Logan Lerman

Acting career

Lerman had a passion for movies from a young age, though he started acting "just for fun" and "to do something to get out of school". He began auditioning for roles in the late 1990s, and first appeared in commercials.He made his film debut in 2000's The Patriot, playing William Martin, one of the children of Mel Gibson's character. The same year, he appeared in another Mel Gibson film, What Women Want, playing Gibson's character as a child. In 2001's Riding in Cars with Boys, he played the son of Drew Barrymore's character. Lerman has stated that while appearing in his earliest roles as a child, he did not have "any conscious awareness of what I was doing or what was going on" and "didn’t have a good experience".

Lerman at the premiere of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in New York, February 2010.

In 2003, Lerman played nine-year-old Luke Chandler in the CBS made-for-television film A Painted House, based on the early life of author John Grisham and set in Black Oak, Arkansas in the early 1950s. A Painted House was filmed in Lepanto and Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 2002. A review in the Boston Globe described Lerman as a "promising newcomer", with the Telegraph-Herald commenting on the character having been "quietly and effectively played". For the role, he was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Leading Young Actor in a television production, and tied with Calum Worthy for the win.He next appeared in the 2004 thriller film The Butterfly Effect, portraying a seven year-old version of Ashton Kutcher's character, Evan Treborn. digitallyOBSESSED's reviewer described Lerman as "definitely a child actor to watch".
Lerman had quit acting for a "year or so" in the early 2000s, when he was ten. He made a "conscious decision" to embrace acting as a profession when he was twelve, having developed an interest in the film making process.In 2004, he was cast in the television series Jack & Bobby, playing one of the title roles, Robert "Bobby" McCallister, a 12 year-old "extremely bright social misfit"in Missouri who was destined to become President of the United States as an adult. The show ran on The WB Television Network during the 2004–2005 season, receiving some positive positive reviews but low ratings,and was subsequently canceled. Lerman was nominated for another Young Artist Award for his performance, tying with Jack DeSena for the win. Lerman has stated that he "started taking things seriously" about his career after appearing on the show.The Boston Herald's reviewer mentioned that Lerman's performance had a "blend of vulnerability and strength," while Entertainment Weekly's reviewer had noted that "Lerman lends Bobby a bedraggled optimism".
Continuing his film work, Lerman had his first starring role in a motion picture, playing Roy Eberhardt in the children's adventure Hoot; his character moves to Florida from Montana and attempts to save endangered burrowing owls. Lerman stated that the film's message is "that you can be any age and make a difference".Hoot began filming in July 2005 in South Florida, opened on May 5, 2006, and won him a third Young Artist Award, this time for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor (2007). The Washington Post's reviewer commented that "Lerman shows some life as Roy", though his role was "an anomaly in a sea of insipidity", while the San Francisco Chronicle's reviewer disliked Lerman's performance.
In 2007, Lerman appeared in the thriller The Number 23, in which he played the son of Robin Sparrow (Jim Carrey), a man who becomes obsessed with conspiracy theories. That year, he also appeared in the critically acclaimed western remake 3:10 to Yuma, playing William Evans, a teenager who looks up to criminal Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) while shunning his father (Christian Bale's character); Lerman's character did not exist in the original version of the story. Lerman received positive reviews for his work,and was again nominated for the Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor (2008). It was the second consecutive year he received a nomination in that category, although this time he did not win. USA Today stated that he was among the film's "best supporting players", while Rolling Stone gave Lerman a "shout-out"and Newsday stated that he delivers a "credibly explicit note".

Lerman at WonderCon, April 2011.

In 2008, Lerman co-starred in the comedy Meet Bill, as a teenager mentored by Bill (Aaron Eckhart). Meet Bill was filmed in 2006, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007, and received a theatrical release on April 4, 2008. Hollywood.com stated that, though the film was uneven, Lerman "displays a supreme confidence". In 2009, he appeared in the science fiction film Gamer, as Simon, a teenage gamer who controls one of the characters in a video game played with live human subjects (Gamer was filmed in November 2007). Also that year, Lerman had a leading role in the Renée Zellweger comedy feature My One and Only, playing a teenage character based on actor George Hamilton - depicted as an aspiring writer who, after his parents split, accompanies his mother and brother on a cross-country trip, eventually arriving in Hollywood^.Bloomberg's reviewer described Lerman as appealing, with the Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey stating that the character "captures the ease with which an angry teen will use a growing vocabulary to wound a parent".