Born on March 13, 1985 in Topanga, California, Emile Hirsch is an actor best known for his role in Speed Racer, Lords of Dogtown, The Emperor’s Club, The Girl next Door and Alpha Dog. The son of a visual artist and an industrial consultant, it was his older sister who introduced him to acting. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, but later on moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico when his parents divorced. He attended Paul Revere Middle School and the Academy of Music at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. His favorite movies include On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Usual Suspects, and The Mosquito Coat. It is said that he is often seen singing karaoke with Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Bo Barrett and company in a popular Beverly Hills hot spot called Guys.
Hirsch began acting at an early age of 8, when he appeared in minor roles on television roles and made-for-television films. These include Kindred: the Embraced, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and even NYPD Blue. In 2002, he made his film debut with The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys where he starred with Kieran Culkin in a story of two Catholic school boys. In the same year, she starred in The Emperor’s Club. While both garnered generally nice reviews, they performed poorly at the box office.
Hirsch’s next film, the 2004 teen comedy The Girl Next Door, gave him a wider and younger audience. This was followed with the 2005 drama Imaginary Heroes. His other subsequent screen credits include Lords of Dogtown, Alpha Dog, with Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone, Into the Wild, and eventually the lead in Speed Racer. His performance in Into the Wild earned him his first Screen Actors Guild nomination for best actor, and critics noted the Academy for snubbing his performance. In 2008, he was ranked 17th on Entertainment Weekly’s ’30 Under 30’ list.