Justin Long

Long was born Justin Jacob Long on June 2, 1978, the second of three boys in Fairfield, Connecticut, to R. James Long, a philosophy and Latin professor at Fairfield University, and Wendy Lesniak,^[6][7] a former actress who has mostly appeared on stage.^[8] His paternal grandmother was of Sicilian descent.^[9] Long had a "kind of conservative" Catholic upbringing.^[10]

His older brother, Damian, is a local stage actor and teacher at Weston High School in Weston, Connecticut.^[11] His younger brother, Christian, is also an actor as well as a director.^[12][13] Long attended Fairfield College Preparatory School, a Jesuit institution, and Vassar College, where he was a member of the sketch comedy group Laughingstock and starred in several plays, including Butterflies Are Free.^[14]

Long's film credits include Idiocracy, Waiting..., Jeepers Creepers, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, The Break-Up, Crossroads, Galaxy Quest, Dreamland and Live Free or Die Hard. He was also a regular on the NBC TV series Ed (2000–04) as socially awkward Warren P. Cheswick. He was offered the opportunity to replace Steve Burns on Blue's Clues after he left the show, but ultimately declined.^[15] He was the voice of Alvin in Alvin and the Chipmunks, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.^[16] He also played the main character in the comedy film Accepted (2006).

Long made a guest appearance in the documentary, Wild West Comedy Show (2006). In 2007, he co-starred with Bruce Willis as a white-hat hacker in Live Free or Die Hard^[17] and had a role in the comedy The Sasquatch Gang. Long is known for his depiction of a Mac in Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign. The campaign featured commercials in which Long as a Mac and John Hodgman as a PC engaged in playful banter about "the strengths of the Mac platform and weaknesses of the PC platform."^[18]

Long also had a small role in the comedy film Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) as Brandon St. Randy, a gay porn star. In 2009, he starred in He's Just Not That into You with co-star Ginnifer Goodwin and After.Life opposite Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci. He also provided the voice of Humphrey in Alpha and Omega (2010), starring with Hayden Panettiere. Also in 2010, he starred in the comedy film Going the Distance with Drew Barrymore. He was cast as a one-armed Civil War veteran in Robert Redford's The Conspirator.^[19]

Long recorded the audiobook version of Judy Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't and Stephen King's Everything's Eventual. From July 7–18, 2010, he appeared in a production of Samuel J. and K. at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.^[20] On August 16, 2010, he co-hosted WWE Raw with Going the Distance co-stars Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.^[21] In 2014, he starred in the independent love drama Comet, which he and his co-star, Emmy Rossum, also produced. That same year, he starred in the Kevin Smith body horror-dark comedy film Tusk, about a man's lifelong fascination with walruses and extreme, fetishized body modification and cosmetic surgery. Also in 2014, Long appeared in a few skits on Inside Amy Schumer. In April 2019, he started the podcast Life Is Short with Justin Long; its introductory episode aired through Wondery on May 13, 2019. His first guest was actor Neil Patrick Harris.^[22][23][24]

On June 24, 2019, Long, along with an ensemble cast, presented The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts, a dramatic reading of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III's Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. Long portrayed former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey.^[25] In 2020, he appeared in the reality television series Celebrity Watch Party alongside his younger brother Christian Long.^[26] He appeared in commercials for Intel's "Go PC" campaign.^[4][5]

In July 2024, he was confirmed to direct and write a segment for V/H/S/Beyond, which was released exclusively on Shudder on October 4, 2024.^[27]

Long had a relationship with Drew Barrymore^[28] that was on and off between 2007 and 2010.^[29] He also dated Amanda Seyfried from 2013 to 2015.^[30][31]

During an episode of the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Long revealed that he was the victim of a drugging and abduction during the filming of Youth In Revolt while in Michigan. According to Long, after an evening of drinking, he left with several local people who offered him marijuana that he believed was actually phencyclidine, more commonly known as PCP. After getting him severely intoxicated, these people took him to various locations against his will and refused to return him to his hotel.^[32]

According to Long, they made reference to filming him while high on hard drugs and selling the footage to TMZ or another website dedicated to celebrity gossip. Long was so concerned that he eventually escaped by leaping from the moving vehicle. He said he has faced lingering nerve damage in his leg due to the injuries he sustained in the escape.^[33]

In January 2022, it was reported that Long was dating actress Kate Bosworth.^[34] In April 2023, the couple announced their engagement.^[35] During an episode of his Life is Short podcast in May 2023, Long referred to Bosworth as his "now-wife."^[36] On July 18, 2025, Long and Bosworth welcomed their first child, a daughter.^[37]

Long is a Democrat. He supported Barack Obama during the 2012 U.S. presidential election and was an outspoken critic of the Republican nominee Mitt Romney, describing him as a "modern-day Gordon Gekko". Long endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.^[38] He endorsed Sanders again in the 2020 Democratic primary, has been seen at Sanders rallies, and has appeared on the campaign trail as a surrogate.^[39]