Career
Hirsch began acting at the age of eight in rural Woodstock, Illinois, appearing in minor roles on television shows and made-for-television films, including Kindred: the Embraced; Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and NYPD Blue. Following his appearance on NYPD Blue, casting directors began singling him out as a serious young actor, leading to a two-episode guest-starring role on ER. He made his feature film debut with Jodie Foster's 2002 drama, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, where he starred opposite Kieran Culkin in the story of two Catholic school boys. His next feature film role was in the prep school drama, The Emperor's Club, with Kevin Kline, which was released later in 2002. Hirsch's reviews were favorable, and both films received generally positive reviews, but performed only moderately at the box office.
Hirsch was subsequently cast opposite Elisha Cuthbert in the 2004 teen comedy, The Girl Next Door, and as a result gained excellent mainstream reviews and wider recognition among teenage audiences. The Mudge Boy, an independent film in which he had starred before making The Girl Next Door, was given a limited release in the summer of 2004. Hirsch next appeared with Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver in Imaginary Heroes, a drama about a dysfunctional family, which received a limited release in February 2005.
Later, in 2005, Hirsch starred with Heath Ledger in Lords of Dogtown, a cult favorite by director Catherine Hardwicke; the film, about a number of well-known skaters of the 1970s and their role in the birth of a higher-profile skateboard culture, was released on June 3, 2005. Hirsch played Jay Adams (who some say was the original “Z-Boy”), and was praised by critics for his performance. He subsequently appeared in Alpha Dog, a dark drama starring Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Willis, and Sharon Stone in which Hirsch played a character based on real-life drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood; the film was shot in 2004 and released on January 12, 2007. Hirsch consulted with Hollywood's real life father before playing the role, and has said that he felt "pretty afraid in my bones most of the time" while filming because of the film's raw characters and dialogue.
Hirsch next played adventurer Christopher McCandless in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed adventure-drama Into the Wild, released on September 21, 2007. He lost 40 pounds for the role and was noted in reviews as a potential Academy Award nominee for the film, also receiving a Screen Actors Guild nomination for best actor. Hirsch had the lead role in Speed Racer, which was released on May 9, 2008. Hirsch plays gay rights activist Cleve Jones in Gus Van Sant's 2008 Harvey Milk bio-pic Milk starring Sean Penn in the title role.
He starred in Taking Woodstock, based on a screenplay of Elliot Tiber's memoir Taking Woodstock, adapted by James Schamus. The film was directed by Academy Award Winning Director Ang Lee. His co-stars are Demetri Martin, Liev Schreiber, Imelda Staunton, Eugene Levy and Henry Goodman. Taking Woodstock was shot in upstate New York and was released in August 2009.
In April 2010, director Chris Gorak cast him in his science fiction film, The Darkest Hour, and released in December 2011. In April 2011, he was cast in Oliver Stone's Savages, which was released in July 2012. In 2012 starred with Penélope Cruz in Venuto al mondo a film by Italian director Sergio Castellitto.
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