Joseph Michael Cross (born May 28, 1986) is an American actor and producer. He began work as a child actor, starring in the 1998 films ''
Desperate Measures'', ''
Wide Awake'', and ''
Jack Frost''. He won the
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture for ''
Running with Scissors'' (2006), and co-starred in ''
Flags of Our Fathers'' (2006), ''
Untraceable'' (2008), ''
Milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
'' (2008), and ''
Lincoln'' (2012).
From 1999 to 2004, Cross starred as
Casey Hughes in the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
soap opera ''
As the World Turns
''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...
''. In 2017, he appeared in 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 ...
limited series ''
Big Little Lies'' and 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 ...
crime drama series ''
Mindhunter''.
Early life
Cross was born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Pelham, New York
Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census.United States Census Bureau, 2020 Report, Pelham to ...]
, and attended Pelham Middle School and
Pelham Memorial High School.
For his undergraduate studies, Cross transferred from
Hartford
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
's
Trinity College to
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
Career
As a child actor, Cross appeared in the
Disney Channel Original television film ''
Northern Lights'' (1997), and starred in the action-thriller ''
Desperate Measures'', comedy-drama ''
Wide Awake'', and Christmas fantasy film ''
Jack Frost'', all of which were released in 1998. He subsequently appeared in several television roles, notably portraying
Casey Hughes in the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
daytime soap opera ''
As the World Turns
''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...
'' (1999–2004).
In 2006, Cross played the young
Augusten Burroughs in ''
Running with Scissors'', a drama also featuring
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for List of Annette Bening performances, her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received List of awards an ...
and
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.
She began acting in the 1990s, a ...
, and appeared as real-life Marine
Franklin Sousley in the big-budget ''
Flags of Our Fathers'', a
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
-directed
war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
. Cross has said that he enjoyed the transition from appearing in ''Running with Scissors'', which he has described as "very character driven and smaller" to the high-profile "epic" ''Flags of Our Fathers''.
''Running with Scissors'' has been described by media sources as his "breakout performance", and he was nominated for the
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer
The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer (Actor/Actress) is one of the awards given to people working in the film industry by the Critics Choice Association (CCA), formerly Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA). It has been aw ...
and won the
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
In 2008, Cross starred in the thriller film ''
Untraceable'' (2008) with
Diane Lane,
and portrayed gay rights activist
Dick Pabich in the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-nominated
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Milk was born and raised i ...
biopic ''
Milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
'' (2008). He won the
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble
The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
2000s 2001
* '' Gosford Park''
** '' Ocean's Eleven''
** ''The Roya ...
with his ''Milk'' co-stars. The following year, he played William "Fred" Parsons in the
West End production of ''
Breakfast at Tiffany's'', at the
Theatre Royal Haymarket
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...
, opposite
Anna Friel. In 2012, Cross had a leading role as Declan Truss in Doug Karr's comedy film ''
Art Machine''.
He portrayed the lead role of Davis Green in the drama film ''
The Automatic Hate'' (2015), alongside
Deborah Ann Woll. He portrayed the lead role of Lernert in the science-fiction film ''
Everything Beautiful Is Far Away'' (2017), alongside
Julia Garner. Cross made his directorial debut with the coming-of-age film ''
Summer Night'' (2019), executive produced by
James Ponsoldt
James Ponsoldt is an American film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed the drama films '' Off the Black'' (2006) and '' Smashed'' (2012), the romantic comedy-drama ''The Spectacular Now'' (2013), and the dramas '' The End of the Tour'' ( ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Joseph
1986 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from New York (state)
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male soap opera actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Columbia University alumni
Living people
Actors from New Brunswick, New Jersey
People from Pelham, New York