Little Manhattan

Background:

Starting acting when he was just 10 years old, Josh Hutcherson has collected an impressive number of credits in his relatively short career. Since his professional acting debut as a guest in a 2002 episode of the popular NBC medical drama “ER,” Hutcherson has gained wider exposure with major roles in such films as American Splendor (2003), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), The Polar Express (2004), Little Manhattan (2005), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) and RV (2006). The rising young actor will star in the upcoming films Bridge to Terabithia, Firehouse Dog, and Journey 3-D.

JHutch

Childhood and Family:

In Union, Kentucky, Joshua Ryan Hutcherson was born on October 12, 1992 to Chris and Michelle Hutcherson. Joshua, nicknamed “JHutch,” is the older brother of the actor Connor Hutcherson. He several pets, including a dog (Diesel), two cats (Jell-O and Paws) and a turtle. He is good friends with actress AnnaSophia Robb.

Bridge to Terabithia

Career:

Dreaming of becoming an actor since he was 4 years old, Josh Hutcherson made his professional acting debut in 2002, appearing as a guest in an episode of the popular NBC medical drama “ER.” That same year, he scored other acting jobs in the brief-lived WB comedy series “House Blend,” starring Amy Yasbeck and former MTV personality Dan Cortese, and in the comedic TV movie Becoming Glen, playing the younger version of the title role (the adult version was played by Johnny Galecki).

Hutcherson entered the big screen in 2003, portraying Robin in Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's critically acclaimed biopic/film adaptation of the comic book series by Harvey Pekar, American Splendor. The indie film, starring Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Adapted Screenplay from the Writer's Guild of America. Also in that year, he was cast in Tony Vitale's emotionally gripping drama film One Last Ride (starring Patrick Cupo), executive produced by Ang Lee. TV viewers could catch him in the TV movies Miracle Dogs and Wilder Days as well as guest starring in an episode of "The Division" and "Line of Fire."

2004 was a busy year for Hutcherson. He played a supporting role alongside Lorenzo Lamas and Alana Austin in actor-Richard Gabai's family-friendly action flick Motocross Kids and nabbed his biggest role to date, as Hero Boy, opposite Tom Hanks in Robert Zemeckis' feature film based on the children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express. He lent his voiced Markl, Howl's eight-year-old boy apprentice in Howl's Moving Castle (a.k.a. Hauru no ugoku shiro), an Academy Award-nominated Japanese anime, romance/fantasy film based on Diana Wynne Jones' novel of the same name and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. He also returned to the small screen to star in the TV pilot “Eddie’s Father,” in which he portrayed Eddie Corbett and Ken Marino played his father. However, the updated revamp of the classic comedy series “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” didn't get ordered to series. Additionally, his voice could be heard in the TV-movie Party Wagon and in an episode of the popular Cartoon Network's "Justice League."

The next years saw Hutcherson as Robert Duvall's son, younger brother of Will Ferrell's character in Jesse Dylan's soccer-comedy movie Kicking & Screaming, and as a 10-year-old boy named Gabe who finds his first love at his former kindergarten mate (played by Charlie Ray) in a romantic comedy film directed and written by husband and wife Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, Little Manhattan (both in 2005). He also starred as 10-year-old Walter, half of the brothers who discover an old tattered metal board game, Zathura (2005), in Jon Favreau's film based on an illustrated book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, and played Robin Williams' 12-year-old son Carl in Barry Sonnenfeld's family comedy movie RV (2006).

Hutcherson just completed Gabor Csupo's take on the Katherine Paterson 1977 children's fiction novel, Bridge to Terabithia, in which he stars as fifth grader Jesse Aaron's, an artistic boy who is fearful of doing courageous things but hopes of becoming the fastest runner in his class. He also just wrapped Todd Holland's family comedy movie Firehouse Dog, in which he portrays a young kid who teams up with Hollywood's top canine star to turn a hapless San Francisco fire station into the city's finest. He will soon finish filming Journey 3-D, an action/adventure drama film by director Eric Brevig, co-starring with Brendan Fraser.

Awards:

• Young Artist: Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actor, Zathura: A Space Adventure, 2006

• Young Artist: Outstanding Young Ensemble in a New Medium, The Polar Express, 2005