# Emile Hirsch

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), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

## Early life

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. 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 is of German Jewish, 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.

### Assault charge

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. Hirsch claimed he did not remember what had happened as the event happened when he was taking stimulants while inebriated. 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. Hirsch entered a rehab facility following the assault.

## Filmography
### Film

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

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

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2003 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor | The Emperor's Club | Nominated |
| 2005 | MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Kiss | The Girl Next Door | Nominated |
| 2005 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Breakout Movie Actor | Lords of Dogtown | Nominated |
| 2007 | Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2007 | Gotham Awards | Breakthrough Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2007 | National Board of Review Awards | Breakthrough Performance | Into the Wild | Won |
| 2007 | Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | Unforgettable Moment | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2007 | Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor: Drama | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure | Speed Racer | Nominated |
| 2008 | Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2008 | Houston Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actor | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| 2009 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Acting Ensemble | Milk | Won |
| 2009 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Milk | Nominated |
| 2020 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Nominated |