Jaeden Martell
Jaeden Martell is an American actor, known for portraying the role of Bill Denbrough in the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations of the Stephen King novel It, as well as the role of Jacob Barber in Defending Jacob, and Jacob Thrombey in Knives Out, respectively. In honor of his mother, Martell has legally adopted her surname, being credited early in his career as Jaeden Lieberher.
Life and career
Martell was born on January 4, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Wes Lieberher, a Los Angeles-based executive chef, and Angela Teresa Martell. His maternal grandmother, Chisun Martell, is Korean. He grew up in South Philadelphia and in 2011, when he was eight years old, he moved to Los Angeles. In the first six years of his career, he was credited almost exclusively under his family name, Lieberher. In 2019, he switched to his mother's maiden name, Martell.Martell's first acting role was in a commercial for Hot Wheels. He appeared in several other commercials after that, including Google, Moneysupermarket.com, Liberty Mutual, Hyundai, Verizon Fios and General Electric. His first major feature film role was in 2014's St. Vincent, where he starred alongside Bill Murray. Murray later recommended Martell to Cameron Crowe for the director's 2015 film, Aloha. He played the title character in the 2017 film The Book of Henry. Martell received further recognition for his starring role as Bill Denbrough in the 2017 supernatural horror film It and its 2019 follow-up It Chapter Two.
In 2019, Martell was also a part of Rian Johnson's ensemble cast in the murder-mystery film Knives Out. In March 2019, now credited as Martell, he joined the cast of the Apple miniseries Defending Jacob, based on the William Landay novel of the same name which reunites him with Knives Out co-star Chris Evans. On April 30, 2020, in an Instagram Live interview with Teen Vogue, Martell confirmed that he had joined the cast of Tunnels, co-starring with Susan Sarandon, in the role of Grayson Mitchell, the younger sibling of a victim to gun violence. The film does not have a set or confirmed release date.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2015 | American Dad! | Additional voices | Episode: "My Affair Lady", as Jaeden Lieberher |
| 2015–2016 | Masters of Sex | Johnny Masters | 11 episodes, as Jaeden Lieberher |
| 2020 | Defending Jacob | Jacob Barber | as Jaeden Martell |