Lucas Hedges

Hedges was born in Brooklyn Heights, New York, the second child of poet and actress Susan Bruce (née Titman) and Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director Peter Hedges. He has an older brother, Simon. He grew up in Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill, frequently visiting his father's film sets. His maternal grandfather is a former vice president in New York at Home Box Office. His maternal grandmother, Narcissa Titman, is a former theatre director and lecturer.

A graduate of Saint Ann's School, he has taken a break from studying theatre at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges is a graduate of the Cherubs Theatre Program at Northwestern University's National High School Institute.

2007–2015: Early roles

As a child, Hedges made his feature film debut as an extra in his father's film Dan in Real Life (2007). His line in the film was cut in post-production. He starred in a middle-school play production, when the casting director for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (2012) was in the audience and eventually cast Hedges in the film, his first role, as Redford. He later appeared in Arthur Newman (2013), Jason Reitman's Labor Day (2013), and Terry Gilliam's film The Zero Theorem (2013). In 2014, Hedges made a cameo in Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and appeared in Michael Cuesta's Kill the Messenger, for which he received positive reviews.

2016–present: Breakthrough

In April 2015, Hedges joined the cast of Kenneth Lonergan's third feature film, Manchester by the Sea (2016). In it, he plays Patrick Chandler, a 16-year-old dealing with the recent death of his father and who is left in the care of his unwilling and troubled uncle. The film had its world premiere on January 23, 2016, at the Sundance Film Festival, where Hedges received rave reviews. For his work in Manchester by the Sea, Hedges won a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, and received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, BAFTA Rising Star Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, among numerous awards.

On January 31, 2017, Hedges made his stage debut as the lead in the Trip Cullman-directed off-Broadway play Yen, by playwright Anna Jordan. The play ran from February 19 until March 4 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. For this performance, Hedges received rave reviews and was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play and won the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut Performance.

In 2017, he had prominent supporting roles in Greta Gerwig's directorial debut, Lady Bird, and Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

On March 1, 2017, it was announced that Hedges would play the lead in Jonah Hill's upcoming directorial debut titled Mid-90s opposite his Manchester by the Sea co-star Michelle Williams. Williams was later replaced by Katherine Waterston.

On June 8, 2017, it was announced that Hedges will portray Garrard Conley in the film adaptation of his memoir Boy Erased, which he began filming in September 2017. In December 2017, Hedges began principal production as the titular role of Ben in Ben Is Back, to be directed by his father, Peter Hedges.

On April 11, 2018, it was announced that Hedges will return to Broadway in Kenneth Lonergan's play The Waverley Gallery, alongside Elaine May and Michael Cera. Previews will begin on September 25, with an official opening night of October 25 at the John Golden Theatre.

Film

Television

Theatre

For the 89th Academy Awards Hedges was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Manchester by the Sea (2016).