Josh Lucas | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lucas at the2019 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born | Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (1971-06-20)June 20, 1971 (age 54) |
| Other names | Joshua Lucas |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971)[1] is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, includingAmerican Psycho (2000),A Beautiful Mind (2001),Sweet Home Alabama (2002),Hulk (2003),Wonderland (2003),Glory Road (2006),Red Dog (2011),The Lincoln Lawyer (2011),Ford v Ferrari (2019) andThe Black Demon (2023). He has also appeared in television series such asThe Firm (2012),The Mysteries of Laura (2014–2016), andYellowstone (2018–2022).
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Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer was born on June 20, 1971, inLittle Rock, Arkansas,[2] the son of Michele (née LeFevre), anurse midwife, and Don Maurer, anemergency room doctor.[3] Lucas has three younger siblings.[4] Michele attendedEmerson College withJay Leno.[citation needed]
Growing up, Lucas traveled with his family throughoutthe South. His parents wereanti-nuclear activists. By age 13, Lucas had lived in 30 different locations, including theIsle of Palms andSullivan's Island (both in South Carolina). The family eventually settled inGig Harbor, Washington. He attendedKopachuck Middle School and graduated fromGig Harbor High School in 1989, where he acted in high school plays.
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Lucas began his career when he was 19, having moved to Hollywood after his high school graduation. He appeared as a guest star on several TV sitcoms in his early 20s, including Fox'sTrue Colors andParker Lewis Can't Lose, the family dramaLife Goes On, and CBS's private-eye showJake and the Fatman.[5]
Other projects included the horror-thrillerChild of Darkness, Child of Light, an adaptation ofJames Patterson's novelVirgin, a tale of two Catholic schoolgirls who find themselves pregnant under mysterious and supernatural circumstances. Lucas followed this appearance by working with executive producerSteven Spielberg and then-unknown actorClive Owen in the TV-movieClass of '61, which follows the stories of a group ofWest Point cadets in 1861 as theCivil War breaks out. Lucas playedGeorge Armstrong Custer.
Soon afterward, he made his feature film debut inFrank Marshall'sAlive (1993) about a group ofUruguayan rugby players who, after crashing in theAndes mountains, resort tocannibalism to stay alive. After a brief appearance in thePatrick Swayze comedyFather Hood (1993), Lucas relocated toAustralia to play the hotheaded American cousin Luke McGregor oppositeAndrew Clarke andGuy Pearce in the first season of the family westernSnowy River: The McGregor Saga. Lucas appeared in all 13 episodes of the first season, but claimed in a later interview that despite the friendly environment, he was homesick for theUnited States, and his character was killed off in the second episode of season 2.
Upon returning to the States, he was still receiving offers as high school/college boyfriends and felt he was not getting the age-appropriate roles he sought. While working withGeorge C. Scott on aTV movie from theIn the Heat of the Night series, Scott told him he needed to take acting lessons and develop his talent for both stage and screen. Shortly thereafter, Lucas relocated toNew York City, where he studied privately with various acting coaches.
One of Lucas' first feature roles was playing Jace "Flash" Dillon in the 1994 cinematic PC flight simulatorWing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger.
The second part of his career began with a lead role in the British rowing filmTrue Blue (1996, released in the US asMiracle atOxford), in which he played a hotshot Navy rower who is recruited along with three other Americans to help Oxford win its annual boat race againstCambridge. He followed that with relatively small roles in the dramasMinotaur andHarvest. He performed in his first comedy,The Definite Maybe, portraying a recent college graduate who gets fired from his job and schemes with an old friend to purchase a house inthe Hamptons.
He appeared as an American businessman in Jule Gilfillan's romantic comedy-dramaRestless (1998). He also appeared in anoff-Broadway production ofTerrence McNally's controversialCorpus Christi, a retelling of thePassion, with the Jesus character (named Joshua) and his disciples all being gay. Lucas played the role of Judas as a gay predator. Right before the play was to open, Lucas was mugged and beaten on his way to the theater for dress rehearsal. He played the role of Judas with bloody bandages across his broken nose and black eyes. The audience thought the bandages were part of the play.[6] Following a series of operations to reset his nose, he began gathering larger roles in films likeYou Can Count on Me (2000),The Dancer (2000),American Psycho (2000),The Weight of Water (2000),Session 9 (2001),When Strangers Appear (2001),Secondhand Lions (2003), andWonderland (2003).
Lucas gained mainstream exposure after his roles inA Beautiful Mind (2001),Sweet Home Alabama (2002), and asGlenn Talbot inHulk (2003). He later had leading roles in movies such asStealth (2005),Glory Road (2006), andPoseidon (2006). InGlory Road, he starred as basketball coachDon Haskins, a role for which he gained 40 lb (18 kg).
