Like many young actors who got their start in the 1990s, Emile Hirsch developed his acting chops on television shows like “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.” He was born in Los Angeles in 1985 and spent his youth in southern California and New Mexico. A spot in a local commercial led him to appearances on sitcoms and dramas – including the TV action/horror movie “Gargantua” with Emile as the son of Adam Baldwin – and eventually to “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys” with Jodie Foster in 2002.
At the close of his teen years, Emile found himself cast in the proverbial teen comedy “The Girl Next Door” as the neighbor of “24” hottie Elisha Cuthbert. Looking more like River Phoenix every day, Emile took the lead in “Lords of Dogtown” in 2005, seeking to distance himself from being another Freddie Prinze, Jr. and building a more serious curriculum vitae. “Alpha Dog” and “The Air I Breathe” provided Emile with further exposure, including the interest of none other than Sean Penn. It was Penn’s “Into the Wild” that gave Emile his first true starring role, and accolades mounted for both Penn and Emile in the ensuing awards season.
With Emile donning the title role in “Speed Racer,” the early summer 2008 adventure film, it is generally considered that the young actor has the capability to bounce between numerous genres and still maintain the freshness and somewhat rebellious persona that has kept him just this side of Shia LaBeouf. Future projects will determine Emile’s ultimate course, naturally, but the first decade of the 21st century has shown Emile’s skills at picking interesting projects.
Emile on the Screen
While hopping around TV studios in bit roles, Emile’s first substantial part was as young Harry Houdini in a 1998 TV movie. Three years later, he co-starred in “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys,” followed by “The Emperor’s Club” with Kevin Kline, and “The Mudge Boy” in 2003. He’s Matthew Kidman in “The Girl Next Door,” Tim Travis in “Imaginary Heroes,” Jay in “Lords of Dogtown,” and Johnny Truelove for Nick Cassavettes in “Alpha Dog.” He’s part of the huge cast in “The Air I Breathe” in 2007, and holds the leading man reins in “Into the Wild” and “Speed Racer.”
Emile Says
On “The Girl Next Door”:
“When I got a lap dance, because I was 17, they had to put a massive pillow between me and the girl when she was grinding me. It was weird, yet pleasurable.”