False Positive

Justin Theroux is an accomplished film, television, and stage actor who first came to prominence with his unforgettable performance in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, opposite Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring.

Theroux will be seen next starring in the Apple TV+ adaptation of Mosquito Coast. The series, from Luther’s Neil Cross, is based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux, Justin’s uncle. He will also appear in A24’s upcoming horror film, False Positive, with Ilana Glazer and Pierce Brosnan.

He will also executive produce and star in HBO’s The White House Plumbers, a five-part limited series opposite Woody Harrelson. The series created and executive produced by Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, and David Mandel will focus on the true story of President Nixon’s political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy.

Theroux won back to back Emmys as an executive producer on the ABC special Live in Front of a Studio Audience, a recreation of classic episodes from the sitcoms All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. The event was also produced by Norman Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and Brent Miller and co-exec producer Eric Cook starring Jamie Foxx, Marisa Tomei, Woody Harrelson, Wanda Sykes, with special guests Kerry Washington and Will Ferrell among others. Theroux will return for another follow-up live event that is currently in the works. 

Theroux’s recent work includes the Disney+ live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp. Theroux voices the lead Tramp, a stray mongrel who falls in love and embarks on a romantic adventure with the upper-middle-class Cocker Spaniel named Lady voiced by Tessa Thompson. 

Theroux starred in HBO’s critically acclaimed series The Leftovers, created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta. The show won a 2016 Peabody Award and Theroux received a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for his role. The Los Angeles Times lauded Theroux’s portrayal as one of “the finest performances on television” as well as the “Best TV Performance of 2015” by Vulture. The show was heralded as one of the “Top TV Shows of 2015” by The New York Times, Variety, Time, Rolling Stone, and Vulture. The show’s third and final season concluded in June 2017.

Theroux also appeared in On The Basis of Sex opposite Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer, which follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination.

Theroux’s acting credits include Netflix’s Maniac with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill Susanna Fogel’s The Spy Who Dumped Me, Duncan Jones’s Mute, Warner Brother’s The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Tate Taylor’s The Girl On The Train, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, Zoe Cassavetes’ Broken English, Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, Ben Stiller’s smash hit comedy Zoolander, David Gordon Green’s Your Highness, Mary Harron’s American Psycho, David Wain’s The Ten, The Baxter, Strangers with Candy, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Duplex, I Shot Andy Warhol, Greg Berlanti’s romantic comedy, The Broken Hearts Club, and Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. On television, Theroux portrayed John Hancock in HBO’s award winning mini-series John Adams alongside Paul Giamiatti, Laura Linney, and Tom Wilkinson. He had a guest starring arc opposite Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation and was a recurring character on HBO’s acclaimed series Six Feet Under. Theroux has also appeared on Alias, Sex and the City, Spin City and, Ally McBeal. He also voiced Dropkick in the Transformer’s spin-off Bumblebee. Paramount’s action-packed prequel to the Transformers franchise is directed by Travis Knight and written by Christina Hodson. 

In addition to acting, Theroux is also a talented film writer. In 2015, he co-wrote the script with Ben Stiller to the sequel to Zoolander, Zoolander 2. Theroux and Stiller also wrote and executive produced DreamWorks’ Tropic Thunder, starring Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Nick Nolte, and Matthew McConaughey. In 2012, he co-wrote Rock of Ages for Warner Brothers, directed by Adam Shankman. The film stars Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Theroux also wrote the screenplay for Iron Man 2 for Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios. The film was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, and Scarlett Johansson.  

Theroux made his directorial debut with Dedication, which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released by the Weinstein Co.  Developed by Theroux from the script by David Brombert, the romantic comedy stars Billy Crudup, Mandy Moore, Tom Wilkinson, and Bob Balaban. 

Theroux began his acting career in New York theater, starring opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman in Shopping and Fucking, followed by Three Sisters with Calista Flockhart, Billy Crudup, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Lily Taylor. He starred in Frank McGuiness’ Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards Somme, an examination of the individual and collective desire to honor one’s beliefs and country.  For his performance, Theroux was honored with a Lucille Lortel Award as well as the Boston Critics Award for Best Male Actor.