---
name: "Emile Hirsch"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/emile-hirsch"
fi1m_id: "emile-hirsch"
imdb_id: "nm0386472"
tmdb_id: 46593
wikidata_id: "Q244678"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "13 March 1985"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 80
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-22T03:23:12.891824+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Emile Hirsch

## Identity

Emile Hirsch

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/emile-hirsch
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** emile-hirsch
- **IMDb ID:** nm0386472
- **TMDB ID:** 46593
- **Wikidata ID:** Q244678
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Hirsch, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q244678, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0386472/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/46593

Actor. Born 13 March 1985 in Topanga Canyon, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 13 March 1985, Topanga Canyon, California, USA
- **Active:** 2007–2019
- **Also known as:** 에밀 허쉬, Аміл Гірш, امیل هرش
- **Frequently works with:** [Sean Penn](https://film.one/person/sean-penn.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 80 (2), 2010s 78 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 79 to 80 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 2, Action & Adventure 1, Adventure 1, Animation 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $505m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Hirsch, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q244678, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0386472/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/46593

## Coming up

- *Lice* (2027-01-27), as Mr. Shanker

## Streaming the US now

- **Hulu:** [*Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood*](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood.md) (77)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Emile Hirsch

> Emile Hirsch gives determined young men enough warmth that we want to hear them out. *Into the Wild* is our clearest reason to value him: he makes its hero worth following and leaves his selfishness visible.

In *Into the Wild* (2007), Emile Hirsch makes meeting a stranger look like something Christopher McCandless welcomes, rather than another opportunity to explain himself. His openness gives us a reason to stay with a young man whose certainty can be wearing. We were moved by those encounters because Hirsch lets us see why people care about McCandless, even when his choices deserve questioning. He allows the selfishness to remain visible alongside the idealism. That is a good deal of what makes the film worth following.

The early leads in *Lords of Dogtown* (2005) and *Alpha Dog* (2006) established a run of young men pushing towards extremes, before *Into the Wild* brought wider recognition. As Jay Adams in the former, Hirsch had already made physical commitment part of the work; McCandless required substantial preparation and transformation. That physical preparation continued with his role as Danny Dietz in *Lone Survivor* (2013), which required extensive training. Yet the more interesting achievement in Sean Penn's film is how naturally Hirsch lets the character talk to people. The effort never becomes his only reason for being on screen.

Penn gets a persuasive performance from him, then spends too much of the screenplay telling us what to think about it. The spoken commentary keeps pressing the case for McCandless's choices when Hirsch has already made him interesting enough to watch without instruction. We would rather have had more time to consider whether the young man is right. Hirsch can hold our interest without asking us to agree with the character, which is a more useful quality here than simple likeability. It is frustrating to have the screenplay settle questions that the actor has usefully left open.

The later work has included supporting parts as Cleve Jones in Gus Van Sant's *Milk* (2008) and Jay Sebring in Quentin Tarantino's *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood* (2019), alongside independent and genre films. Neither role needs to bear the same weight as his McCandless. Tarantino's film is good company, though it takes too long over it. For a proper introduction to Hirsch, start with *Into the Wild*, without taking its commentary as guidance on how to live.

## Biography

Emile Hirsch is an American actor. Born on 13 March 1985, he grew up in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began acting while at school and made his television debut at the age of 11 in an episode of *Kindred: The Embraced* (1996). His first feature film role came in *The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys* (2002).

Hirsch is known for playing Christopher McCandless in *Into the Wild* (2007). Other film roles include Matthew Kidman in *The Girl Next Door* (2004), Speed in *Speed Racer* (2008), Cleve Jones in *Milk* (2008), Danny Dietz in *Lone Survivor* (2013), and Jay Sebring in *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood* (2019). He has also appeared in *The Autopsy of Jane Doe* (2016) and *Killer Joe* (2012).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood* (2019), Fi1m 77, as Jay Sebring — [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood.md)
- *Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia* (2016), Fi1m 80, as Jim Lake Jr. (voice) — [page](https://film.one/tv/trollhunters-tales-of-arcadia.md)
- *Milk* (2008), Fi1m 83, as Cleve Jones — [page](https://film.one/film/milk.md)
- *Into the Wild* (2007), Fi1m 78, as Christopher McCandless / Alexander Supertramp — [page](https://film.one/film/into-the-wild.md)

