Justin Theroux Biography

Justin Paul Theroux was born on 10th August 1971 in Washington, D.C. to Phyllis Grissim and Eugene Albert Theroux. His mother Phyllis is a journalist and an author while his father Eugene worked as a corporate lawyer at Baker & McKenzie in Washington. He has two siblings, an elder sister Elizabeth and a younger brother Sebastian.

As a kid, he was diagnosed with ADHD and found school challenging. Therefore, he changed many schools. He went to Lafayette Elementary School, Annunciation School and the Field School. Later, he attended Buxton School, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was here that he started acting.

Thereafter, he joined Bennington College and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in visual arts and drama in 1993.

After completing his studies, Justin Theroux moved to New York to become an artist. He bartended on Bleecker Street and painted murals in lofts and at clubs.

He also pursued acting and achieved some recognition through his off-Broadway works.

In 1995, he appeared in an episode of a drama series C.P.W. and the next year made his film debut with an independent biographical drama film I Shot Andy Warhol.

This was followed by roles in other films like Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Below Utopia, Dream House (all 1997), Frogs for Snakes and Dead Broke (both 1998).

In 1998, he also appeared in an episode each of television series Ally McBeal and Spin City, three episodes of New York Undercover and two episodes of Sex and the City (1998-1999). In 1999, he acted in a television movie Sirens.

After appearing in few more films like American Psycho, The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (both 2000) and The Sleepy Time Gal (2001), he bagged the role of Adam Kesher in David Lynch’s surrealist neo-noir mystery film Mulholland Drive (2001). The movie earned him a lot of recognition.

The same year, he appeared in the hit action-comedy film Zoolander in which he played Evil DJ.

In 2000-2001, he also acted in 27 episodes of a crime drama and police procedural series The District.

In 2003, he starred in three films – Duplex, a black comedy; Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, an action comedy and Happy Ending, a dramedy. The same year, he acted in a couple of episodes of an action thriller science fiction series Alias and started appearing in the drama series Six Feet Under. He acted in eight episodes of the latter show till 2004.

In 2003 again, he appeared in the music video of a song Hysteria by the British band Muse.

In 2006, he acted in another David Lynch’s experimental movie Inland Empire. The film received positive reviews and was listed in Sight & Sound’s thirty best films of the 2000s and The Guardian’s 10 most underrated movies of the decade.

In 2007, Justin Theroux turned director and executive producer with his romantic comedy drama film Dedication. The following year, he debuted as a writer with the satirical action comedy film Tropic Thunder. The film, which he also executive produced, became a massive commercial success.

His next screenplay was for the 2010 superhero film Iron Man 2. The movie once again earned positive reviews and became a blockbuster.

During the decade (2000-2010), he appeared in a number of other films as an actor. These include Strangers with Candy, The Baxter, The Legend of Lucky Keyes (all 2005), Return to Rajapur, Miami Vice (both 2006), Broken English and The Ten (2007).

Additionally, he narrated a short film Peel (2002) and lent his voice for an animated superhero film Megamind (2010, also served as the creative consultant) as well as a videogame Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009). He also appeared as himself in the documentary Ultimate Iron Man (2010).

On television, he worked in a couple of episodes of the HBO’s historical miniseries John Adams (2008) and four episodes of NBC’s political satire mockumentary Recreation (2010).

In 2011-2012, he acted in a comic fantasy film Your Highness and a comedy film Wanderlust. The year 2012 once again saw him turning writer for the musical comedy film Rock of Ages.

Starting 2014, he was cast in the leading role of Kevin Garvey in the supernatural mystery drama television series The Leftovers. The critically acclaimed HBO series was based on the novel by Tom Perrotta and ran for three seasons till 2017. It won him nominations at various award functions.

Between 2016 and 2017, he wrote the screenplay of and starred in Zoolander 2, the standalone sequel to the 2001 movie; acted in the mystery psychological thriller film The Girl on the Train and did a cameo role in the epic space opera film Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Additionally, he narrated a short film The Master and voiced a computer animated martial arts adventure comedy film The Lego Ninjago Movie. He also executive produced a television movie Zoolander: Super Model.

In 2018, Justin Theroux played the mercurial medical genius Dr. James K. Mantleray in a black comic thriller – Maniac – about a pharmaceutical experiment gone wrong. The Netflix miniseries received favourable reviews upon release.

His other television work since 2017 include acting in three episodes of surreal comedy series At Home with Amy Sedari (2017–2020); lending his voice in an episode of adult animated science fiction sitcom Rick and Morty (2019) and executive producing the ABC television event Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2019).

His films since 2018 include Mute, The Spy Who Dumped Me, On the Basis of Sex (all 2018) and Joker (2019). He also lent his voice for Bumblebee (2018), Lady and the Tramp (2019) and Violet (2021).

His projects in 2021 include a horror film False Positive and the lead role in Apple TV+ television series The Mosquito Coast. The latter is an adaptation of a 1981 novel written by his uncle Paul Theroux.

Acting aside, he is also a talented illustrator and has done the illustrations for both of Amy Sedaris’s New York Times bestselling books I Like You (2006) and Simple Times (2010).

Justin Theroux married actress Jennifer Aniston in 2015; however, the couple separated in 2017.

He is a vegetarian and passionate about animal welfare and animal rights.

He is an occasional tattoo artist and is also passionate about fitness.