Justin Bartha

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Justin Bartha
Bartha in 2016
Born (1978-07-21) July 21, 1978 (age 45)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Alma materTisch School of Arts
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present
Spouse
Lia Smith
​
(m. 2014)​
Children2

Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. In film, Bartha has played Riley Poole in the National Treasure film series and Doug Billings in The Hangover trilogy. His television roles include David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series The New Normal as well as Colin Morrello in the CBS All Access (later Paramount+) legal and political drama The Good Fight.

Early life[edit]

Bartha was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and moved to West Bloomfield, Michigan when he was eight.[1] His father, Stephen, is a commercial real estate agent while his mother, Betty, is a school teacher. He has one older brother, Jeffrey. Bartha was raised in a Reform Jewish family.[2][3][4][5][6] After he graduated from West Bloomfield High School in 1996, he moved to New York City and studied filmmaking and theatre at New York University's Tisch School of Arts.[7]

Career[edit]

Bartha began his film career behind the camera as a production assistant on the film Analyze This. His acting debut came with his first film, 54, as a clubgoer. He wrote and directed a short film, Highs and Lows, which was shown at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2003.[8] Additionally, he wrote, produced, and starred in an MTV pilot called The Dustin and Justin Show.[8]

Bartha co-starred opposite Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken and Al Pacino in the critically bashed Gigli in 2003, before his co-starring role in the National Treasure franchise (2004; 2007) as Riley Poole.[9] He reprised the role in the series continuation for Disney+.[10]

In 2006, Bartha co-starred in the film Failure to Launch[11] and NBC's sitcom Teachers which only aired six episodes.[12]

In November 2007, Bartha was cast in an indie drama, Holy Rollers. His character lures a young Hasidic Jew (Jesse Eisenberg) into becoming an ecstasy dealer. Filming began in New York in the spring of 2008, and the film was released in 2010.[13] Bartha re-teamed with Eisenberg for Eisenberg's critically acclaimed play, Asuncion.[14] Bartha also starred alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Bart Freundlich film, The Rebound which is about a 25-year-old man who starts a romance with his older single mother neighbor, the film began shooting in April 2008 in New York and finished in June. In The Hangover comedy film series, he played Doug Billings, one of the "Wolfpack" members who goes on weekend trips with the trio. After a wild nights of partying, he goes missing and his friends frantically search everywhere for him.

Bartha starred as Max in the Broadway revival of the play Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig. He performed alongside Tony Shalhoub, Anthony LaPaglia, Brooke Adams, and Jan Maxwell. A farcical comedy, it was directed by Stanley Tucci and started previews at the Music Box Theatre on March 11, 2010, with the official opening date on April 4, 2010. It was nominated for a Tony award for best revival of a play. In 2011, Bartha signed on to star in the premiere of Zach Braff's play All New People at Second Stage Theatre. All New People began June 28 and ran through mid-August. Anna Camp, David Wilson Barnes and Krysten Ritter co-starred in this production under the direction of Peter DuBois.[15] In February 2012, Bartha signed on to co-star on the NBC comedy pilot The New Normal.[16] On May 7, 2012, NBC ordered the project to series.[17] The show was centered around a gay couple (played by Bartha and Andrew Rannells) and the surrogate mother (Georgia King) they selected to bear their child. It premiered on September 11, 2012,[18] but was officially cancelled the next year on May 10, 2013.[19]

In 2014, Bartha starred in another of Jesse Eisenberg's plays, A Little Part of All Of Us, alongside Eisenberg, for Playing On Air, a non-profit organization that "records short plays [for public radio and podcast] written by top playwrights and performed by outstanding actors."[20][21]

Bartha has worked with the Matrix Theatre Company, guest directing their Teen Company in Are You Passing?, a play on the state of education in Detroit.

In 2018, Bartha co-starred as Colin Morrello in the first two seasons of the critically acclaimed CBS all-access drama, The Good Fight. In 2021, Bartha signed on to play Robert Morgenthau in the second season of the critically acclaimed EPIX hit drama, Godfather Of Harlem and co-starred opposite Jason Momoa in the Netflix movie Sweet Girl. In 2022, Bartha starred in the controversial and critically acclaimed standalone episode in the third season of Atlanta called, The Big Payback. Bartha plays a man named Marshall Johnson who finds out he must pay slavery reparations.

Personal life[edit]

Bartha married Pilates instructor and creator of B The Method[22][23] Lia Smith in Oahu, Hawaii, on January 4, 2014.[24] On April 13, 2014, she gave birth to their daughter.[25] On April 16, 2016, she gave birth to their second daughter.[26]

