Nominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor2008 Speed Racer Speed RacerNominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure Milk Cleve JonesNominated — Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture2009 Taking Woodstock Billy X Games 3D: The Movie Narrator Documentary2011 Killer Joe Chris Smith The Darkest Hour Sean 2012 Savages Spin Twice Born (Venuto al mondo) Diego The Motel Life Frank Flannigan2013 Prince Avalanche Lance Lone Survivor Danny Dietz2015 Ten Thousand Saints Johnny Just Jim Dean 2016 Vincent N Roxxy Vincent The Autopsy of Jane Doe Austin Tilden2017 All Nighter Martin I Am Heath Ledger Himself Documentary The Chinese Widow Jack2018 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 Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 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 Rubino2022 The Immaculate Room Mike Pursuit Rick Calloway Dig Victor Devil's Workshop Donald The Price We Pay Alex State of Consciousness Stephen 2023 Inside Man Bobby Belucci The Engineer Etan Helen's Dead Adam Walden Walden Dean Also executive producer 2024 Prey Grun aka Kalahari Bau: Artist at War Joseph Bau Dead Money Andy aka Degenerate 2026 Woozy Dusty 2027 Lice Mr. Shanker Post-productionTBA In Tandem Mar Post-production Conspiracy Of Thieves Bobby Post-production Turnbuckle Trouble Turnbuckle Post-production Good Side of a Bad Man Pretty Boy Floyd Post-production
Television
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 1998Houdini 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 Year Title Voice role2008Speed Racer: The VideogameSpeed Racer2017Walden, a gameHenry David Thoreau2020Trollhunters: Defenders of ArcadiaJim Lake Jr.
Awards and nominations +YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult2003Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young ActorThe Emperor's Club2005MTV Movie & TV AwardsBest KissThe Girl Next DoorTeen Choice AwardsChoice Breakout Movie ActorLords of Dogtown2007Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActorInto the WildGotham AwardsBreakthrough ActorNational Board of Review AwardsBreakthrough PerformanceAlliance of Women Film Journalists AwardsUnforgettable MomentDetroit Film Critics Society AwardsBest Actor2008Critics' Choice Movie AwardsBest ActorOnline Film Critics Society AwardsBest ActorScreen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleTeen Choice AwardsChoice Movie Actor: DramaChoice Movie Actor: Action/AdventureSpeed RacerVancouver Film Critics Circle AwardsBest ActorInto the WildHouston Film Critics Society AwardsBest Actor2009Critics' Choice Movie AwardsBest Acting EnsembleMilkScreen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture2020Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
References
External links
New York Observer Profile (2007) Men's Journal 2009