Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin is a Canadian actor. He appeared in both studio feature films like War of the Worlds, The Invisible, and Dragonball Evolution, as well in independent films such as Bang Bang Baby, for which he received a nomination at the Canadian Screen Awards for Best actor in a supporting role, Unleashed, and Summer Night.
Chatwin is also a TV actor, best known for his work in the Showtime comedy-drama Shameless. He starred in the CBS mystery series American Gothic and was the principal guest-star in the 2016 Christmas special of the BBC One series Doctor Who in "The Return of Doctor Mysterio".
In his most recent role, he stars opposite Katee Sackhoff and Tyler Hoechlin in the new Netflix original show Another Life, which premiered worldwide in 2019.
Early life
Chatwin was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia. His mother, Suzanne, is an artist, and his father, Brian, is an engineer who started in 1982 Chatwin Engineering in Canada, activating as President and CEO. His late grandfather was of French-Canadian ancestry. Chatwin's parents divorced in 2010. He has a younger sister named Brianna, who works as a professional tattoo artist. They were raised Catholic.After graduating from high school, Chatwin followed in his father's footsteps and began to study engineering at the University of British Columbia, but after one week he switched to commerce. He dropped out after one semester. In 2001, he made the first step for breaking into the movie business, auditioning for a Canadian TV show on a dare, ultimately being called back and hired: "I was dared by a friend to go on an audition for a TV show in Canada. I took the dare, not knowing what I was getting into."
Chatwin moved to Los Angeles in 2005, renting an apartment with Noel Fisher. Briefly before this, he lived for a month in a travel trailer with a friend, stating, "We didn't have girlfriends; we were reading Kerouac and Ginsberg, driving up to the desert, walking in the dunes, and showering at 24 Hour Fitness. It was an exciting time, but would I do it again? No."
Career
2001–2009: Early work
Chatwin began his career in 2001, at the age of 19, his film debut being in the musical comedy Josie and the Pussycats. Soon after, he starred as John Spencer in the two-part miniseries Christy, Choices of the Heart. Chatwin made guest appearances in a couple of television series such as Smallville, Mysterious Ways, Night Visions, Just Cause, Glory Days and ', playing also the main bully in the television film The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie. Next, he had supporting roles in two unsuccessful movies, Taking Lives and ', the latter being often regarded also as one of the worst films of all time.In 2004, Chatwin gained recognition for his role as Tyler McKay in the miniseries Traffic, and took a supporting role opposite Kate Mara in The WB pilot Prodigy, about a young girl, played by Mara, who hides her music talents from her family, which is busy focusing their attention on her younger brother prodigy. Next, he was chose out of several young actors to portray Tom Cruise's son in the alien invasion film War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1898 novel by H. G. Wells. The feature was a commercial success and garnered generally favorable reviews. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle considered the film "meticulously detailed and expertly paced and photographed", while Roger Ebert was not very impressed and called it "a big, clunky movie containing some sensational sights but lacking the zest and joyous energy we expect from Steven Spielberg". Ebert also found the human characters as being "one-dimensional". Chatwin's performance in War of the Worlds earned him a 'Breakthrough Award' from Hollywood Life Magazine.
In 2005, Chatwin was also seen in the independent black comedy The Chumscrubber, alongside Camilla Belle, Jamie Bell and Carrie-Anne Moss. Arie Posin's directorial debut about a group of parents and teenagers who are living in a seemingly perfect suburbia, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, receiving a mixed to negative response; writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers criticized the film for being "an appallingly clumsy and stupid take on drugs, kidnapping and suicide in suburbia". Although Keith Phipps from The A.V. Club praised Posin's technical direction and the cast, he wrote that the film still fell "flat on its face". In the same year, Chatwin played the son of Kevin Nealon's character in the Showtime series Weeds, appearing only in the pilot episode and the series finale. The following year, he had a guest appearance as the undercover cop Eddie Colburn in the ABC drama series Lost.
