Lucas Hedges

Lucas Hedges Bio

Lucas Hedges (born December 12, 1996) is an American actor whose career has spanned film, television, and stage. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and built his reputation through thoughtful performances in independent and mainstream projects. He is widely recognized for his Academy Award-nominated turn in Manchester by the Sea.

Since making his screen debut as a child, Hedges has become known for portraying emotionally complex teenagers and young adults in dramas directed by major American filmmakers. His body of work includes collaborations with Wes Anderson, Greta Gerwig, Martin McDonagh, Kenneth Lonergan, and Steven Soderbergh, as well as stage appearances on Broadway and in London’s West End.

Early Life and Background

Lucas Hedges was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the second of two boys in his family. His mother, Susan Bruce (née Titman), is a poet and actress, and his father, Peter Hedges, is a screenwriter and director. His paternal grandfather, the Reverend Robert Boyden Hedges, was an Episcopal minister, while his maternal grandfather was a former vice president in New York at HBO. His maternal grandmother, Narcissa Titman, is a former theatre director and lecturer.

Hedges grew up in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of New York City, often visiting his father’s film sets as a child. He has an older brother named Simon, who works in private equity in New York. As a young person, Hedges made his feature film debut as an extra in his father’s film Dan in Real Life (2007), although his line was cut in post-production.

Hedges graduated from Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn and later completed the Cherubs Theatre Program at Northwestern University’s National High School Institute. He then studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts from 2015 to 2016, formalizing the early training that had shaped his interest in performing.

Path to Acting

Hedges’ path into professional acting began unexpectedly during a middle-school play production, when he was noticed by the casting director for Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012). Anderson cast him in the film as Redford, marking his first notable on-screen appearance. The role introduced him to the rhythm of feature filmmaking and gave him his first experience working on a major studio set.

Following Moonrise Kingdom, Hedges built his résumé with small parts in films such as Arthur Newman (2012), Jason Reitman’s Labor Day (2013), Terry Gilliam’s science fiction film The Zero Theorem (2013), and Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). In 2014, he also appeared in Michael Cuesta’s Kill the Messenger as the son of Jeremy Renner’s character, a performance that critics highlighted as an early sign of his talent.

In 2015, Hedges expanded into television with a role in the NBC miniseries The Slap, adapted from the Australian series of the same name. These early projects allowed him to work with established directors and actors, setting the stage for the breakthrough that would arrive the following year.

Lucas Hedges Career

Early Career (2007–2015)

Hedges’ earliest screen credit came as an extra in his father’s Dan in Real Life (2007), although his dialogue was removed in editing. His first substantial film role arrived in 2012 with Moonrise Kingdom, followed by a string of supporting parts in Arthur Newman, Labor Day, The Zero Theorem, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Kill the Messenger. These performances established him as a dependable young supporting actor capable of holding his own alongside established stars.

During this period, Hedges also ventured into television with the NBC miniseries The Slap in 2015. His growing list of credits, combined with the praise he received for Kill the Messenger, positioned him for the larger roles that would soon define his career.

Breakthrough (2016–2017)

Hedges achieved his breakthrough in 2016 with Kenneth Lonergan’s independent drama Manchester by the Sea. He played Patrick Chandler, a sixteen-year-old dealing with the recent death of his father, who is left in the care of his troubled uncle played by Casey Affleck. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to earn more than $78 million against its $9 million budget.

Critics responded strongly to Hedges’ performance. Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph wrote that he was “phenomenal,” while Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the work “glorious.” For the role, Hedges won the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2017, Hedges made his stage debut as the lead in the off-Broadway play Yen, written by Anna Jordan and directed by Trip Cullman. The New York Times critic Ben Brantley praised his portrayal of an aggressive teenager, and Hedges went on to win the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut Performance. That same year, he had supporting roles in Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, both of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Notable Works and Milestones

Hedges’ signature work remains his performance in Manchester by the Sea, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award win. His collaborations with director Kenneth Lonergan, including Manchester by the Sea and the Broadway revival of The Waverly Gallery, stand as defining moments of his career.

Lead Roles and Theatre (2018–Present)

In 2018, Hedges took on a series of high-profile lead roles. He starred as a teenager forced into a gay conversion therapy program in Boy Erased, based on the memoir of the same name, opposite Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. The performance earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. That same year, he appeared in Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s and played the title character in Ben Is Back, a drama directed by his father and co-starring Julia Roberts.

Also in 2018, Hedges made his Broadway debut in a revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery alongside Elaine May. His subsequent film work includes Honey Boy (2019), in which he played an adult version of a character based on Shia LaBeouf, as well as supporting roles in Trey Edward Shults’ Waves, Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit with Michelle Pfeiffer, and Steven Soderbergh’s Let Them All Talk. He also appeared in an episode of the FX anthology series The Premise in 2021.

In 2023, Hedges returned to the stage in a West End production of Brokeback Mountain at @sohoplace, playing Ennis Del Mar opposite Mike Faist’s Jack Twist. He later appeared in the 2024 biographical film Shirley, about the 1972 presidential run of Shirley Chisholm, and in Sorry, Baby, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Lucas Hedges Award Nominations

Lucas Hedges has earned recognition from major film and theater institutions across his career. His most prominent nominations include an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Manchester by the Sea in 2016 and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for Boy Erased in 2018. He has also received nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and other industry honors reflecting the range of his work in film and on stage.

Lucas Hedges Awards Won

Hedges has collected several notable awards for his performances in film and theater. His wins include the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer for Manchester by the Sea and the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut Performance for Yen. He has also shared in ensemble honors, including the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast earned by the company of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Lucas Hedges Family

Lucas Hedges is the son of screenwriter and director Peter Hedges and poet and actress Susan Bruce (née Titman). He has an older brother, Simon, who works in private equity in New York. His paternal grandfather, the Reverend Robert Boyden Hedges, was an Episcopal minister, while his maternal grandfather was a former vice president at HBO in New York, and his maternal grandmother, Narcissa Titman, is a former theatre director and lecturer.

Personal Life

In a 2018 interview, Lucas Hedges spoke openly about his sexuality, describing himself as existing on a spectrum and identifying as not totally straight but also not gay or necessarily bisexual. He has described his sexuality as a fluid experience and has identified as an ally to the LGBTQ community.