Justin Long

Justin Jacob Long is an American actor and comedian known for combining likable comic timing with an unusually durable presence in horror, studio comedy, independent film, animation, and television. Born in Fairfield, Connecticut, on June 2, 1978, Long studied at Vassar College and began working professionally near the end of the 1990s. His early screen identity was built around approachable, quick-witted young men, but over time he became equally associated with anxious horror protagonists, voice roles, and self-aware comic performances.

Long’s first major film credit was Galaxy Quest, the 1999 science-fiction comedy in which he played a devoted fan whose knowledge helps the heroes. He then made a strong impression in Jeepers Creepers, a horror film that gave him an early lead role and helped make him a familiar face to genre audiences. In the early 2000s he balanced television and film, playing Warren Cheswick on the NBC series Ed and appearing in comedies such as Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Accepted, and Idiocracy. Those roles often used Long’s gift for nervous intelligence: he could play the sarcastic observer, the overmatched underdog, or the earnest romantic lead without losing audience sympathy.

One of Long’s most visible popular-culture roles came outside film, when he appeared opposite John Hodgman in Apple’s Get a Mac advertising campaign. As the casual, hoodie-wearing embodiment of the Mac, Long became part of one of the most recognizable technology-advertising campaigns of the 2000s. The commercials did not replace his acting career, but they widened his public recognition and helped attach his persona to a style of relaxed, contemporary comic delivery.