Jaeden Martell

Jaeden Martell (né Lieberher; born January 4, 2003) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, with roles in the comedy drama St. Vincent (2014) and science fiction film Midnight Special (2016). His performance in St. Vincent earned him a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. After playing the title character in the drama The Book of Henry (2017), Martell's breakthrough came with his portrayal of Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019). This led to further leading roles in horror films, such as The Lodge (2019) and Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022).
Martell had a supporting role in Rian Johnson's mystery comedy Knives Out (2019). Venturing into projects with more mature themes, he played a reserved teenager accused of murder in the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob (2020). He has since starred in the comedy films Metal Lords (2022) and Y2K (2024).
== Early life ==
Martell was born on January 4, 2003, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Wes Lieberher, a Los Angeles–based executive chef, and Angela Teresa Martell. His maternal grandmother, Chisun Martell, is Korean. He lived in South Philadelphia until the age of eight when he moved to Los Angeles.
== Career ==
===Career beginnings and child acting (20142016)===
In the first six years of his career, Martell was credited almost exclusively under his family name, Lieberher. In 2019, he switched to his mother's maiden name, Martell.
Martell's first acting role was in a commercial for Hot Wheels. He appeared in several other commercials after that, including Google, Moneysupermarket.com, Liberty Mutual, Hyundai (for the 2013 Super Bowl), Verizon Fios and General Electric. His first major feature film role was in 2014's St. Vincent, where he starred alongside Bill Murray. Martell garnered a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer for his role in the film.
In 2015, Martell appeared in Cameron Crowe's comedy drama Aloha, after Murray had recommended him to Crowe for the role. His next two films, the science fiction film Midnight Special and the independent comedy The Confirmation, followed in 2016. Midnight Special stars Martell as a boy who is on the run with his father from the government and a cult after it is discovered that he possesses special powers.
===It and breakthrough (2017present)===
Martell's first film of 2017 was the thriller drama The Book of Henry, playing Henry. While the film premiered to negative reviews from critics, Martell received some positive notices for his acting. His next role that year was as Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror film It, which premiered to positive critical reviews and grossed over $701 million in the box office, marking Martell's first major commercial success. He reprised his role as Bill in the 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, marking another commercial success with over $473 million in box office receipts, despite mixed critical reviews.
Alongside It Chapter Two, Martell had four more releases in 2019. His first that year was the horror film The Lodge. His next two films that year were the drama Low Tide and the coming of age fantasy The True Adventures of Wolfboy. His final release of 2019, after It, was Rian Johnson's murder mystery comedy film Knives Out, with Martell playing Jacob Thrombey, a white supremacist child.
In March 2019, Martell joined the cast of the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob, based on the William Landay novel of the same name. Also in 2020, it was confirmed by Martell that he was in pre-production for Tunnels, playing the younger siblings of a gun violence victim; however, the film has not yet garnered a release date.
In September 2021, Martell portrayed Morty Smith in a series of promotional interstitials for the two-part fifth season finale of Rick and Morty. In February 2021, he joined the cast of Netflix's Metal Lords. In October 2022, he portrayed Craig in the Netflix film Mr. Harrigan's Phone written and directed by John Lee Hancock, based on the short story of the same name from the If It Bleeds collection by Stephen King. In 2023, he was cast in the A24 film Y2K.
==Filmography==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
2013	Grief 	The Child 	Short
2014	St. Vincent 	Oliver Bronstein 	
2014	Playing It Cool 	6-year-old Me 	
2015	Aloha 	Mitchell Woodside 	
2016	Midnight Special 	Alton Meyer 	
2016	The Confirmation 	Anthony 	
2016	Framed: The Adventures of Zion Man	Walter 	Short
2017	The Book of Henry 	Henry Carpenter 	
2017	It 	Bill Denbrough 	
2019	The Lodge 	Aidan Hall 	
2019	Low Tide 	Peter 	
2019	The True Adventures of Wolfboy 	Paul 	
2019	It Chapter Two 	Young Bill Denbrough	
2019	Knives Out 	Jacob Thrombey 	
2021	Rick and Morty: C-132 	Morty Smith 	Short
2022	Metal Lords 	Kevin Schlieb 	
2022	Mr. Harrigan's Phone 	Craig 	
2024	Y2K 	Eli 	
2024	Arcadian 	Joseph 	
TBA 	Tunnels 	Grayson 	
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
2015 	American Dad! 	Peter Junior (voice)	Episode: "My Affair Lady"
2015–2016	Masters of Sex 	Johnny Masters 	Recurring role (seasons 3–4)
2020 	Defending Jacob	Jacob Barber 	Main role
2021 	Calls 	Justin 	Episode: "Mom"
2023 	Barry 	John Berkman (older)	Episode: "wow"
2023 	Harriet the Spy	Chuck (voice) 	Episode: World of Tomorrow
== Accolades ==
Awards and nominations for Jaeden Martell
Year	Award 	Category 	Work 	Result	
2014	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 	Youth in Film 	St. Vincent 	 	
2014	Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 	Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role – Male 	St. Vincent 	 	
2014	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Youth Performance 	St. Vincent 	 	
2015	Critics' Choice Movie Awards 	Best Young Actor/Actress 	St. Vincent 	 	
2015	Online Film & Television Association 	Best Youth Performance 	St. Vincent 	 	
2018	MTV Movie & TV Awards 	Best On-Screen Team (with Sophia Lillis, Jack Dylan Grazer,Wyatt Oleff, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs and Finn Wolfhard)	It 	 	
2019	The BAM Awards 	Best Cast 	It Chapter Two 	 	
2020	Online Film & Television Association 	Best Ensemble 	Knives Out 	 	
2020	Gold Derby Awards 	Ensemble of the Decade 	Knives Out 	 	
2020	Pena de Prata 	Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Anthology Series or TV Special 	Defending Jacob	 	
==Trivia==
* His maternal grandmother is Korean. His other ancestry is German, English, French-Canadian, Belgian/Walloon, Scots-Irish, and Scottish.
* Played Michael Shannon's character's son in both Midnight Special (2016) and Knives Out (2019).
* Oldest of four half-siblings, from his father. He is raised by his mother.
* Spent everyday for a month learning to play the drums before filming of Metal Lords began.
* Has appeared with Bill Murray in two movies, St. Vincent (2014) and Aloha (2015), although their characters did not interact in the latter film.
* Very good friends with IT co-stars: Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wolfhard and Sophia Lillis.
* Son of Angela Martell and executive chef Wes Lieberher.
* First talk show appearance was on The Ellen Show on 10/21/2014.
* Friends with: Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs, Maddie Ziegler, Jacob Tremblay, Lia McHugh, Michelle Dockery and Chris Evans.
==External links==
*Jaeden Martell at the Internet Movie Database
== References ==
Category:Living people
Category:2003 births
Category:Actors
Category:American male actors
Category:Male child actors
Category:American male child actors
Category:Male actors from Philadelphia
Category:21st-century American male actors