Date of Birth

13 December 1985, Palms, California, USA

Birth Name

Emile Davenport Hirsch

Nickname

Hirschy

Height

5' 7" (1.7 m)

Mini Biography

Emile Davenport Hirsch was born in Palms, California, to Margaret Esther (Davenport), a teacher and visual artist, and David M. Hirsch, an entrepreneur and producer. He grew up in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and having been introduced to acting while still at school, he got his first acting job on TV at the age of 11 in an episode of Kindred: The Embraced (1996).

More TV work followed until he made his Hollywood debut in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) and doesn't seem to have been out of work since.

Trivia

• He grew up in Los Angeles, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• His father, David Hirsch, is a producer and his mother, Margaret Davenport, is an artist.
• Favorite movies include, Roger Dodger (2002), On the Waterfront (1954), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), The Usual Suspects (1995) and The Mosquito Coast (1986).
• He attended the The Hamilton Academy of Music and The Performing Arts in Los Angeles.
• His sister, Jennifer Bolduc, is an artist and is married to Samuel Bolduc, a composer.
• Was ranked #17 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list. [2008]
• Attended Paul Revere Middle School in Los Angeles, CA.
• Along with Jessica Biel, Isabel Lucas, musician Santi White, rapper Lupe Fiasco (and many others), he hiked Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on a benefit climb called Summit On The Summit, to bring awareness and relief to the world's clean water crisis. [January 2010]
• Had a body double for his nude scene in The Girl Next Door because he was only aged 17 at the time.
• He spent 3 months training to skateboard and surf for Lords Of Dogtown.
• For his role as the title character in Speed Racer, he watched every episode of the anime.
• Became a father for the 1st time at age 28 when his ex-girlfriend gave birth to their son Valor Hirsch on October 27, 2013.
• living in Venice, California, USA [October 2005]
• As of 2020, he has been in 2 films that were Oscar nominated for Best Picture: Milk (2008) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
• Emile's paternal grandfather was from a German Jewish immigrant family. Emile also has English, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry.
• Was charged with aggravated assault after he attacked and choked the female VP of Paramount Digital during a Sundance Film Festival party in early 2015. He claimed he had no memory of the incident due to consuming an enormous amount of alcohol. Hirsch checked into an alcohol rehab facility in the wake of the incident.

Trademarks:

• Often plays characters who find themselves in life threatening situations
  

Quotes

• I think I've always been half out of my shell and half in. Sometimes I can be extremely wild and sometimes I can be extremely shy. It just depends on the day.
• "I don't really want to do a teen comedy, you know? I mean, I just didn't want to be in a bad movie, that's all." In reference to his hesitance in deciding whether or not to play his character Matthew Kidman in The Girl Next Door (2004).
• "I learned how to skate vert in pools and stuff. Now I can get on a board and skate a pool. We did three months of skating and surfing. It was surfing in the morning and skating in the afternoon. Tony Alva was our coach. He's not the easiest coach to work with. He's not like a coach. He tells you how to do it, and is like, 'Just do it. Just f-ing do it, dude!'" In reference to his skateboard training for Lords of Dogtown (2005).
• "People would be so intimidated especially when I left the tattoo on and went out to a party. You'd get weird looks from everyone. Big, big macho dudes would be like, 'Oh, excuse me. Excuse me.' I was like, 'Yeah!' I mean, it was very strange for me to have people react to me like that. It's unheard of for me and to have girls going, 'You're crazy.' And looking at you from across the party like, 'You're a crazy one.'" In reference to his shaved head for Lords of Dogtown (2005).
• [About working on the film The Girl Next Door (2004).] When I got a lap dance, because I was 17, they had to put a massive pillow between me and the girl when she was grinding me. It was weird, yet pleasurable.
• James Dean taught me not to speed, River Phoenix taught me not to DO speed, and Marlon Brando taught me to slow down on the cheeseburgers.
• [on Penelope Cruz] She's hilarious. She's not only very smart and talented, she has a ridiculously absurdest and sophisticated sense of humor. We were constantly laughing and enjoying ourselves on set.