Jaeden Martell

Jaeden Martell (né Lieberher; born January 4, 2003) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, with roles in the comedy drama St. Vincent (2014) and science fiction Midnight Special (2016). The former earned him a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. After playing the title character in the drama The Book of Henry (2017), Martell's breakthrough came with his portrayal of Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019). This led to further leading roles in horror films, such as The Lodge (2019) and Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022), the latter marking his third role in a Stephen King adaptation.

Martell had a supporting role in Rian Johnson's mystery comedy Knives Out (2019). Venturing into projects with more mature themes, he played a reserved teenager accused of murder in the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob (2020). He has since starred in the comedy films Metal Lords (2022) and Y2K (2024).

Early life
Martell was born on January 4, 2003, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Wes Lieberher, a Los Angeles–based executive chef, and Angela Teresa Martell. His maternal grandmother, Chisun Martell, is Korean. He lived in South Philadelphia until the age of eight when he moved to Los Angeles.

Career beginnings and child acting (2014–2016)
In the first six years of his career, Martell was credited almost exclusively under his family name, Lieberher. In 2019, he switched to his mother's maiden name, Martell.

Martell's first acting role was in a commercial for Hot Wheels. He appeared in several other commercials after that, including Google, Moneysupermarket.com, Liberty Mutual, Hyundai (for the 2013 Super Bowl), Verizon Fios and General Electric. His first major feature film role was in 2014's St. Vincent, where he starred alongside Bill Murray, Naomi Watts and Melissa McCarthy. Murray later recommended Martell to Cameron Crowe for the 2015 comedy drama Aloha, in the role of Oliver Bronstein. The film was a moderate box office success, grossing $54.8 million against its $13.5 million budget, and received positive reviews from critics. Martell garnered a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer for his role in the film.

In 2015, Martell appeared in Cameron Crowe's comedy drama Aloha, after Murray had recommended him to Crowe for the role. His next two films, the science fiction film Midnight Special and the independent comedy The Confirmation, followed in 2016. Midnight Special, which stars Martell as a boy who is on the run with his father from the government and a cult after it is discovered that he possesses special powers, premiered to positive reviews from critics but was a box office bomb. The Confirmation also received praise from critics.

It and breakthrough (2017–present)
Martell's first film of 2017 was the thriller drama The Book of Henry, as the titular protagonist. The film premiered to negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, however Martell received some positive notices for his acting. His next role that year was as Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror film It, which premiered to positive critical reviews and grossed over $701 million in the box office, marking Martell's first major commercial success. He reprised his role as Bill in the 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, marking another commercial success with over $473 million in box office receipts, despite mixed critical reviews.

Alongside It Chapter Two, Martell had four more releases in 2019. His first that year was the horror film The Lodge, which received praise from critics. His next two that year, the drama Low Tide and the coming of age fantasy The True Adventures of Wolfboy, marked additional critical successes. His final release of 2019, after It, was Rian Johnson's murder mystery comedy film Knives Out, with Martell playing Jacob Thrombey, a right-wing supremist child. Featuring an ensemble cast led by Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon and Toni Collette, it premiered to overwhelming praise from critics and was a box office success, grossing over $312 million against a $40 million budget.

In March 2019, Martell joined the cast of the Apple TV+ miniseries Defending Jacob, based on the William Landay novel of the same name. It premiered in April 2020 to favorable reviews from critics. Also in 2020, it was confirmed by Martell that he was in pre-production for Tunnels, playing the younger siblings of a gun violence victim, however the film has not yet garnered a release date.

In September 2021, Martell portrayed Morty Smith in a series of promotional interstitials for the two-part fifth season finale of Rick and Morty. In February 2021, he joined the cast of Netflix's Metal Lords. In October 2022, he portrayed Craig in the Netflix film Mr. Harrigan's Phone written and directed by John Lee Hancock, based on the short story of the same name from the If It Bleeds collection by Stephen King. Critical reception was mixed. In 2023, he was cast in the A24 film Y2K.