about Joel Courtney
In his first ever film, Joel Courtney landed the breakout role of Joe Lamb in paramount Pictures Super 8 Produced by Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burke, and written and directed by J.J. Abrams.
The film tells the story from the summer of 1979 when a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.
The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, and Zach Mills.
A then 14 year old, Joel Courtney had realistic hopes for his summer in Hollywood visiting his older brother Caleb, take a few acting classes, and maybe audition for a commercial or two - then return home to Idaho with $100 in his pocket. Little did he know that instead of returning to school in the Fall, he would be starting production on his first feature film in the starring role!
June 2011: Super 8!
June 2011, Joel appeared in two episodes ("Creature Feature") of The Haunting Hour on the Hub network.
August 2011, Joel filmed the movie Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in Bulgaria, playing the lead role of Tom Sawyer across from Kat McNamara (Becky) and Jake T. Austin (Huck).
September/October 2011, Joel filmed the movie Don’t Let Me Go, playing the lead role of Nick across from Isabelle Fuhrman and Natalia Dyer.
Winter of 2012, Joel filmed the Stephen King movie Mercy, produced by Blumhouse and Universal, and directed by Peter Cornwell.
Spring of 2013, Joel filed the independent movie Dear Eleanor across from Isabelle Fuhrman, Liana Liberato, and Jessica Alba.
In the Summer of 2013, Joel filmed the independent movie Sins of Our Youth with Lucas Till, Ally Sheedy, Mitchel Musso, and Bridger Zadina.
In 2014, Joel landed a leading role in the CBS/CW Network TV show The Messengers with Shantel Van Santen, Diogo Morgado, JD Pardo, Sofia Black-D'Elia, and Craig Frank.
In 2016, The River Thief, which was produced and directed by friends and community members from Joel’s hometown. He was able to work with almost his entire family on the project, including his brother Josh and sister Chantelle who had significant roles in the film.
In 2017, F*&% the Prom with Madelaine Petsch and Danielle Campbell.
In 2018, he filmed The Kissing Booth with Joey King and Jacob Elordi. The Kissing Booth was Netflix’s “most watched movie of all time.”
In 2019 he was busily filming The Kissing Booth 2 and The Kissing Booth 3 with the original cast down in South Africa.
Official Bio
Joel Courtney is an American actor, known for his starring roles in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Super 8 and the Netflix hit The Kissing Booth.
Joel was born into a Navy family in Monterey, California, and is the youngest of four children - an older sister and two older brothers. After his father's retirement when he was 5, his family relocated to Moscow, Idaho, where Joel spent the rest of his childhood attending a small classical Christian school where both his parents taught. When he was 14, Joel went to Los Angeles with his father to visit his brother Caleb who was seeking a career as an actor. While in LA, Joel decided to spend a month auditioning for television commercials in the hopes of leaving with a little money in his pocket. However, before attending even his first audition, his brother's acting coach suggested that Joel attend a casting call for a top-secret J.J. Abrams project. After 11 callbacks, Joel landed his first acting job as the starring role in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Super 8
After his success in Super 8, Joel appeared in several movies including Sins of Our Youth, Mercy, and Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn. He then booked a starring role as Peter Moore in the CW show The Messengers. Joel was able to return to Moscow, Idaho in the summer of 2014 to star in the movie The River Thief, which was produced and directed by friends and community members from Joel's hometown. He was able to work with almost his entire family on the project, including his brother Josh and sister Chantelle who both had significant roles in the film. After The River Thief, Joel went on to star in the high school drama F*&% the Prom before booking the Netflix hit The Kissing Booth which launched him back into the public spotlight as the lovable teenager Lee Flynn. As of 2019, The Kissing Booth was the most watched Netflix movie in history. Joel will reprise the role of Lee Flynn in The Kissing Booth 2 and The Kissing Booth 3.