Maxwell Jenkins Biography

Maxwell Jenkins was born in Chicago, Illinois, to parents who founded a circus. He began performing there at the young age of three. His talents include juggling, tightwire walking, acrobatics, playing the mandolin and performing on the rola-bola.

He started his acting career soon after, at the age of eight on the ABC drama series Betrayal (2013). Maxwell was a recurring character on that show, as well as on Sense8 (2015) as Young Will, and as J.J. on Chicago Fire (2015). He landed his first main role on the Netflix series Lost in Space (2018) as Will Robinson.

Maxwell made his film debut in Consumed (2015) as Tommy and has also been in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), A Family Man (2016) with Gerard Butler, and Joe Bell (2020) with Mark Wahlberg. Maxwell starred alongside Nicolas Cage and Jaeden Martell in the movie Arcadian (2024), playing Thomas.

He was nominated for four awards for his performance on Lost in Space (2018), including the 2021 Saturn Awards for Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series and the 2022 Saturn Awards for Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Streaming Series.

Maxwell continues to perform in his family's circus, raising money for good causes such as community projects, overseas disaster relief, and Chicago Park renovations. He is also an advocate for better protection of animals and was a spokesman for ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals). He was also involved with Oceana, a conservation group, helping raise awareness and funds to protect the world's oceans. For all of the community work he does, Maxwell won the 2020 Young Artist Award for Community Leadership. ~Mackenzie Heidrick

Filmography:

Arcadian (2024)
Joe Bell (2020)
A Family Man (2016)
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
Consumed (2015)