Christopher McCandless in the Sean Penn’s 2017 Film 'Into the Wild'

Emile Hirsch | Biography 2021

Released His Second Album 'Denihilism' On 12 March 2021.

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : July 16, 2021

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Emile Hirsch is a Critics Choice Award-winning American actor best known for portraying Chris McCandless in the adventure-drama film Into the Wild.

Who is Emile Hirsch?

Hirsch initially began his acting career in television series before entering the film industry. At the age of 11, he made his first on-screen appearance in the television series Kindred: The Embraced in 1996.

He later gained international recognition for his breakthrough performance in the 2007 hit movie Into the Wild, which earned him several awards and nominations.

Hirsch is also famous for his works in movies including Milk (2008), Alpha Dog (2006), Speed Racer (2008), Lone Survivor (2013), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019). One of his latest works was his role as Paul in the horror-thriller film Son, released on 5 March 2021.

In addition to movies, Hirsch is also into singing and songwriting. He released his first solo album Mnemonic in 2019. On 12 March 2021, he released his second album, Denihilism.

Early Biography: Childhood and Parents

Emile Hirsch was born on 13 March 1985, in Topanga, California, to David Hirsch, an entrepreneur and producer, and Margaret Davenport, a visual artist and teacher. He grew up with his older sister Jennifer. Since his parents divorced when he was a child, he spent his younger years divided between his father’s house in Los Angeles, California, and his mother’s house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Hirsch later attended the Hamilton Academy of Music and went to The Performing Arts in Los Angeles as a child. Subsequently, he attended Paul Revere Middle School in Los Angeles, California.

TV Series and Movies

Hirsch made his first on-screen appearance in 1996 at the age of 11. His first professional acting work was in the television series Kindred: The Embraced (1996). It was a horror-fantasy drama, where Hirsch played the role of a pediatric patient Abel, in the Romeo and Juliet episode. Due to his charming on-screen appearance, he went on to receive interesting roles in more television shows. 

He made his film debut in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys in 2002. At the age of 17, he did a body double in the 2004 teen comedy The Girl Next Door. By then, he gained popularity amongst the teen audience.

Hirsch moved on to star as Jay Adams in the 2005 cult biopic Lords of Dogtown. However, he came into the limelight after his breakthrough performance in Sean Penn’s critically acclaimed adventure-drama film Into the Wild (2007), an adaption of the 1996 John Krakauer bestseller. In the movie, Hirsch portrayed 24-year-old Christopher McCandless, who ventures into the Alaskan wilderness on a soul-searching journey in 1992 and eventually dies of starvation. His performance in this film earned him global recognition as well as several awards and nominations. 

The following year, he starred as gay activist Cleve Jones in the Academy Award-winning Harvey Milk biopic Milk (2008), which earned him the Critics Choice Award in 2009.

Hirsch has also starred in several other movies, including Alpha Dog (2006), Speed Racer (2008), Lone Survivor (2013), and The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016). He also co-starred as Jay Sebring—a hairstylist and the character’s Sharon Tate’s boyfriend—in the comedy-drama film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019).

One of his latest works was his role as Paul, where he played a police detective in the horror-thriller film Son, released on 5 March 2021.

Life Post Lawsuit and Assault Conviction

In January 2015, when Hirsch attended the premiere of Ten Thousand Saints at Sundance Film Festival, he was charged with felony aggravated assault after putting Paramount Pictures executive Daniele Bernfeld in a chokehold at the TAO nightclub in Park City, Utah. However, Hirsch pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault, and he was sentenced to 15 days of jail, 50 hours of community service, and a $4,750 fine. 

Bernfeld elucidated the incident as being “insanely painful and absolutely terrifying,” and she complained about the plea deal that met the bare minimum. “Quite simply, this punishment does not fit the crime,” she commented during the hearing of her lawsuit.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for what happened,” said Hirsch. In court, he said that he had consumed an enormous amount of alcohol and lost the memory of what happened at the time of the incident. He said he felt “truly sorry” for what he had done. 

