Joel David Moore

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox personJoel David Moore (born September 25, 1977) is an American character actor and director. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Moore studied acting in college before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. His first major role was as Owen Dittman in the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, followed by roles in the comedy Grandma's Boy (2006), Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential (2006), and the independent slasher film Hatchet (2006).

In 2008, he was cast in the role of Colin Fisher on the Fox series Bones, a guest role he portrayed in sixteen episodes until the series' conclusion in 2017. In 2009, he was cast as Dr. Norm Spellman in James Cameron's Avatar (2009), a role he reprised for the film's sequels, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).

Moore has also starred in several music videos, and directed films: His directorial debut was the psychological thriller Spiral (2007), followed by the drama Youth in Oregon (2016). Moore also directed the film Killing Winston Jones which was shot in 2012 but never released.

Early life

Moore was born on September 25, 1977, in Portland, Oregon,<ref name="oregonian-2014apr">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=katu>Template:Cite news</ref> the son of Missy (née Irvine) and John Moore.<ref name=Pit>Template:Cite news</ref> Moore was raised in Portland, where his family resided in the Mount Tabor neighborhood.<ref name=Pit /> He graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School in 1995.<ref name="oregonian-2014apr"/><ref name=katu /><ref name=Pit />

After high school, Moore attended Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, for two years. In 1998, he transferred to Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree<ref name=Pit /> in 2001<ref name="oregonian-2014apr"/> and performed for two summers at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.<ref name=katu />

Career

2000–2007: Early roles

Before relocating to Hollywood, Moore starred with Gretchen Stouts and Nina Smidt in Tom Monson's Drug Wars, The High Times (1999), a video about underage binge drinking.<ref name=DW>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and appeared in several television commercials, including ones for eBay, Cingular Wireless, and Best Buy.<ref name=wood>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moore shot an international campaign for a branch of Siemens cell phones, XELIBRI, which won a Lion Award. Moore made an appearance in the music video for the song "Youth of the Nation" by rap rock band P.O.D.

Moore's first major film role was in 2004's Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Between 2004 and 2005, he appeared in a recurring guest role on the NBC series LAX.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This was followed by roles in the films Grandma's Boy, and as a jaded art student<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential (both 2006).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=deadline>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same year, he also had a lead role in the independent slasher film Hatchet,<ref name=deadline/> a bit part in The Shaggy Dog, and a supporting role in El Muerto, based on the eponymous comic book series. Also in 2007, Moore made directorial debut with the psychological thriller Spiral, which he filmed in his hometown of Portland, and co-starred in with Amber Tamblyn.<ref name=deadline/>

2008–present: Acting and directing

In 2008, he was cast in the supporting role of Dr. Norm Spellman in James Cameron's Avatar (2009).<ref name=deadline/> The same year, he was cast as intern Colin Fisher on the Fox series Bones,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a guest role he would portray across 16 episodes until the series' conclusion in 2017. During the fifth season episode "The Gamer in the Grease", his character invites two other characters, Dr.Jack Hodgins (portrayed by T. J. Thyne) and Dr. Lance Sweets (portrayed by John Francis Daley) to attend the Avatar premiere, in which Moore was also cast. Moore also had a supporting role in Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009), a remake of the 1956 film of the same name.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also starred alongside Katy Perry in her 2009 music video for "Waking Up in Vegas".<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Other film roles included a supporting part in 2012's Savages, directed by Oliver Stone,<ref name=hr>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in the crime-thriller Gone (2012), opposite Amanda Seyfried.<ref name=hr/> Moore directed Killing Winston Jones in fall 2012 in Savannah, Georgia, which starred Danny Glover, Jon Heder and Richard Dreyfuss.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The film was never released.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He would also reprise his role with a cameo appearance in Hatchet III (2013).<ref name=amgcredits>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During 2014–2015, he had a supporting role in the series Forever, and also in the thriller The Guest (2014),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Joey Ramone in the 2013 historical film CBGB.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2016, he directed his second feature, Youth in Oregon, starring Frank Langella, Christina Applegate and Billy Crudup.<ref name=deadline/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, it was reported that Moore had signed on to appear in the Avatar sequels, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Acting roles