His next project wasBoaz Yakin’sDeath in Love (2008).Peacock (2009) is another film in which he starred. Lucas also starred in the 2009Ridley Scott-producedTell-Tale, a film based on the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" byEdgar Allan Poe.
Earlier that year, Lucas was seen on stage in the off-Broadway run ofSpalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell. Lucas also completed his second collaboration with documentary film makerKen Burns, after being involved in Burns’The War. Lucas' other documentary work includesOperational Homecoming,Trumbo, and the Los Angeles Film Festival Audience Award-winningResolved. In 2009, he was cast in the Anders Anderson thrillerStolen the single father of a mentally challenged boy, starring alongsideRhona Mitra andJon Hamm; the film had a limited theatrical release in March 2010.[7] Lucas also co-starred in the 2010 filmsShadows and Lies alongsideJames Franco andJulianne Nicholson andLife as We Know It withKatherine Heigl.
In 2011, Lucas co-starred withRachael Taylor in the filmRed Dog (2011), based on the true story of anAustralian Kelpie. Lucas won anInside Film Award for his role.[8] That same year, he appeared withMatthew McConaughey in the filmThe Lincoln Lawyer. In 2012, he starred in the NBC television showThe Firm, which takes place ten years after theJohn Grisham novel it is based on. The show lasted one season.
In 2013, Lucas was cast as the lead role in the independent comedy-drama,The Mend. The directorial debut ofJohn Magary premiered atSouth By Southwest in March 2014 with Lucas receiving a series of positive reviews for his portrayal of Mat, one of two dysfunctional brothers who collide in a small Harlem apartment.[9][10][11][12] From September 2014 to March 2016, Lucas appeared as a main character in the NBC crime dramaThe Mysteries of Laura. In 2018, he was cast in a recurring role inYellowstone, as a younger version of John Dutton, portrayed byKevin Costner. His later films includedFord v Ferrari (2019),The Forever Purge (2021), andThe Black Demon (2023).
Lucas's career also includesvoice-over work (orvoice acting) withBreathe Bible.[13] He is also the voice-over actor behind TheHome Depot TV[14] and radio ads.
Lucas is an owner and promoter of the company Filthy Food[15] with friends Marc and Daniel Singer.[16][17]
AYouthAIDS Ambassador, Lucas "first joined the YouthAIDS team when he shot the ALDO HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in April, 2005. Soon after, he officially accepted his role as a YouthAIDS Ambassador at the YouthAIDS 2005 Gala, Faces of Africa. HIV/AIDS prevention is particularly important to him as his mother 'has made a career counseling young men and women with the hopes of educating them about the ravaging and often deadly effects of this too common and easily preventable disease.'"[18]
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Lucas met author and editor Jessica Ciencin Henriquez at adog park in 2011. They became engaged six weeks later[19] and married on March 17, 2012, inCentral Park.[20] Their son, Noah Rev, was born in June 2012.[21] In January 2014, Ciencin Henriquez filed for a divorce[22] that became final in October 2014.[23] Lucas met meteorologist Brianna Ruffalo in 2022. They were engaged in June 2024,[24] and were married in July 2025 in Vatican City.[25]
Lucas supportedUS PresidentBarack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, volunteering to help potential voters register at colleges inPennsylvania.[26] Lucas knocked on doors and phone banked, wearing an Obama shirt for 45 days.[26] He was also inDenver,Colorado, for the2008 Democratic National Convention with a group of actors called theCreative Coalition.[27][28]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | True Colors | Jonathan | 1 episode |
| Life Goes On | Dylan | ||
| 1991 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Evan | |
| Child of Darkness, Child of Light | John L. Jordan III | Television film | |
| Jake and the Fatman | Jeff Boyce | 1 episode | |
| 1993 | Class of '61 | George Armstrong Custer | Television film |
| 1994 | In the Heat of the Night | Todd Walker | 1 episode |
| 1994–1995 | Snowy River: The McGregor Saga | Luke McGregor | Main role, 15 episodes |
| 1999 | Cracker | Lt. Macy | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Empire Falls | Young Max Roby | Miniseries |
| 2006 | Will & Grace | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2009 | WWII in HD | Bert Stiles[29] | Voice |
| 2012 | The Firm | Mitch McDeere | Main role, 22 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | The Mysteries of Laura | Jake Broderick | Main role, 38 episodes |
| 2015–2017 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Forensic Scientist / Bridge Inspector | 2 episodes |
| 2018–2022 | Yellowstone | Young John Dutton | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Long Slow Exhale | Hillman Ford | 12 episodes |
| 2024 | Palm Royale | Douglas Darby Dellacorte-Simmons | Main role |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018 | The Parisian Woman | Tom |
| Year | Title | Voice role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger | Major Jace "Flash" Dillon |
| 2024 | NBA 2k25 | Jalen Murphy |