A few days after the incident, he joined an alcohol rehabilitation facility and spent 36 days there to ensure he would not repeat such an incident ever again.

Jameela Jamil's Objection

Jameela Jamil, Daniele Bernfeld’s friend, objected to Hirsch’s casting in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019. It was an intense case of affluent white male privilege, according to the actress.

“Cool. Emile Hirsch strangled my tiny female best friend until she blacked out at a party in front of dozens of witnesses at Sundance Film Festival (and was convicted) but Tarantino just cast him in a movie.” She tweeted. “INTENSE case of rich white male privilege eh? Cool. Cool. Cool.”

“Left her with three years of PTSD and never paid for her treatment, and still hasn’t apologized to her,” she continued taking a stand for her friend. “Not today Satan, not today.” 

‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’

In the 2016 movie, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scottish actor Brian Cox, and Emile Hirsch portray their respective roles as morgue proprietors, father and son duo who have one night to solve the mystery of a mysterious female corpse that winds up on their slab. As they examine the female corpse Jane Doe, they begin to believe there’s more to the young woman than meets the eye, and things only get crazier (and more horrible) from there.

Hirsch took the role for the Autopsy of Jane Doe shortly after his rehabilitation. He was still processing the Sundance incident when he started the project. “It was a time when I really wanted to move forward,” he shared with IndieWire in 2016. “I felt like doing what I found value in, which was doing good work. It helped get some of my confidence back to see that, OK, this what I do — I’m an actor. And I like that the choices actors make end up revealing things about the actor,” he reflected.

‘Into the Wild’

Sean Penn’s 2017 film Into the Wild depicts the story of Christopher McCandless, a 24-year-old wanderer who set off alone into the Alaskan wilderness in 1992. McCandless seeks the raw, exhilarating feeling of absolute independence, rejecting his family’s financial luxuries. Instead, he desires honesty and purity. Consequently, he destroys all of his money, breaks his links with his parents, and hits the road.

In the adaptation movie based on the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name written by Jon Krakauer, Hirsch played McCandless, a character who spent 112 days in the Alaskan wilderness. He foraged for berries and roots in the wood and hunted squirrel, spruce grouse, duck, goose, and porcupines to eat. For his expedition, he only brought a 10-pound bag of rice. 

Preparation

Hirsch had to project a tough enough demeanor in the role and prepare likewise. He even dropped 41 pounds from his 5-foot-6 frame for the sequences in which his character is dying of famine.

“I’ve never seen somebody do that,” Penn told SFGATE in 2007. “Nobody has ever been asked to accomplish anything on this scale before. The weight reduction. The chilly weather. The heat. Everything, in fact.”

Penn shared in the same interview, “I don’t mind admitting he’s great.”

Hirsch climbed mountains, swam naked in 35-degree river water, and stood inches from an 8-foot, 6-inch grizzly bear during an eight-month filming schedule. In addition, there were no stunt doubles utilized.

Hirsch says he went a step farther and decided to give all of his money away to mimic the character. 

“I went to my accountant’s office and was like, ‘I’m giving all my money away,’” he insisted. “They were like, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I’m giving it all away. McCandless gave all his money away. So will I.’” 

Hirsch eventually gave Oxfam International the entirety of his bank account.

Intense Diet

While filming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Emile Hirsch survived on a diet of boiled vegetables and vinegar to look very thin like his character, Jay Sebring.

“I saw pictures of him and he was really skinny, so I went on an extreme vegan diet, where I would just boil vegetables and eat this hot sauce vinegar vegetable stew at the end of each night,” Emile shared to Film News in 2019. 

Furthermore, in the same interview, he added, “I was really hungry. I lost 25 pounds and (director) Quentin (Tarantino) was like, ‘You don’t have to lose all the weight’, but I wanted to look just like him in the picture.”

‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film is a fictitious drama based on one of the darkest actual crime incidents in American history: the murders of rising actress Sharon Tate by Charles Manson’s family of cult members.