In 2007, The Invisible was released, a remake of the Swedish film Den Osynlige, which marked his first lead role. David S. Goyer's thriller about high school senior Nick Powell, who is brutally beaten and left on the edge of life and death, was a commercial and critical failure; ReelTalk Movie Reviews critic opined that "despite fine performances by Justin Chatwin and newcomer Margarita Levieva, the movie itself pays little attention to logic and ends up making no sense at all". Next year, he was cast in Middle of Nowhere, a coming-of-age drama directed by John Stockwell, also starring Anton Yelchin and Eva Amurri. The independent production had the premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, followed by a straight-to-DVD release two years later. In 2009, Chatwin portrayed Goku in the critically panned Dragonball Evolution, the first big screen adaptation of the Japanese Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama. Slant Magazine
2010–present: Television and films
''Shameless'' and television work
In December 2009, Chatwin was filming the Showtime pilot Shameless, an adaptation of Paul Abbott's British series, starring opposite William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum. In April 2010, the network green-lit the show with a 12-episode order. During the course of three years, he was a series regular, playing Jimmy Lishman / Steve Wilton, Rossum's love interest. Chatwin returned in the fourth season finale, and appeared in the fifth season as a special guest star in the 6th and 7th episodes. The series received positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances and the chemistry between Chatwin and Rossum.After an appearance in the third season of The Listener opposite Craig Olejnik, Chatwin played the lead in the TNT pilot Breed, about a young detective who hunts down a rare breed of flesh eating criminals. The pilot did not get picked up to series. After that, he secured a recurring role in the third season of Orphan Black, opposite Tatiana Maslany and Kristian Bruun. Next year, Chatwin landed the role of Cameron Hawthorne in the CBS summer series American Gothic, working with Antony Starr, Virginia Madsen and Megan Ketch. The drama about a white-collar family who suspect that one of its members might be a serial killer, received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances, but calling it a "very standard and quite bland murder mystery", who is "destined to be forgotten". American Gothic underperformed in the ratings, as a result, CBS cancelled the show after one season. In the same year, he was seen in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who in 2016 Christmas special "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", playing the superhero Grant Gordon / The Ghost. The episode and his performance garnered favorable reviews, Vulture critic Ross Ruediger writing that "Chatwin is so at home in this universe, it might be fun to someday see the return of the Ghost", adding "the look Grant gives Lucy - that sort of 'Yeah... it's me' - is a quiet exclamation mark on a splendid performance from Chatwin".
In 2017, Chatwin signed on for an ABC pilot entitled The Doomsday Project, about a group of brilliant people who are asked to dream up man-made disaster scenarios and their possible solutions. The pilot, directed by Joachim Rønning, was not picked up, but shortly after, it was announced that Sony Pictures Television was considering a series order for the project. Couple of months later, VJ Boyd, the co-writer of the screenplay, confirmed the idea was dropped too.
Since 2019, Chatwin has starred as Erik Wallace in the ongoing television series Another Life.
Film career
In 2011, Chatwin starred in the canadian film Funkytown, alongside Patrick Huard and Paul Doucet. Set in Montreal, the feature, helmed by Daniel Roby, follows a group of characters and the events that changed their lives completely during the disco era. He also made a short film, Brink, written and directed by Shawn Christensen, who was accepted at Tribeca Film Festival, being nominated at the "Best Narrative Short" category.Chatwin subsequently appeared in the sci-fi musical Bang Bang Baby, sharing the screen with Peter Stormare and Jane Levy. Set in the 60's, the indie stars Levy as Stepphy, a teenager who believes her dreams of becoming a famous singer will come true after she encounter the rock star Bobby Shore. Bang Bang Baby won the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and garnered also two nominations at the third edition of Canadian Screen Awards, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Overall Sound. In her review, Linda Barnard of Toronto Star praised the cast for their efforts, saying that "Jane Levy demonstrates great screen presence as Stepphy and Chatwin is fun as Bobby". The Young Folks critic Josh Cabrita thought Chatwin "perfectly balances celebrity charm, self-absorption, and wooden caricature". The romantic comedy No Stranger Than Love, with Alison Brie and Colin Hanks, closed the 16th annual Newport Beach Film Festival. Next, he played a troubled man in searching for his bike in The Cycle. Written and directed by Joey Indrieri, the short film has Addison Timlin playing the female lead.
