Jaeden Martell
Date of Birth: January 4, 2003
Jaeden Lieberher Martell was born in Philadelphia to famous chef Wesley Lieberher and mother Angela Martell. He has four younger brothers. When his parents divorced when Jaeden was eight, his mother took the boys and moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after, Jaden began auditioning for acting roles.
His first roles were in commercials, including one in which he plays a kid who rounds up his friends to combat bullies in a Hyundai Santa Fe Super Bowl ad.
Under his birth name, Jaeden Lieberher, he made his feature film debut in a starring role alongside Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts in St. Vincent. Aside from commercials, he'd only played a role in a short film. Jaeden did six auditions for St. Vincent before landing the part.
Bill Murray then recommended Jaeden to director Cameron Crowe, who needed a boy to play Rachel McAdams' son in Aloha (2015).
Next, Jaeden filmed a lead role in Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special (2016), playing a boy with special powers who has to go on the run with his father (played by Michael Shannon).
In 2015, Jaeden played Johnny Masters, the son of Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen), on a seven-episode arc on the Showtime TV series Masters of Sex.
In The Confirmation (2016), Jaeden plays a boy who reluctantly spends time with his alcoholic father (Clive Owen) while his mother (Maria Bello) spends a weekend away with her new husband.
He reunited with Naomi Watts for Focus Features' The Book of Henry (2017), in which he played Henry Carpenter, alongside fellow child star Jacob Tremblay, who played his younger brother in the film. Jaeden's next film would be the new film adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel IT (2017). He reprised his role in the sequel, IT: Chapter Two (2019) and appeared in the feature film Knives Out (2019) alongside an all-star cast that includes Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, LaKeith Stanfield, Chris Evans and Michael Shannon.
In the Apple TV+ series Defending Jacob (2020), he plays a teenager accused of murder, opposite Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery as his concerned parents.
Jaeden changed his last name to that of his mother and now goes by Jaeden Martell. He lives in Los Angeles with his mother and brothers.
Filmography:
Knives Out (2019)
IT: Chapter Two (2019)
The True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019)
The Lodge (2019)
It (2017)
The Book of Henry (2017)
The Confirmation (2016)
Midnight Special (2016)
Aloha (2015)
Playing It Cool (2014)
St. Vincent (2014)