Early career

Astin's first acting role was in a 1981 television film titled Please Don't Hit Me, Mom,^[16] in which he played an 8-year-old child with an abusive mother (portrayed by his real-life mother Patty Duke). Astin made his film debut at the age of 13 as Mikey in The Goonies (1985).

After The Goonies, Astin appeared in several more films, including the Disney television film The B.R.A.T. Patrol, opposite Nia Long, Tim Thomerson, and Brian Keith; Like Father Like Son (1987); White Water Summer with Kevin Bacon (1987), The War of the Roses (1989); the World War II film Memphis Belle (1990); Toy Soldiers (1991); Encino Man (1992); and the college football biopic Rudy (1993), about the life-changing struggles and rewards of the titular character, Daniel Ruettiger.

In 1994, Astin directed and co-produced (with his wife, Christine Astin) the short film Kangaroo Court, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. Astin continued to appear in films throughout the 1990s, including the Showtime science fiction film Harrison Bergeron (1995), the Gulf War film Courage Under Fire (1996), and the Warren Beatty political satire Bulworth (1998).

The Lord of the Rings

In the early 2000s, Astin played Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, consisting of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). Many awards were bestowed upon the trilogy, particularly its final installment, which earned eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Astin received seven award nominations for his own performance, and won five, including the Saturn Award, the Sierra Award, the Seattle Film Critics Award, and the Utah Film Critics Award (all for Best Supporting Actor), and the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male or Female in an Effects Film.^{[17][better source needed]} The Return of the King cast as an ensemble received awards from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, the Screen Actors Guild, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and received a Gold Derby Award.^{[18][better source needed]} Throughout the filming process, Astin became close friends with several cast members, particularly Elijah Wood. Astin's daughter, Alexandra, is in the closing scene of The Return of the King, playing his onscreen daughter, Elanor.

While working on The Lord of the Rings, Astin persuaded a number of fellow cast and crew members, including director Peter Jackson, to assist him in making his second short film, The Long and Short of It. The film, which takes place on a street in Wellington, New Zealand, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and can be found on the DVD for The Two Towers, along with a "making of" video.

In 2004, Astin released There and Back Again (ISBN 0-312-33146-0), a memoir (co-written with Joe Layden) of his film career with emphasis on his experiences during production of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The title is derived from the title of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, as well as the fictional book written by Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings.

After The Lord of the Rings

Since The Lord of the Rings, Astin has continued to work in film and television. His film roles have included the Adam Sandler comedies 50 First Dates and Click. Astin played the role of Malibu High School principal Mike Matthews in the film Smile.^{[19][better source needed]}

In television, Astin guest-starred as Lynn McGill in ten episodes of the fifth season of the Fox drama 24. He also appeared in the made-for-TV films Hercules and The Colour of Magic and in episodes of Monk, Las Vegas, My Name Is Earl (in which he parodied his 1993 film Rudy with co-stars Charles S. Dutton and Chelcie Ross), and Law & Order, among other shows. Astin directed a 2003 episode of the TV series Angel, titled "Soulless". He played the enigmatic Mr. Smith on the second season of the Showtime series Jeremiah.^{[20][better source needed]}

Astin's career has also expanded to include voice-over roles. He narrated the American version of the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor, and voices the title character in Special Agent Oso which aired on Playhouse Disney from 2009 to 2011 and Disney Junior from 2011 to early 2014.^[21] Astin's other voice work includes Balto III: Wings of Change, in which he voiced Kodi, a teenage husky who is the son of the titular character, and the video game Kingdom Hearts, in the latter of which he provided the voice of Hercules, replacing actor Tate Donovan, who was unavailable but would return for Kingdom Hearts II. Astin also voiced Raphael in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series on Nickelodeon, which premiered on September 29, 2012, running for five seasons and 124 episodes, and ending on November 12, 2017.

In 2010, Astin joined the Stella Adler Los Angeles Theatre Collective acting company.^[22] Also as of 2010, Astin and his wife, Christine, were making a film based on Lois Lowry's Newbery Medal-winning novel Number the Stars.^[23][24] They bought the film rights in 2008 and wrote a screenplay adaptation, with plans to direct and produce it themselves.^[25]

In March 2012, Astin played a cosmetic surgeon named Takin Mastuhmik in a fake trailer entitled Boobathon which appeared on Funny or Die.^[26] In March 2014, Astin played a soldier in Boys of Abu Ghraib, a military thriller inspired by the events that made worldwide news in 2004.^{[27][better source needed]} In June of that year, he began playing the role of Jim Kent on the FX drama The Strain.^[28]

In October 2015, Astin played Hank Erwin in Woodlawn, a story about how a high school football team overcame racism and hate, and found unity and success through following Jesus.^[29]

In 2017, Astin played the role of Bob Newby in season two of the Netflix series Stranger Things. In 2019, Astin reprised the role of Newby in flashback scenes during the series' third season, played the role of Dr. Greg Pemberton on several episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and had a guest appearance on the fifth season of Supergirl. In 2019, he was in the Netflix dramedy No Good Nick in which he played Ed. That same year, he appeared in the sixth season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

In May 2020, Astin joined Josh Gad's YouTube series Reunited Apart, which reunites the casts of popular films through video-conferencing and promotes donations to non-profit charities. Others in the episode were fellow The Lord of the Rings castmates Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, and Elijah Wood, plus writer Philippa Boyens and director Peter Jackson.^[30][31]

Astin is set to narrate the upcoming comedy film Go West, the first theatrical film from the original cast of the sketch comedy show Studio C, produced by their own company, JK Studios.^[32]

Political support

From 1995 to 2005, Astin served as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) and afterwards served on the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation for two years during the George W. Bush administration.^[39][40]

Astin is a lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party.^{[citation needed]} During the 2004 United States presidential election, Astin backed Senator John Kerry and participated in Kerry's campaign rally in Portland, Oregon, as the opening speaker.^[41] In the 2008 presidential election, Astin lent his support to then-Senator Hillary Clinton for the first of her two Presidential campaigns and made multiple campaign appearances on her behalf, including joining Clinton's daughter Chelsea at some stops.^[42] Astin served as the campaign manager for Democrat Dan Adler, a businessman friend in the entertainment industry, in California's 36th congressional district special election of 2011.^[40] In the 2016 presidential election, Astin campaigned for Hillary Clinton in midwestern states such as Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin.^[43] In a 2020 Twitter post, Astin voiced his support for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.^[44]

Film

Television

Web series

Video games