2016 saw Chatwin appear in four independent films. First was Robert Scott Wildes' western Poor Boy, in which he teamed up again with Lou Taylor Pucci, after they worked on The Chumscrubber. The film had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, during the Viewpoints section, and received a limited release two years later. In the summer, he starred in Lionsgate Premiere thriller Urge, playing the lead opposite Pierce Brosnan. The feature about seven friends who try a new drug that makes people lose their inhibitions, was panned by critics. In her 1-star review, Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com called Urge "a movie that’s as empty and unlikable as the characters themselves". The romantic comedy Unleashed, directed by Finn Taylor, tells the story of Emma, played by Kate Micucci, a young woman whose cat and dog are transformed into full-grown handsome guys. It won the Audience Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and received mostly positive reviews ; Los Angeles Times critic Katie Walsh felt the film "works because of the collective commitment to the magical realism on-screen. Chatwin and Howey are the most valuable players, giving truly inspired physical performances", while Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave also a positive review, stating that "although it never quite lives up to the satirical possibilities of its high-concept premise, Unleashed delivers some mildly enjoyable laughs thanks to its engaging female lead and the exuberantly physical performances of her co-stars". In preparation for his role, Chatwin studied animal movement with acting coaches Jean-Louis Rodrigue and Kristof Konrad, in order to embody the specific mannerisms and behavior. Chatwin's final release was One Night, a drama about two couples who try to reconnect by spending one night at a hotel. Minhal Baig's directorial debut was first seen at the Austin Film Festival.
In 2017, he portrayed Hugh Jay Linder in the film adaptation of Nancy Pickard's novel The Scent of Rain and Lightning,which is about a young woman who finds out that the man responsible for murdering her parents has been released from prison. The feature received a positive response, one critic calling it a "well-acted, intelligent thriller". JoBlo
More recently, Chatwin got the lead in Crackle’s original movie In the Cloud, working with Gabriel Byrne and Laura Fraser. In the dramatic thriller The Assassin's Code, he played a young detective who works on his first major case, not knowing that a dangerous assassin is after him. It premiered at Cleveland International Film Festival. He also featured in the ensemble coming-of-age drama Summer Night, directed by Joseph Cross in his directorial debut. The film follows a group of young friends as they make decisions about their future. Upon release, critical reception was divided; in his review, Carlos Aguilar of Los Angeles Times called it "mediocre and forgettable," while The Hollywood Reporter's critic thought "the cast shines even when the material doesn't," and complimented Chatwin, who was, in his opinion, "very funny" providing the comic relief.
In 2020, Chatwin is set to appear in the romantic crime film Die in a Gunfight, co-starring opposite Diego Boneta, Alexandra Daddario and Travis Fimmel. In addition, he is attached to star in the upcoming In the Lost Lands, a fantasy-adventure film based on three short stories by A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin.
Theatre credits
Chatwin's off-Broadway debut occurred in 2006 in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's play Dark Matters at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Directed by Trip Cullman, the story centers on the dysfunctional Cleary family, whose limits are pushed even further when the mother goes missing and suddenly reappears, talking about strange visions and extraterrestrial life. He starred as Jeremy, the eccentric, but intelligent 16-year-old son of Michael and Bridget. The play ran from November 10 to December 22.The following year, Chatwin acted in Elizabeth Meriwether’s The Mistakes Madeline Made at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado. Directed by Jamie Wollrab, the cast includes Johnny Lewis, Zach Shields and Greta Seacat. The story is about a young woman, Edna, who works as a personal assistant. After the death of her brother, she begins to develop ablutophobia, a fear of bathing. He plays Wilson, Edna’s co-worker, "with lots of nervous energy, and generates laughs along the way."
In 2009, Chatwin teamed up again with Jamie Wollrab to star in Adam Rapp's three-person play Red Light Winter at the Dairy Arts Center, during Boulder International Fringe Festival. John Markland directed the story about two friends, Matt and Davis, who are caught in a strange love triangle with Christina, a young prostitute they encounter in Amsterdam.
Other projects
Chatwin appeared in the music videos for David Vertesi's "Learn to Run", Brad Carter's "Doin' Wrong with You", and Hayley Taylor's "Slow Motion".Chatwin featured in the 2013 documentary Isolated, written and directed by Justin Le Pera, about a group of surfers in search of untouched waves. Ryan Phillippe served as narrator and executive producer. He will appear in the upcoming docuseries Freedom is a Full Tank, which is currently in post-production. Directed by Drew Burbridge, the project recounts his journey from Vancouver to South America on motorcycle.
