Justin Kirk

Early years

Kirk was born in Salem, Oregon. His mother was of Russian Jewish descent and his father was of Danish and English ancestry.

Kirk grew up in Union, Washington, where he attended a grade school on a Native American reservation, until his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, when he was 12 years old. He attended high school there and performed at Children's Theatre Company. He moved to New York City after graduating. Kirk played guitar in several New York bands in the early 1990s, most notably The Dimestore Darlings. He completed a two-year conservatory acting program at Circle in the Square Theatre School.

Career

His first role on Broadway was a play called Any Given Day, which was performed at the Longacre Theatre. He appeared in Love! Valour! Compassion! both in the film and in the original stage version – for which he received an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance in the Ensemble. He also appeared in Other Desert Cities with Stockard Channing, Judith Light, and Stacy Keach. He won a Backstage West Garland Award for Outstanding Performance for his role as a piano prodigy in Old Wicked Songs, staged at New York's Promenade Theater and Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse.

Kirk's other films include Flannel Pajamas, Chapter Zero, The Eden Myth, Puccini for Beginners, and Call o' the Glen. He made his television series debut in Jack & Jill. He starred as Andy Botwin on the Showtime television series Weeds alongside former Angels in America co-star Mary-Louise Parker.

In 2017 Kirk starred in the procedural drama APB, which was cancelled by Fox after its first season.