Justin Theroux Biography

Justin Paul Theroux (born August 10, 1971) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work with film director David Lynch. He appeared in Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006). He is also known as a screenwriter for films such as Tropic Thunder, Iron Man 2, Rock of Ages, and Zoolander 2. Since 2014, he has starred in the HBO series The Leftovers and more recently starred in the 2016 film The Girl on the Train.

Early life

Theroux was born in Washington, D.C. His mother, Phyllis Grissim-Theroux, is a journalist and author who worked for The Washington Post, and his father, Eugene Theroux, is a lawyer at Baker & McKenzie in Washington. Theroux is the nephew of the travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux, novelist and poet Alexander Theroux, author Peter Theroux, and novelist and educator Joseph Theroux; he is the cousin of British journalists and documentary filmmakers Louis and Marcel Theroux. His father is of half French-Canadian and half Italian descent. Through his mother, Theroux is a great-great-grandson of financier, banker and railroad magnate H. B. Hollins, and of music critic and author Gustav Kobb.

Theroux attended Lafayette Elementary School, Annunciation School, and the Field School. He first started acting while in high school at the Buxton School, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He graduated from Bennington College in 1993 with a B.A. in visual arts and drama.

Career

Theroux made his film debut in 1996 in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol. Since then, he has performed both on Broadway, starring in Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme; in numerous off-Broadway productions; and in comedy films such as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Baxter, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, Broken Hearts Club, and Zoolander.

He has also performed in more serious films such as American Psycho. He appeared in the film versions of the cult television shows Strangers With Candy and Michael Mann's Miami Vice. He starred in David Lynch's films Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire.

In 2003, he was featured in a music video for the British band Muse for their song "Hysteria". Theroux also has appeared on television, having starred in The District and appeared on episodes of shows such as Alias, Ally McBeal, Sex and the City (in which he guest starred in two episodes as different characters), and Six Feet Under (in which he played a recurring character in the third and fourth seasons).

In 2006, he directed his first film, Dedication, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. A fan of the band Deerhoof, Theroux chose them to score Dedication. Theroux also had roles in two other films at the festival, Broken English and The Ten, in which he played Jesus Christ alongside Gretchen Mol. Theroux co-wrote the Ben Stiller-directed Oscar-nominated film Tropic Thunder, and also appeared in the behind-the-scenes mockumentary Tropic Thunder: Rain of Madness.

In 2008, Theroux played John Hancock in the HBO miniseries John Adams. In 2009, Theroux made up part of the voice cast for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He also played Justin in Parks and Recreation. Theroux wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film Iron Man 2. Following Theroux's work on Tropic Thunder, actor Robert Downey Jr. recommended Theroux as a screenwriter to the film's director, Jon Favreau.

Theroux returned to acting in the film Your Highness (2011), as Leezar, an evil wizard who kidnaps a princess. He starred in the 2012 comedy Wanderlust, playing the leader of a hippie commune. By August 2012, Theroux was hired to direct and rewrite the script for the comedy film Swear to God.

In June 2013, Theroux was cast as the lead character in HBO's TV pilot The Leftovers. which HBO ordered as a 10-episode season In September 2013. The series, which premiered June 29, 2014, is based on a book of the same name by Tom Perrotta, which follows a group of people left behind in the suburban community of Mapleton after mysterious disappearances worldwide.

Theroux co-wrote the sequel Zoolander 2 (2016), and reprised his role, Evil DJ, in the film.

Personal life

Theroux was in a relationship with stylist Heidi Bivens for 14 years until 2011. Theroux began dating actress Jennifer Aniston in 2011, after working together on the film Wanderlust. They became engaged in August 2012, and wed on August 5, 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	I Shot Andy Warhol	Mark
1997	Romy and Michele's High School Reunion	Clarence the Cowboy
	Below Utopia	Daniel Beckett
	Body Count	Daniel
	Dream House	Mark Brooks
1998	Frogs for Snakes	Flav Santana
	Dead Broke	James
2000	American Psycho	Timothy Bryce
	The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy	Marshall
2001	Mulholland Drive	Adam Kesher
	The Sleepy Time Gal	Rebecca's Boyfriend
	Zoolander	Evil DJ
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Seamus O'Grady
	Duplex	Coop
	Happy End	Jack
2005	Strangers with Candy	Carlo Honklin
	The Baxter	Bradley Lake
2006	Miami Vice	Detective Larry Zito
	Inland Empire	Devon Berk / Billy Side
	The Legend of Lucy Keyes	Guy Cooley
	Return to Rajapur	Jeremy Reardon
2007	Broken English	Nick Gable
	The Ten	Jesus H. Christ
	Dedication	Lawyer on Phone	Also director and executive producer
2008	Tropic Thunder	DJ at Party Scene	Also writer and executive producer
2010	Iron Man 2		Writer
	Megamind	Megamind's Father (voice)	Also executive producer and creative consultant
2011	Your Highness	Leezar
2012	Rock of Ages		Writer
	Wanderlust	Seth
2016	Zoolander 2	Evil DJ	Also writer
	The Girl on the Train	Tom Watson
	The Master: A Lego Ninjago Short	Narrator (voice)	Short film
2017	The Lego Ninjago Movie	Lord Garmadon (voice)	In post-production
	Mute	Duck Teddington	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Central Park West	Gary Andrews	Episode: "Stephanie and the Wolves"
1998	Spin City	Pete	Episode: "Local Hero"
1998	New York Undercover	Frankie Stone	3 episodes
1998	Ally McBeal	Raymond Brown	Episode: "Just Looking"
1998-1999	Sex and the City	Jared / Vaughn Wysel	2 episodes
1999	Sirens	Officer David Bontempo	Television film
2000-2001	The District	Nick Pierce	27 episodes
2003	Alias	Simon Walker	2 episodes
2003-2004	Six Feet Under	Joe	8 episodes
2005	Confessions of a Dog		Pilot
2008	John Adams	John Hancock	2 episodes
2010	Parks and Recreation	Justin Anderson	4 episodes
2011	Documental	Jan Jurgen	Pilot; also director and writer
2014-present	The Leftovers	Kevin Garvey	20 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2		Additional voice talent

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2005	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Six Feet Under
2015	Lab School of Washington Award	Outstanding Achiever	Career
2016	People's Choice Award	Favorite Premium Cable TV Actor	The Leftovers
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actor in a Drama Series
	Dorian Awards	TV Performance of the Year - Actor