Acting credits[edit]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1998 54 Clubgoer Uncredited
1999 Tag Kip Woffard Short film
2003 Gigli Brian
2003 Carnival Sun Brian Short film
2004 National Treasure Riley Poole
2005 Trust the Man Jasper Bernard
2006 Failure to Launch Philip "Ace"
2007 National Treasure: Book of Secrets Riley Poole
2008 New York, I Love You Justin Segment: "Randy Balsmeyer"
2009 The Hangover Doug Billings
2009 Jusqu'à toi Jack Also executive producer
2009 The Rebound Aram Finkelstein
2010 Holy Rollers Yosef Zimmerman
2011 The Hangover Part II Doug Billings
2011 Dark Horse Richard
2013 The Hangover Part III Doug Billings
2013 CBGB Stiv Bators
2016 White Girl Kelly
2016 Sticky Notes Bryan
2018 Driven Howard Weitzman
2018 Sorry for Your Loss Ken
2019 Against the Clock Peter Hobbs
2021 Sweet Girl Simon Keeley
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Strip Search — Television film
2006 Teachers Jeff Cahill Main cast; 6 episodes
2009 WWII in HD Jack Werner (voice) Miniseries; 5 episodes
2012–2013 The New Normal David Sawyer Main cast; 22 episodes
2016 Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life Josh Barrett Main cast; 13 episodes
2017–2018 The Good Fight Colin Morrello Main cast; 17 episodes
2019 Drunk History Thomas H. Ince Episode: "Drunk Mystery II"
2021 Godfather of Harlem Robert Morgenthau
2022 Atlanta Marshall Johnson Episode: "The Big Payback"
2022 National Treasure: Edge of History Riley Poole Guest star

Music videos[edit]

Year Title Artist Role Ref.
2014 "Imagine" (UNICEF: World version) Various Himself [27]
Theatre
Year Title Role Notes
2010 64th Tony Awards Performing Artist
2010 Lend Me a Tenor Max Broadway revival
Music Box Theatre
2011 All New People Charlie Second Stage Theatre
2011 Asuncion Vinny Off-Broadway
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
2013 The Sunshine Boys Ben Ahmanson Theatre
Center Theatre Group
2015 Permission Eric MCC Theater

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Double Take". Retrieved July 4, 2009. Bartha, 27, whose family belonged to Temple Israel, where he had his bar mitzvah.
  2. ^ Applebaum, Stephen (July 22, 2010). "Interview: Justin Bartha". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  3. ^ "Jews Making News: Bartha and Segel". Atlanta Jewish Times. September 11, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "Exclusive: Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha Take Flight in Holy Rollers". MovieWeb. May 21, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  5. ^ "Justin Bartha Interview for Holy Rollers". The Cinema Source. May 20, 2010. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  6. ^ Mester, Ilan (June 10, 2010). "Justin Bartha Talks Holy Rollers, Hangover 2". Shalom Life. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2010. To prepare for the part, Bartha – who is Jewish – ...
  7. ^ Wigney, James (March 13, 2010). "The Rebound Ace". Sunday Herald Sun. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  8. ^ a b "Justin Bartha Biography". Archived from the original on December 22, 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2006.
  9. ^ "Justin Bartha Interview, National Treasure 2". MoviesOnline. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  10. ^ Porter, Rick (April 11, 2022). "Justin Bartha to Reprise 'National Treasure' Role in Disney+ Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Dey, Tom (March 10, 2006), Failure to Launch (Comedy, Romance), Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, Failure to Launch Productions, retrieved September 11, 2022
  12. ^ Teachers. (TV Series 2006) - IMDb, retrieved September 11, 2022
  13. ^ Goldstein, Gregg (November 18, 2007). "Drug-dealing Jews inspire comic drama". Reuters. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  14. ^ Hetrick, Adam (October 12, 2011). "Asuncion, With Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha, Begins Off-Broadway Run Oct. 12". Playbill. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "Justin Bartha, Anna Camp Sign On for Zach Braff's Off-Broadway Play". Broadway.me. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  16. ^ Ausiello, Michael (February 22, 2012). "Scoop: Hangover's Justin Bartha Joins Ryan Murphy's NBC Comedy Pilot The New Normal". TVLine. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  17. ^ "'The New Normal': NBC Orders Ryan Murphy Comedy And J.J. Abrams Drama To Series". HuffPost. May 7, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  18. ^ Goldman, Eric (June 14, 2012). "NBC Sets Fall Premiere Dates: Community, The Office and More". IGN. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  19. ^ Heredia, Gustavo (May 13, 2013). "'The New Normal' Star Justin Bartha Talks About The Show's Cancellation". HuffPost. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  20. ^ Mogol, Allen (February 23, 2015). "Broadway Direct". broadwaydirect.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  21. ^ "New Podcast! A LITTLE PART OF ALL OF US by Jesse Eisenberg". Playing On Air. September 14, 2015. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  22. ^ Krueger, Alyson (December 17, 2021). "She Became a Fitness Guru During the Pandemic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  23. ^ Barbuti, Angela (January 5, 2014). "Justin Bartha's New Wife, Lia Smith: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  24. ^ "Justin Bartha Marries Lia Smith". People. January 5, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  25. ^ Monde, Chiderah (April 21, 2014). "Justin Bartha, wife Lia Smith welcome first child together: report". NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  26. ^ "Lia Bartha в Instagram: "It's my second born spunky nuggets 3rd birthday today! We have two kids with almost identical birthdays. This hunky dudes birthday is 7/21.…"". April 16, 2019. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
  27. ^ Rowles, Dustin (November 21, 2014). "'Imagine' Gets the Star-Studded 'We Are The World' Treatment for UNICEF". Pajiba. Retrieved May 24, 2021.

External links[edit]

Media related to Justin Bartha at Wikimedia Commons

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