Jaeden Martell Bio
Jaeden Martell, born Jaeden Lieberher on January 4, 2003, is an American actor who began working in film as a child and quickly became one of the most recognizable young performers of his generation. He first drew attention for his role opposite Bill Murray in the comedy drama St. Vincent (2014) and went on to build a career that spans family features, science fiction, and horror. His casting as Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019) brought him wide recognition and opened the door to a steady run of leading parts in film and television.
Across more than a decade on screen, Martell has balanced studio blockbusters with smaller independent projects, often choosing roles with darker or more unusual themes. He has also branched into streaming television, appearing in series produced for major platforms. By his early twenties, he had already accumulated a filmography that includes several of the most-watched films of the late 2010s.
Early Life and Background
Martell was born on January 4, 2003, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Wes Lieberher, a Los Angeles-based executive chef, and Angela Teresa Martell. His maternal grandmother, Chisun Martell, is Korean, giving him a mixed cultural background that he has occasionally referenced in interviews. He grew up in South Philadelphia and lived there until the age of eight, when his family relocated to Los Angeles to support his growing interest in acting.
Moving to California placed the young Martell closer to the heart of the American film and television industry, and it was during these early years that he began auditioning for commercials and small on-screen parts. The transition from Philadelphia to Los Angeles proved to be a defining moment in his childhood, as it gave him direct access to casting opportunities, agents, and on-set experience at a very young age. His family has been credited in press coverage with helping him navigate the demands of child acting, including long hours on set and the need to balance schoolwork with production schedules.
Details about his formal schooling have not been widely published, and he has not spoken at length about his classroom education. What is clear from interviews and public records is that his early years in Los Angeles were dominated by auditions, callbacks, and small roles that gradually gave way to larger opportunities in feature films.
Path to Acting
Martell’s first step into the entertainment industry came through commercial work. His earliest on-screen appearance was in an advertisement for Hot Wheels, and he went on to appear in commercials for major brands including Google, Moneysupermarket.com, Liberty Mutual, Hyundai (in a spot that aired during the 2013 Super Bowl), Verizon Fios, and General Electric. These short-form jobs taught him the basics of working on a set, following direction, and performing in front of cameras at a young age.
His first major feature film role arrived in 2014 with St. Vincent, a comedy drama in which he starred alongside Bill Murray. The performance earned him a nomination for the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, signaling that he could carry emotional weight well beyond his years. Murray was impressed enough to recommend Martell to filmmaker Cameron Crowe, which led to a part in the 2015 comedy drama Aloha. He followed that with two 2016 releases, the science fiction film Midnight Special and the independent comedy The Confirmation, both of which expanded his range and his reputation among casting directors.
During this early period of his career, Martell was credited almost exclusively under his paternal family name, Lieberher. In 2019, he made the personal and professional decision to switch to his mother’s surname, Martell, and has been credited under that name for all of his projects since. The change marked a clear turning point in how he presented himself to the industry and the public.
Jaeden Martell Career
Early Career (2013–2016)
Martell’s professional career began in 2013 with commercial work, including a high-profile Hyundai advertisement that aired during the Super Bowl. These early jobs gave him a foundation in front of the camera and led directly to his first feature film role in St. Vincent (2014). Working alongside an established star like Bill Murray offered the young actor a master class in screen performance, and the film became a talking point among critics who were watching for new young talent.
The Critics’ Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer that followed St. Vincent confirmed his arrival as a serious child actor. He kept the momentum going with parts in Aloha (2015), Midnight Special (2016), and The Confirmation (2016), all of which were released while he was still in his early teens. By the end of 2016, he had built a résumé that mixed broad studio releases with smaller, character-driven projects, a pattern he would continue throughout his career.
Breakthrough (2017–2019)
Martell’s first film of 2017 was the thriller drama The Book of Henry, in which he played the title character. Although the film received negative reviews from critics, several reviewers singled out his performance as one of the few bright spots. Later that same year, he took on the role of Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror film It, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel. The film premiered to strong critical reviews and grossed more than 701 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming Martell’s first major commercial hit and establishing him as a leading young actor in Hollywood.
He returned as Bill in the 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, which brought in more than 473 million dollars at the box office despite mixed reviews from critics. That same busy year, he released The Lodge, a horror film, followed by the drama Low Tide and the coming-of-age fantasy The True Adventures of Wolfboy. He closed 2019 with a supporting part in Rian Johnson’s murder mystery comedy Knives Out, where he played Jacob Thrombey. The film was a critical and commercial success, further raising his profile.
In March 2019, Martell joined the cast of the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob, based on the 2012 novel by William Landay. The series marked his first major television role and showed his willingness to take on more mature, morally complicated characters. He played a reserved teenager accused of murder, a part that asked him to carry long, quiet scenes and depend on subtle expression rather than action.
Notable Works and Milestones
Martell’s signature role remains Bill Denbrough in the two It films, which together earned more than 1.1 billion dollars at the global box office and remain the most widely seen projects of his career. His appearance in Knives Out added a second major studio hit to his résumé, while Defending Jacob gave him his first extended television role. Across these projects, he has shown a consistent ability to move between horror, drama, comedy, and thriller material, often choosing stories that explore grief, fear, and the pressures facing young people.
Jaeden Martell Award Nominations
Jaeden Martell has received recognition from critics’ organizations and genre awards bodies across his career. His earliest and most widely cited nomination came from the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, where he was nominated for Best Young Performer for his role in St. Vincent (2014). Subsequent nominations have acknowledged his work in both the horror and drama categories, including recognition for his performances in the It films and for his leading role in the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob.
Jaeden Martell Awards Won
Verified information about award wins for Jaeden Martell is limited. Publicly available sources confirm nominations across several ceremonies, including the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, but do not clearly document confirmed wins tied to specific years and categories. Given the source-order rules, this section is presented as a summary of what is supported, with detailed totals omitted where verification is not possible.
Jaeden Martell Family
Martell is the son of Wes Lieberher and Angela Teresa Martell. His father is a Los Angeles-based executive chef, and his mother has been a steady presence in his life and career. He has spoken in interviews about the role his family played in supporting his decision to pursue acting as a child, including the family’s relocation from Philadelphia to Los Angeles when he was eight years old.
His maternal grandmother, Chisun Martell, is Korean, which gives him a mixed cultural heritage. In 2019, Martell chose to be credited professionally under his mother’s surname, Martell, rather than his original birth name of Lieberher. The decision has been widely reported in entertainment media and reflected a desire to honor his mother’s side of the family.
Personal Life
Martell is known to keep his personal life largely out of the public eye. Publicly available information about long-term partners or children is limited and not consistently supported by reliable sources, and those details have therefore been omitted from this page. He has, however, spoken openly about his close relationship with his parents and the importance of family support throughout his childhood career in film and television.