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Foxfire	First Geek
2000	Drug Wars, The High Times	Jake
2004	Raising Genius	Rolf
	Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story	Owen Dittman
2005	Reel Guerrillas	Nick Walker	The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning
2006	Grandma's Boy	J.P.
	Template:Sortname	Pound employee
	Art School Confidential	Bardo
	Miles from Home	Miles	Short film
	The Elder Son	Kenny
	Hatchet	Ben
2007	American Hustle	3rd Spartan
	El Muerto	Issac "Zak" Silver
	Spiral	Mason	Also co-director and co-screenwriter
	Shanghai Kiss	Joe Silverman
2008	Template:Sortname	Nate Cooper	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Paris Hilton)
	Wieners	Greg King
	Template:Sortname	Sam Hane	Short film
	Fairy Tale Police	Big Bad Wolf
2009	Beyond a Reasonable Doubt	Corey Finley
	Bed Ridden	Jay	Short film
	Stuntmen	Troy Lebowski
	Avatar	Dr. Norm Spellman
2010	Template:Sortname	Peter	Short film
	Janie Jones	Dave
2011	Chillerama	Adolf Hitler	Segment: "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein"
	Grassroots	Grant Cogswell
	Julia X 3D	Sam
	Shark Night	Gordon Guthrie
2012	Gone	Nick Massey
	Jewtopia	Adam Lipschitz
	Savages	Craig
2013	Hatchet III	Ben	Cameo
	CBGB	Joey Ramone
2014	The Guest	Craig
	#Stuck	Guy
	Grace: The Possession	Luke
2015	Divine Access	Nigel
2017	Drone	Gary
2020	Cut Throat City	Peter Felton
	The Morning After	Guy
2022	The Immaculate Room	Jason Wright
	Daniel's Gotta Die	Daniel Powell
	The Baker	Peter
	Avatar: The Way of Water	Dr. Norm Spellman
2023	The Retirement Plan	Fitzsimmons
2025	Kinda Pregnant	Mark
	Template:Pending film	Dr. Norm Spellman	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	City Guys	Hoover	1 episode
2001–2002	Boston Public	Hartzell	2 episodes
2002	Deep Cover	Pete Steinem
	Boomtown	Usher #2	Episode: "Insured by Smith & Wesson"
	Providence	Howard	Episode: "The Eleventh Hour"
2003	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Pete	Episode: "Romance Looming"
	Angel	Karl Vamp	Episode: "Salvage"
	Six Feet Under	Video Clerk	Episode: "The Opening"
	Strong Medicine	Dan	Episode: "Bad Liver"
2004	Template:Sortname		Television film
	Template:Sortname	Malcolm Reeves	Episode: "Sparkle"
2004–2005	LAX	Eddie Carson	Recurring role, 9 episodes
2005	Cooked	Mike	Television film
	Template:Sortname	Brian Pines	Episode: "Declawed"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Guy in the Yellow Hat	Episode: "Dog Eat Dog"
2005–2006	E-Ring	Greg – NSA Liaison	Recurring role, 5 episodes
2007	Template:Sortname	Cooter Davenport	Television film
	House M.D.	Eddie	Episodes: "One Day, One Room", "Act Your Age"
2008	My Name Is Earl	Clyde	Episode: "Quit Your Snitchin'"
2008–2017	Bones	Colin Fisher	Recurring role, 16 episodes
2009–2010	Medium	Keith Bruning	4 episodes
2010	Chuck	Mackintosh	Episode: "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock"
2011	Hawaii Five-0	Sheldon Tunney	Episode: "Kai e'e"
	Last Man Standing	Bruce	Episodes: "Pilot", "Grandparents Day"
2014–2015	Forever	Lucas Wahl	Main role
2017	Budding Prospects	Phil	Television film
	American Housewife	Captain Beauregard	Episode: "Gala Auction"
2018	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Noah	Episode: "All the Comforts of Home"

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist	Notes
2001	"Youth of the Nation"	P.O.D.
2008	"Beat It"	Fall Out Boy
2009	"Waking Up in Vegas"	Katy Perry
2010	"It's Not Christmas Without You"	Katharine McPhee

Filmmaking roles

Feature Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
2007	Spiral	Template:YesTemplate:Efn	Template:Partial	Template:Yes
2012	Killing Winston Jones	Template:Yes	Template:Partial	Template:No	Cancelled film release
2016	Youth in Oregon	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
2021	Hide and Seek	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2023	Some Other Woman	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No

As producer Etienne! (2009) The Immaculate Room (2022) Bride Hard (2025) The Leader (pending)

As executive producer Shadowheart (2009) Jewtopia (2012) Stuck (2014) Paint (2023) Desperation Road (2023)

Short Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
2006	Miles from Home	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2009	FoundTemplate:Efn	Template:Yes	Template:No
2010	Hours Before	Template:Yes	Template:Yes

External links

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