Josh Lucas Biography

JOSH LUCAS

Date of Birth: June 20, 1971

Born in Arkansas, Josh Lucas moved around quite a bit with his parents, due to their political activism, which was mostly directed against nuclear war and nuclear power. They finally settled down in Gig Harbor, Washington, when he was a teen. While he was in high school, Josh realized that he wanted to be an actor. He won the state championship in drama interpretation in both his junior and senior years of high school and considered entering Yale University's School of Drama upon graduation. He finally decided to put Yale on hold, instead first heading to Los Angeles to look for television and film work.

He began immediately landing guest roles on television shows like True Colors, Life Goes On, Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Jake and the Fatman, as well as a role in the TV movies Child of Darkness, Child of Light and Class of '91. His feature film debut came in the major motion picture Alive(1993).

Roles in other features followed, including Father Hood (1993), a regular role in the TV series Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1993) and the role of Todd Walker in the TV movie In the Heat of the Night: A Matter of Justice (1994). His next film, although meant for a theatrical release, went straight to video and he decided to go to New York to get the training he had missed out on after high school. "I didn't feel like I had earned it. I had never done theater, never had any real technical training. I figured if I was going to make this a career, I'd better learn some skills."

By 1996, he was back working, with a lead role in True Blue, filmed in England, about the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. He has worked steadily since then, appearing in one to four films per year, including The Weight of Water, with Sean Penn, filmed in 2000 but released in 2002; the critically-acclaimed The Deep End(2001); and a lead role in the 2002 Academy Award-winner for Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind (2001), opposite Russell Crowe.

Known more often as a character actor who frequently plays somewhat unsympathetic characters, he won the chance to play his first romantic lead, as well as his first comedy, in Sweet Home Alabama (2002), playing Reese Witherspoon's husband. Since then, he's played supporting roles in films such as Hulk (2003), An Unfinished Life (2005) Poseidon (2006), Life As We Know It (2010) and Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017).

Most recently, Josh appeared in What They Had(2018) where he appeared alongside Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon and in the inspirational film Breakthrough (2019) alongside Chrissy Metz.

Josh is a successful stage actor as well, having starred in the Broadway production of Corpus Christi at the Manhattan Theatre Club and The Picture of Dorian Grey at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Filmography:

All Square (2018)
What They Had (2018)
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017)
The Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
Dear Eleanor (2016)
Youth in Oregon (2016)
Boychoir (2014)
The Mend (2014)
Little Accidents (2014)
Wish You Well (2013)
Space Warriors (2013)
Big Sur (2013)
Stolen (2012)
J. Edgar (2011)
A Year in Mooring (2011)
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
Red Dog (2011)
Little Murder (2011)
Life as We Know It (2010)
Daydream Nation (2010)
William Vincent (2010)
Peacock (2010)
Stolen Lives (2009)
Tell-Tale (2009)
Management (2008)
Death in Love (2008)
Poseidon (2006)
Glory Road (2006)
Stealth (2005)
An Unfinished Life (2004)
Around the Bend (2004)
The Undertow (2004)
Wonderland (2003)
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Hulk (2003)
Four Reasons (2002)
Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
Coastlines (2002)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Session 9 (2001)
When Strangers Appear (2001)
The Deep End (2001)
The Weight of Water (2000)
The Dancer (2000)
American Psycho (2000)
You Can Count on Me (2000)
Drop Back Ten (2000)
Minotaur (1999)
Harvest (1998)
Restless (1998)
The Definite Maybe (1997)
True Blue (1996)
Thinner (1996)
Father Hood (1993)
Alive (1993)