Justin Bartha
Encyclopedia
Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure
films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover
and The Hangover Part II.
, Florida, and moved to West Bloomfield, Michigan when he was eight. His father, Stephen, is a real estate developer, while his mother, Betty, is a school teacher. He has one brother, Jeffrey. Bartha's family is Jewish, and he had a "fairly Reformed
" upbringing. Bartha attended Camp Walden in Cheboygan, Michigan for 5 years as a child. After he graduated from West Bloomfield High School
in 1996, he moved to New York and studied acting at New York University
.
on the film Analyze This
. His acting debut came a year later in a short film called Tag in 1999. He wrote and directed a short film, Highs and Lows with Darrell M. Smith
as co-producer, which was shown at the South by Southwest
Film Festival in 2003. Additionally, he wrote, produced, and starred in an MTV pilot called The Dustin and Justin Show.
Bartha had major roles in the critically bashed Gigli
and Carnival Sun in 2003 before his co-starring role in National Treasure
(2004) as Riley Poole, which launched him into the mainstream.
In 2006, Bartha had a supporting role in Failure to Launch
and starred in the television sitcom Teachers
which premiered on March 28, 2006 on NBC
(it was cancelled on May 15, 2006 due to low ratings).
In November 2007, Bartha was cast in an indie
comic-drama, Holy Rollers
. His character lures a young Hasidic Jew (Jesse Eisenberg
) into becoming an ecstasy
dealer. Filming began in New York in the spring of 2008, and the film was released in 2010. Bartha also starred alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones
in the Bart Freundlich
film, The Rebound
. The romantic comedy is about a 25-year-old man who starts a romance with his older single mother neighbor. The film began shooting in April 2008 in New York and finished in June. Bartha then had a supporting role in the 2009 Golden Globe-winning film, The Hangover
.
Bartha starred as Max in the Broadway revival of the play Lend Me a Tenor
by Ken Ludwig
. He performed alongside Tony Shalhoub
, Anthony LaPaglia
, Brooke Adams, and Jan Maxwell
. The comic farce was directed by Stanley Tucci
and started previews at the Music Box Theatre
on March 11, 2010, with the official opening date on April 4, 2010.
Bartha recently signed on to star in the premiere of Zach Braff
's play All New People at Second Stage Theatre
. All New People begins June 28 and runs through mid-August. Anna Camp
, David Wilson Barnes and Krysten Ritter
co-star in this production under the direction of Peter DuBois.
National Treasure (film)
National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure heist film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub...
films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover
The Hangover (film)
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
and The Hangover Part II.
Early life
Bartha was born in Fort LauderdaleFort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, Florida, and moved to West Bloomfield, Michigan when he was eight. His father, Stephen, is a real estate developer, while his mother, Betty, is a school teacher. He has one brother, Jeffrey. Bartha's family is Jewish, and he had a "fairly Reformed
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
" upbringing. Bartha attended Camp Walden in Cheboygan, Michigan for 5 years as a child. After he graduated from West Bloomfield High School
West Bloomfield High School
West Bloomfield High School is a public secondary school in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The school is the only public high school in the West Bloomfield School District. The School Enrollment for the 2010-2011 school year is about 1900. West Bloomfield High School was previously located in the...
in 1996, he moved to New York and studied acting at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Career
Bartha began his film career behind the camera as a production assistantProduction assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...
on the film Analyze This
Analyze This
Analyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist...
. His acting debut came a year later in a short film called Tag in 1999. He wrote and directed a short film, Highs and Lows with Darrell M. Smith
Darrell M. Smith
Darrell M. Smith is an American entrepreneur, businessman, producer and actor.-Career:He studied at Stella Adler, the drama school where actors like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro went, in New York City for a few years. After finishing his studies he went on to do numerous off-broadway plays,...
as co-producer, which was shown at the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
Film Festival in 2003. Additionally, he wrote, produced, and starred in an MTV pilot called The Dustin and Justin Show.
Bartha had major roles in the critically bashed Gigli
Gigli
Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan....
and Carnival Sun in 2003 before his co-starring role in National Treasure
National Treasure (film)
National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure heist film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub...
(2004) as Riley Poole, which launched him into the mainstream.
In 2006, Bartha had a supporting role in Failure to Launch
Failure to Launch
Failure to Launch is a 2006 American romantic comedy film. In the movie a 35-year-old man lives in the home of his parents and shows no interest in leaving the comfortable life his parents, especially his mother, have made for him there.-Plot:...
and starred in the television sitcom Teachers
Teachers (US TV series)
Teachers is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC. The show ran for six episodes until its cancellation on May 2, 2006. Loosely based upon a UK series of the same name, it was developed by Matt Tarses, co-executive producer of the medical comedy Scrubs.-Characters:Set in New Jersey,...
which premiered on March 28, 2006 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(it was cancelled on May 15, 2006 due to low ratings).
In November 2007, Bartha was cast in an indie
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
comic-drama, Holy Rollers
Holy Rollers
Holy Rollers is a 2010 independent film written by Antonio Macia, directed by Kevin Asch, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor, Danny Abeckaser, Q-Tip and Jason Fuchs...