## Complete filmography (80)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Lice* (2027), as Mr. Shanker
- *Stooper* (2025), Actor
- *Dead Money* (2024), as Andy
- *Bau, Artist at War* (2024), as Joseph Bau
- *Prey* (2024), as Grun
- *Walden* (2023), as Walden Dean
- *Helen's Dead* (2023), as Adam
- *The Engineer* (2023), as Etan
- *Inside Man* (2023), as Bobby Belucci
- *State of Consciousness* (2023), as Stephen
- *The Price We Pay* (2023), as Adam
- *Devil's Workshop* (2022), as Donald
- *Dig* (2022), as Victor
- *The Immaculate Room* (2022), as Michael
- *Fortress: Sniper's Eye* (2022), Story
- *Pursuit* (2022), as Rick Calloway
- *Fortress* (2021), Story
- *American Night* (2021), as Michael Rubino
- *Midnight in the Switchgrass* (2021), as Byron Crawford
- *Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans* (2021), as Jim (voice)
- *Son* (2021), as Paul · Executive Producer
- *The Comeback Trail* (2020), as James Moore
- *Wizards: Tales of Arcadia* (2020), series, as Jim (voice)
- *Force of Nature* (2020), as Cardillo
- *Freaks* (2019), as Dad
- *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood* (2019), as Jay Sebring — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood.md)
- *Never Grow Old* (2019), as Patrick Tate
- *Peel* (2019), as Peel
- *An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn* (2018), as Shane Danger
- *The Outsider* (2018), as Paulie Bowers
- *The Chinese Widow* (2017), as Jack Turner
- *All Nighter* (2017), as Martin
- *Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia* (2016), series, as Jim Lake Jr. (voice) — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/trollhunters-tales-of-arcadia.md)
- *The Autopsy of Jane Doe* (2016), as Austin Tilden
- *Vincent N Roxxy* (2016), as Vincent Stewart
- *Just Jim* (2015), as Dean
- *10,000 Saints* (2015), as Johnny
- *Lone Survivor* (2013), as Petty Officer Second Class Danny Dietz
- *Bonnie & Clyde* (2013), series, as Clyde Barrow
- *The Motel Life* (2013), as Frank
- *Prince Avalanche* (2013), as Lance
- *Twice Born* (2012), as Diego
- *Savages* (2012), as Spin
- *Killer Joe* (2012), as Chris Smith
- *The Darkest Hour* (2011), as Sean
- *Taking Woodstock* (2009), as Billy
- *X Games 3D: The Movie* (2009), as Narrator (voice)
- *Milk* (2008), as Cleve Jones — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/milk.md)
- *Speed Racer* (2008), as Speed
- *Speed Racer: Wonderful World of Racing - The Amazing Racer Family* (2008), as Speed Racer
- *Into the Wild* (2007), as Christopher McCandless / Alexander Supertramp — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/into-the-wild.md)
- *The Air I Breathe* (2007), as Tony
- *Alpha Dog* (2006), as Johnny Truelove
- *Lords of Dogtown* (2005), as Jay
- *Imaginary Heroes* (2004), as Tim Travis
- *The Girl Next Door* (2004), as Matthew Kidman
- *The Mudge Boy* (2003), as Duncan Mudge
- *The Emperor's Club* (2002), as Sedgewick Bell
- *The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys* (2002), as Francis Doyle
- *Wild Iris* (2001), as Lonnie Bravard
- *Houdini* (1998), as Young Houdini
- *Two of a Kind* (1998), series, as Jeremy
- *Gargantua* (1998), as Brandon Ellway
- *Early Edition* (1996), series, as Lance Foster
- *Sabrina, the Teenage Witch* (1996), series, as Darryl
- *Profiler* (1996), series, as Bryce Banks
- *The Pretender* (1996), series, as Bryce Banks
- *Kindred: The Embraced* (1996), series, as Abel
- *3rd Rock from the Sun* (1996), series, as Punk
- *Sugared Peas* (1996), as Brad
- *ER* (1994), series, as Chad Kottmeier — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/er.md)
- *Beg The Devil*, Actor
- *In Tandem*, Writer
- *Final Invasion*, Actor
- *Woozy*, as Dusty
- *Legacy*, as Benny
- *The Condemnation*, as Mike
- *Turnbuckle*, Actor
- *Conspiracy of Thieves*, as Bobby
- *The Swimmer*, as Richard Morgan

## Gallery

- ![Emile Hirsch at the 81st Academy Awards](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-32864714dcc6.jpg) Emile Hirsch at the 81st Academy Awards — Chrisa Hickey at https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisahickey/, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/EmileHirschAAFeb09.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Emile Hirsch at the Toronto International Film Festival 2012.](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-f31eeff57dff.jpg) Emile Hirsch at the Toronto International Film Festival 2012. — Tabercil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Emile_Hirsch_TIFF_2%2C_2012.jpg/1280px-Emile_Hirsch_TIFF_2%2C_2012.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-a72beac99931.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Tabercil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Emile_Hirsch_TIFF_2011.jpg/1280px-Emile_Hirsch_TIFF_2011.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Emile Hirsch at the Toronto International Film Festival 2012.](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-503e68a8664a.jpg) Emile Hirsch at the Toronto International Film Festival 2012. — Tabercil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Emile_Hirsch_TIFF_2012.jpg/1280px-Emile_Hirsch_TIFF_2012.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-4e80fff86da5.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Image via TMDB
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-7d929043a0ff.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Image via TMDB
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-2999f264922e.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Image via TMDB
- ![Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci at the premiere of Speed Racer at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-b3fde19a9077.jpg) Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci at the premiere of Speed Racer at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. — David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Emile_Hirsch_and_Christina_Ricci_by_David_Shankbone.jpg/1280px-Emile_Hirsch_and_Christina_Ricci_by_David_Shankbone.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-bda3dfeeae5a.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Image via TMDB
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-ea47971accae.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Image via TMDB
- ![Emile Hirsch](https://film.one/media/person/8980/gallery-50ae10cc4eda.jpg) Emile Hirsch — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/emile-hirsch