In 2015, he recorded alongside Jake Abel and Alexandra Daddario, the audio version of Celeritas, a screenplay who featured on 2014 Black List.
Other ventures
Motorcycles
Chatwin said many times that his biggest passion are motorcycles. He owns a Harley-Davidson Night Train which he named Charlie Crowe. Talking about the beginnings, he said: "I had bought my first motorcycle after riding a scooter on the Amalfi Coast in 2009. Five years later, and a full blown obsession under my belt, I’m back in Italy standing at the epic Ducati factory, the size of a football field, in Bologna, Italy." He adds, "A perfect day for me is when I wake up and know that all I have to do is ride my motorcycle for the next ten hours in a particular direction."Chatwin has been in many trips with his former Shameless co-stars, William H. Macy and Steve Howey. They have been riding from Los Angeles to Colorado, San Francisco and Aspen, sponsored by Harley-Davidson. In 2014, he embarked on a trip across Europe with producer Ford Smith and actor Martin Henderson, testing the new Ducati motorcycles.
In order to learn more and improve his skills, in November 2016, over the course of one weekend, Chatwin attended the Keith Code's California Superbike School, alongside actor Nicholas Hoult, motorcycle journalist Sean MacDonald, singer and music producer Albert Hammond Jr. and entrepreneur Jesse Waits. From there, he was invited to test the new AGV Corsa R helmets at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
In 2017, Chatwin was invited at the inaugural edition of Moto Beach Classic Festival in Southern California. The one-day event was established to promote the moto culture, bringing together artists, bike builders and fans. He took part at the BMX Boxer Cup challenge against former professional freestyle motocross racer Andy Bell, custom builder Maxwell Hazan and seasoned photographer Preston Burroughs.
Chatwin is also part of WLF Enduro, a community of people from different backgrounds of work, such as teachers, salesmen or construction workers, brought together to ride 200 miles in 2 days every year, throughout Southern California. Their mission is "Unifying riders around the globe with the common passion of two wheels and a throttle." About his decision to join the crew, he said, "This is my hobby. This is my community. This is how I stay happy in a work oriented world. These things are important to me. Because when we die these will be the memories that remain."
Activism and charity
In 2011, Chatwin took part on a charitable motorcycle ride for amfAR, an american foundation for AIDS research, and was one of the celebrities who attended at "Stand Up To Cancer", a special event and auction established in order to raise money in the fight against cancer, hosted by Jaime King and Nicky Hilton Rothschild.In 2013, Chatwin joined Beau Garrett, Mark Foster and Kenna on the new edition of Summit on the Summit project, climbing Kilimanjaro. The purpose was to bring attention on the global water crisis and raise money for the people in need. Regarding the cause, he said, "We just need government will to change these things. It’s something I really responded to... everyone in the world should have access to water."
Chatwin was also one of the celebrities who protested against the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. In order to show how the future could be for the environment, he starred alongside Amy Smart in Keystone Horror trailer.
In 2017, Chatwin teamed up for a special ride with Vancouver-based motorcycle company "Lords of Gastown", and charitable organization "Waves for Water", which is dedicated to provide clean water for everyone who needs it. Riding across Central America, the goal was raising money in order to purchase and install clean water filters for the communities living in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. He is also one of the Canadian ambassadors for Operation Smile.
Personal life
Chatwin still resides in Los Angeles, California, although he has considered moving many times in the past.Chatwin is an advocate of the nomadic lifestyle. When not working on a film or a television show, he is always on the road, stating, "The anatomy of restlessness is what my fascination is. The nomadic instinct I will call it. And the need of constant movement." In these trips, he is joined usually by Ombú, a Uruguayan street dog which he adopted in 2016.
Chatwin describes himself as being a shy person and having difficulties living in U.S.: "I've always been shy speaking in front of people maybe because I've never felt like I cared about show business or other things I had to talk about. Or maybe I'm shy because I don't really feel comfortable in my own skin in America."
Having a passion for extreme sports, he used to snowboard when he lived in Canada, during the high school years. One of Chatwin's favourite activities is spearfishing, stating, "For me spearfishing is two things: it’s hunting - which is a basic necessity that we’ve always done - and then it’s diving, which is a baptism in the water. You’re forced to be present and you’re in the elements, you’re underwater."
He is also a traveller and film photography lover.
Chatwin dated Fallen actress Addison Timlin in 2010.