
Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor and producer. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at early age, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his high school senior year. He left high school without graduating, but earned a diploma through a professional education course, and graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in film. For much of the mid-1990s, he lived in New York City as a struggling, unemployed actor. As an undergraduate at BYU, Eckhart met director and writer Neil LaBute, who cast him in several of his own original plays. Five years later Eckhart made a debut as an unctuous, sociopathic ladies' man in LaBute's black comedy film In the Company of Men (1997). Under LaBute's guidance he worked in the director's films Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Nurse Betty (2000), and Possession (2002). Eckhart gained wide recognition as George in Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed film Erin Brockovich (2000), and, in 2006, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Nick Naylor in Thank You for Smoking. He gained further mainstream breakout in 2008 when he starred in the blockbuster Batman film The Dark Knight as District Attorney Harvey Dent / Two-Face. Eckhart's other key roles include The Pledge (2001), The Core (2003), Paycheck (2003), Rabbit Hole (2010), Battle: Los Angeles (2011), Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and its sequel London Has Fallen (2016), I, Frankenstein (2014), Sully (2016), Midway (2019) and Line Of Duty (2019).
Aaron Edward Eckhart
Profile images from TMDB · click to enlarge
7 images
Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).
81
Acting credits
0
Directing
0
Writing
4
Other crew
Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)
The Dark Knight
2008 · movie · as Harvey Dent
Pantheon
2022 · tv · as Cary Duval (voice)
Frasier
1993 · tv · as Frank
Erin Brockovich
2000 · movie · as George
Deep Water
2026 · movie · as Ben
Sully
2016 · movie · as Jeff Skiles
Thank You for Smoking
2005 · movie · as Nick Naylor
Conan
2010 · tv · as Self
Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)
The Dark Knight
2008 · movie
Sully
2016 · movie
Olympus Has Fallen
2013 · movie
London Has Fallen
2016 · movie
Battle: Los Angeles
2011 · movie
Erin Brockovich
2000 · movie
Midway
2019 · movie
Thank You for Smoking
2005 · movie
By release / first air year · movie & TV merged