While the candy-colored film wasn’t the first Manson-related film to visit theaters in 2019, it was the one to earn ten ‘Oscar’ nominations. In 2020, the movie earned ‘Oscar’ nominations in the various categories related to best picture, directing, and acting awards.

His Character

The character, Jay Sebring, played by Emile Hirsch, was a prominent celebrity hairstylist (who inspired Warren Beatty in his part in the film Shampoo). 

The real-life character was a close friend and ex-boyfriend of American actress Sharon Tate, another victim of murder at Cielo Drive.

Sebring was a popular figure in 1960s Hollywood, and he was acquainted with Bruce Lee, who taught him martial skills.

Upcoming projects

Hirsch has a couple of upcoming credits in the pipeline. 

‘Midnight in the Switchgrass’

Hirsch is set to appear in the upcoming thriller movie Midnight in the Switchgrass as an experience Texas Ranger Byron Crawford on 27 July 2021.

The movie premises the plotline of an FBI agent and Florida State officer joining hands to investigate a series of unsolved murder cases.

‘American Night’

Hirsch has finished filming for the action and thriller amalgam, American Night, where he would appear as the head of New York’s mafia Michael Rubino on 22 October 2021. The movie revolves around the mafia, fight for money, art, power, and love

‘Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans’

Hirsch’s upcoming animated project, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, encompassing action and adventure plots, would have his voice for one of its characters. The film is set to premiere on 21 July 2021. 

‘State of Consciousness’

State of Consciousness is Hirsch’s forthcoming thriller film in which he would be seen playing the main lead, Stephen. The storyline adheres to the character Stephen finding a way out of an institution that has trapped him. Dr. Fielder has forced him into taking medications for a psychological disease that he doesn’t have. 

‘The Immaculate Room,’ ‘The Legitimate Wiseguy,’ & ‘Dog’

Hirsch’s other upcoming movies are the American psychological thriller film The Immaculate Room, American mobster film The Legitimate Wiseguy as Nick Celozzi Jr, and drama film Dig.

Music Career

In addition to acting, Hirsch is also interested in music, especially singing and songwriting. On 25 October 2019, he released his first solo album Mnemonic, collaborating with Mathieu Cartier for music production. The album has a collection of 15 songs, swathed in 80s synth vibes.

In August 2020, he released the album’s lead single, Love is Real, starring his Force of Nature co-star Kate Bosworth.

Hirsch later released his second album, Denihilism, on 12 March 2021.

How Hirsch Got into Music?

To pursue a new profession as a musician, Hirsch utilized his time during quarantine to create music.

When Hirsch spoke with TMZ in 2020 from his improvised in-home studio, he was rocking and grooving, playing a rough version of his upcoming release, ‘Plugged In,’ and revealed how he’s recording music from the confines of his own pad.

Emile slung a little boombox over his shoulder and walked TMZ through his creative process, from voice memo recording to full-fledged song.

Awards

Hirsch won several awards for his portrayal in Into the Wild. He won ‘Mill Valley Film Festival Award’ for ‘Best Actor’ in 2007, ‘NBR Award’ for the ‘Breakthrough Performance’ in 2007, and the ‘Rising Star Award’ at Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2008.

In 2008, ShoWest Award awarded him as ‘Male Star of Tomorrow.’

For his role in Milk, he won the ‘Critics Choice Award’ for ‘Best Acting Ensemble.’ Hirsch shared the award with other co-actors in 2009 at Broadcast Film Critics Associaton Awards.

Personal Life and Relationship

Emile Hirsch and his ex-girlfriend welcomed their son Valor Hirsch on 27 October 2013. At that time, Hirsch was 28 years old. Still, the identity of Valor's mother and her relationship with him remains undisclosed.

In the past. Emile's love life included dating relationships with producer Brianna Domont, model Lucila Valdivia and actress Amanda Seyfried.   

What is Emile Hirsch's Net Worth?

According to Celebritynetworth, Hirsch has an estimated net worth of $16 million.