Emile Hirsch gives determined young men enough warmth that we want to hear them out. Into the Wild is our clearest reason to value him: he makes its hero worth following and leaves his selfishness visible.
Fi1m perspective
In Into the Wild (2007), Emile Hirsch makes meeting a stranger look like something Christopher McCandless welcomes, rather than another opportunity to explain himself. His openness gives us a reason to stay with a young man whose certainty can be wearing. We were moved by those encounters because Hirsch lets us see why people care about McCandless, even when his choices deserve questioning. He allows the selfishness to remain visible alongside the idealism. That is a good deal of what makes the film worth following.
The early leads in Lords of Dogtown (2005) and Alpha Dog (2006) established a run of young men pushing towards extremes, before Into the Wild brought wider recognition. As Jay Adams in the former, Hirsch had already made physical commitment part of the work; McCandless required substantial preparation and transformation. That physical preparation continued with his role as Danny Dietz in Lone Survivor (2013), which required extensive training. Yet the more interesting achievement in Sean Penn's film is how naturally Hirsch lets the character talk to people. The effort never becomes his only reason for being on screen.
Penn gets a persuasive performance from him, then spends too much of the screenplay telling us what to think about it. The spoken commentary keeps pressing the case for McCandless's choices when Hirsch has already made him interesting enough to watch without instruction. We would rather have had more time to consider whether the young man is right. Hirsch can hold our interest without asking us to agree with the character, which is a more useful quality here than simple likeability. It is frustrating to have the screenplay settle questions that the actor has usefully left open.
The later work has included supporting parts as Cleve Jones in Gus Van Sant's Milk (2008) and Jay Sebring in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), alongside independent and genre films. Neither role needs to bear the same weight as his McCandless. Tarantino's film is good company, though it takes too long over it. For a proper introduction to Hirsch, start with Into the Wild, without taking its commentary as guidance on how to live.
Biography
Emile Hirsch is an American actor. Born on 13 March 1985, he grew up in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began acting while at school and made his television debut at the age of 11 in an episode of Kindred: The Embraced (1996). His first feature film role came in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002).
Hirsch is known for playing Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild (2007). Other film roles include Matthew Kidman in The Girl Next Door (2004), Speed in Speed Racer (2008), Cleve Jones in Milk (2008), Danny Dietz in Lone Survivor (2013), and Jay Sebring in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019). He has also appeared in The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) and Killer Joe (2012).
