Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake (birthname: Justin Randall Timberlake) has carved out one of the more successful film careers by a pop singer/songwriter in the current era. After a remarkable run with the boy band NSYNC and as a solo artist, Timberlake properly entered the movie world as an actor in writer-director David J. Burke’s thriller, Edison (2005), with Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J, and Kevin Spacey.

Timberlake followed this with writer-director Nick Cassavetes’ crime movie, Alpha Dog (2006), in which he joined the ensemble of Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Sharon Stone, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Willis, and which was successfully released by Universal Pictures after a premiere at the Sundance film festival. Timberlake co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci in writer-director Craig Brewer’s provocative drama, Black Snake Moan (2006), which bombed at the box office.

Justin Timberlake took on one of the many twisted roles in writer-director Richard Kelly’s black comic drama, Southland Tales (2006), co-starring Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Mandy Moore, and after a Cannes film festival premiere, developed an unexpected cult following despite an extremely divided critical response and poor box-office returns on its initial release.

Timberlake delivered his first voice performance for an animated feature in the sequel, Shrek the Third (2007), alongside Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews, and John Cleese, and which earned over $813 million globally. Timberlake joined Myers (as star, writer, and producer) for the disastrous comedy, The Love Guru (2008), with Jessica Alba, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, John Oliver, and Ben Kingsley.

Justin Timberlake had his first starring role in the Wim Wenders-executive produced The Open Road (2009), written and directed by Michael Meredith and co-starring Kate Mara, Jeff Bridges, Mary Steenburgen, Lyle Lovett, and Harry Dean Stanton. Timberlake had his first major role in a major feature with the David Fischer-directed The Social Network (2010), starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, and Max Minghella, winning three Oscars (including one for Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay) and grossing $225 million globally.

Timberlake was the voice of Boo-Boo in the big-screen version of the live-action/animated Yogi the Bear (2010), with Dan Aykroyd, Anna Faris, and Tom Cavanaugh, delivering a $203 million return for Warner Bros. Justin Timberlake co-starred in another hit with the Jake Kasdan-directed Bad Teacher (2011), starring Cameron Diaz, Lucy Punch, and Jason Segel, earning a robust $216 million. Timberlake’s next box-office smash was the rom-com Friends with Benefits (2011), directed and co-written by Will Gluck, in which Timberlake co-starred with Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, and Woody Harrelson, and earned $150 million for Sony Pictures.

Timberlake’s box-office hit run continued with filmmaker Andrew Niccol’s sci-fi movie, In Time (2011), with Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Olivia Wilde, and Johnny Galecki, grossing a good $174 million gross. Timberlake joined Clint Eastwood (also producer) in the Robert Lorenz-produced Trouble with the Curve (2012), co-starring Amy Adams, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard, and Robert Patrick.

Justin Timberlake was the lead star against Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterton, and Anthony Mackie in the crime thriller, Runner Runner (2013), directed by Brad Furman, and earned a good $63 million despite negative reviews. Timberlake collaborated with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen for the caustic music comedy-drama, Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, and Adam Driver, and which performed uncommonly well for a Coens movie with a $33 million return.

Timberlake landed the voice role of Branch in DreamWorks Animation’s hit franchise, starting with Trolls (2016), Trolls World Tour (2020), and Trolls Band Together (2023), starring Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Anderson. Paak, and Kenan Thompson—all of which continued Justin Timberlake’s remarkable box-office success.

This ended with Timberlake working with filmmaker Woody Allen on the tepid period drama, Wonder Wheel (2017), starring Kate Winslet, Jim Belushi, and Juno Temple, which resulted in a money-losing box office for Amazon Studios after premiering at the New York Film Festival.