Justin Theroux

Biography:

Justin Theroux (born August 10, 1971, in Washington, D.C.) is the son of essayist and author Phyllis Grissim Theroux and lawyer Eugene Albert Theroux, who worked at Baker & McKenzie. He comes from a literary family—his uncles include Paul Theroux, Alexander Theroux, Peter Theroux, and Joseph Theroux, and he is cousins with British journalists and filmmakers Louis and Marcel Theroux. His heritage is part French-Canadian and Italian on his father’s side, and through his mother, he is a descendant of financier H. B. Hollins and music critic Gustav Kobbé.

He attended Lafayette Elementary, Annunciation School, and the Field School before discovering acting at Buxton School in Massachusetts. Theroux graduated from Bennington College in 1993 with a degree in visual arts and drama.

His screen debut came in Mary Harron’s I Shot Andy Warhol (1996). He went on to appear in Broadway productions like Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme and numerous off-Broadway plays, as well as comedies such as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, The Baxter, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Broken Hearts Club, and Zoolander. He also took on darker roles in American Psycho, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire, and Miami Vice.

Theroux featured in Muse’s 2003 music video for Hysteria and worked steadily in television, appearing in The District, Alias, Ally McBeal, Sex and the City, and Six Feet Under. He made his directing debut with Dedication (2006), scored by Deerhoof, and also appeared in Broken English and The Ten. He co-wrote Tropic Thunder and played a role in its mockumentary spinoff.

In 2008, he portrayed John Hancock in HBO’s John Adams and later voiced a character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He also appeared in Parks and Recreation and wrote the screenplay for Iron Man 2 after being recommended by Robert Downey Jr. He returned to acting in films like Your Highness (2011) and Wanderlust (2012), before being tapped to direct and rewrite Swear to God.

His breakout television role came with HBO’s The Leftovers (2014–2017), where he earned acclaim as the lead. He co-wrote Zoolander 2 (2016), voiced Lord Garmadon in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), and starred alongside Emma Stone and Jonah Hill in Netflix’s Maniac (2018). He co-produced Live in Front of a Studio Audience in 2019, which won him a Primetime Emmy, and voiced Tramp in Disney’s live-action Lady and the Tramp.

In 2021, he starred in and produced Apple TV+’s The Mosquito Coast, adapted from his uncle Paul Theroux’s novel. In 2024, he appeared in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 classic.

In his personal life, Theroux dated stylist Heidi Bivens from 1997 to 2011. He began a relationship with Jennifer Aniston in 2011, became engaged in 2012, and had a symbolic wedding ceremony in 2015. The couple separated in late 2017 and announced it publicly in 2018. In 2024, Theroux became engaged to actress Nicole Brydon Bloom, and the two married in March 2025.