. His character lures a young Hasidic Jew (Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American actor. He made his screen debut with the comedy-drama television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000...
) into becoming an ecstasy
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
dealer. Filming began in New York in the spring of 2008, and the film was released in 2010. Bartha also starred alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
in the Bart Freundlich
Bart Freundlich
Bartholomew "Bart" Freundlich is an American film, television director, screenwriter and film producer.-Life and career:...
film, The Rebound
The Rebound
The Rebound is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Bart Freundlich, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha. The film was released in theaters in several countries in late 2009...
. The romantic comedy is about a 25-year-old man who starts a romance with his older single mother neighbor. The film began shooting in April 2008 in New York and finished in June. Bartha then had a supporting role in the 2009 Golden Globe-winning film, The Hangover
The Hangover (film)
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
.
Bartha starred as Max in the Broadway revival of the play Lend Me a Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both the West End and Broadway . Although it received seven Tony Award nominations, it won only one, for Best Actor. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in...
by Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig is an American playwright and theatre director.Born in York, Pennsylvania, Ludwig was educated at the York Suburban Senior High School, York PA Haverford College , Harvard Law School, and Trinity College at Cambridge University...
. He performed alongside Tony Shalhoub
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
, Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
, Brooke Adams, and Jan Maxwell
Jan Maxwell
Jan Maxwell is an American stage and television actress. She is a four-time Tony Award nominee.-Biography:She is the daughter of former First District Judge Ralph B. Maxwell and Elizabeth Maxwell, a lawyer for the EPA. She attended West Fargo High School, West Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead...
. The comic farce was directed by Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci is an American actor, writer, film producer and film director. He has been nominated for several notable film awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in The Lovely Bones...
and started previews at the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
on March 11, 2010, with the official opening date on April 4, 2010.
Bartha recently signed on to star in the premiere of Zach Braff
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel "Zach" Braff is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.In 2004, Braff made his...
's play All New People at Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...
. All New People begins June 28 and runs through mid-August. Anna Camp
Anna Camp
Anna Ragsdale Camp is an American stage and television actress. She is known for her role as Jill Mason in the 2008 Broadway revival of Equus and for her role as Sarah Newlin in the HBO television drama series True Blood....
, David Wilson Barnes and Krysten Ritter
Krysten Ritter
Krysten Alyce Ritter is an American actress and former model. Ritter is well known for her critically acclaimed turn as Jane Margolis on AMC's Breaking Bad where she first appeared as the property manager and neighbor of Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman...
co-star in this production under the direction of Peter DuBois.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Tag | Kip Woffard | |
| 2003 | Gigli Gigli Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.... |
Brian | |
| Carnival Sun | Adam Roam | ||
| 2004 | Strip Search | TV film | |
| National Treasure National Treasure (film) National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure heist film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub... |
Riley Poole | ||
| 2005 | Trust the Man Trust the Man Trust the Man is a 2006 romantic comedy film, starring David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was directed and written by Bart Freundlich. The film primarily deals with three relationships, and a realization of just how important those relationships are... |
Jasper Bernard | |
| 2006 | Failure to Launch Failure to Launch Failure to Launch is a 2006 American romantic comedy film. In the movie a 35-year-old man lives in the home of his parents and shows no interest in leaving the comfortable life his parents, especially his mother, have made for him there.-Plot:... |
Ace | |
| 2007 | National Treasure: Book of Secrets | Riley Poole | |
| 2009 | The Station | Eric | TV film |
| The Rebound The Rebound The Rebound is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Bart Freundlich, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha. The film was released in theaters in several countries in late 2009... |
Aram Finklestein | ||
| The Hangover The Hangover (film) The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor... |
Doug Billings | ||
| Jusqu'à toi (Released in English as "Every Jack Has A Jill") | Jack | ||
| New York, I Love You New York, I Love You New York, I Love You is a 2009 romance film released in the United States on October 16, 2009. From the producer of Paris, je t'aime, it stars an ensemble cast, among them Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Anton Yelchin, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Irrfan Khan, Rachel Bilson,... |
Sean Baker | ||
| WWII in HD | Jack Werner | voiceover role only | |
| 2010 | Holy Rollers | Yosef Zimmerman | |
| 2011 | The Hangover Part II | Doug Billings | |
| Dark Horse Dark Horse (2011 film) Dark Horse is an upcoming film written and directed by Todd Solondz planned for release in late 2011.-Plot:Based on news reports and a press release from October 2010, the film is about Abe, a 30-something male living with his parents, reluctantly working for his father while pursuing his hobby of... |
Richard | ||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Teachers | Jeff Cahil | Six episodes, main character |
| 2009 | Nyhetsmorgon Nyhetsmorgon Nyhetsmorgon is a Swedish morning news and talk show that airs every morning on TV4. It is similar to The Today Show. Nyhetsmorgon started airing in 1992.... |
Baksmällan | One episode, Swedish television show |