Fred Hechinger (; born on December 2, 1999) is an American actor. He began his career with supporting roles in such films as the coming-of-age film '' Eighth Grade'' (2018), the period drama ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

'' (2020), and the psychological thriller '' The Woman in the Window'' (2021). Also in 2021, he starred in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

horror '' The Fear Street Trilogy'' and the first season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

anthology series ''

The White Lotus ''The White Lotus'' is an American Black comedy, black comedy drama Anthology series, anthology television series created by Mike White (filmmaker), Mike White for HBO that premiered on July 11, 2021. The series follows the exploits of the gues ...

''. Hechinger portrayed Seth Warshavsky in the miniseries ''

Pam & Tommy ''Pam & Tommy'' is a 2022 American biographical drama television miniseries chronicling the marriage between actress and model Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, played by Lily James and Sebastian Stan, respectively, during t ...

'' (2022). In 2024, he starred in the comedy film '' Thelma'' and the drama film '' Nickel Boys'', and portrayed

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

in the historical action film ''

Gladiator II ''Gladiator II'' is a 2024 historical drama, historical epic film directed and produced by Ridley Scott that is a sequel to Gladiator (2000 film), ''Gladiator'' (2000). Written by David Scarpa based on a story he wrote with Peter Craig, the fi ...

''.

Early life

Hechinger was born in New York City to parents Sarah Rozen and Paul Hechinger. His grandfather was ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' education editor Fred M. Hechinger. He grew up on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

and attended Saint Ann's School, where his classmates included fellow actors Lucas Hedges and

Maya Hawke Maya Ray Thurman Hawke (born July 8, 1998) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. She began her career in modeling, and subsequently made her screen debut as Jo March in ...

. Hechinger was a teen reporter and studied at

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, ...

. He is Jewish.

Career

In 2018, Hechinger made his acting debut as Trevor in the

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

dramedy Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film '' Eighth Grade''. The following year, he co-starred in

Marc Meyers Marc Meyers is an American feature film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his fourth feature film ''My Friend Dahmer'' and the previous '' How He Fell in Love''. Early life and education Meyers is a 1994 graduate of Franklin & ...

' drama film ''

Human Capital Human capital or human assets is a concept used by economists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a subs ...

'', which is based on Stephen Amidon's 2004 novel of the same name. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and later released through DirecTV Cinema on March 20, 2020. In 2020, Hechinger appeared in

Paul Greengrass Paul Greengrass (born 13 August 1955) is an English film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist. One of his early films, '' Bloody Sunday'' (2002), won the Golden Bear at 52nd Berlin International Film Festival. Other f ...

' Western film, ''

'', which starred

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

. In 2021, he starred alongside

Amy Adams Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received List of awards and nom ...

in the

Joe Wright Joseph Wright (born 25 August 1972) is an English film director. His motion pictures include the period drama adaptations '' Pride & Prejudice'' (2005), ''Atonement'' (2007), '' Anna Karenina'' (2012), and '' Cyrano'' (2021), the action thrill ...

-directed psychological thriller film '' The Woman in the Window''; the movie had already been filmed prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He appeared as Simon Kalivoda in the Netflix horror films '' The Fear Street Trilogy'', which were released in 2021. Hechinger's breakout role came in his performance as Quinn Mossbacher in the first season of

's ''

'', which was released in the same year. In 2024 Hechinger appeared in Ridley Scott's historical epic film

, portraying a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor

. Later that year he appeared in the

Sony's Spider-Man Universe Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the fil ...

film ''

Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Nikolaevich Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Николаевич Кравинов) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, th ...

'', with

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Aaron Perry Taylor-Johnson (né Johnson; born 13 June 1990) is an English actor. He is known for his portrayal of the title character in '' Kick-Ass'' (2010) and its sequel '' Kick-Ass 2'' (2013), as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe charact ...

in the title role, in which he portrayed Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hechinger, Fred 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of German-Jewish descent Child journalists Jewish American male actors Living people Male actors from Manhattan Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) alumni Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers 1999 births