Maxwell Jenkins

Biography

Maxwell Jenkins is an American TV & movie actor known for his roles- Oliver in "Betrayal", Tommy Kessler in Consumed(2015), Ryan Griggs in NCIS: New Orleans(2015), J.J. in Chicago Fire, Young Will in "Sense8", Will Robinson in "Lost in Space", Ryan Jensen in A Family Man(2016)

His recent appearances include- playing Thomas in Arcadian(2024), Jordan in "Dear Edward", Young Reacher in the crime thriller series "Reacher".

Childhood- Family

Maxwell Jenkins was born on 3rd May 2005 in Chicago, Illinois, United states to Jeff Jenkins(Father)- a former Ringling clown & Julie Greenberg(Mother) a film and theatre actress.

Maxwell has an younger sister named Sammy(Samantha) Ray Jenkins.

Maxwell is of  Italian and Russian Jewish descent.

Image: Maxwell Jenkins family: father Jeff Jenkins, sister Samantha Jenkins, mother Julie Greenberg

Education

• Lane Tech College Prep High School: Max studied at the magnet high school located in the Roscoe Village area of North Chicago, Illinois
• UCLA: He has been studying at the UCLA, where he has been part of the cheerleading team.

Midnight Circus

Both of Max's parents are founders of a circus company that donates money to the Chicago playgrounds (where the circus is hosted). Max's parents are animal activists and do not use animals in circus.

The company has donated $1m towards the Chicago park renovations, other community projects, and disaster relief efforts overseas as well.

Maxwell started performing at the circus at the age of 3. He and his sister sometimes perform together at the circus.

Maxwell is trained in tricks like acrobatics, juggling, playing mandolin, rola-bola, tightwire walking among others.

Career

Betrayal

[Maxwell Jenkins in Betrayal]

Max started his acting career through the ABC drama series Betrayal. He played Oliver in a total of 12 episodes. All 10 episodes of season 1 and two episodes of season 2.

It was developed by David Zabel, based on the Dutch drama series Overspel. The show was cancelled after the first season. 

It starred Hannah Ware as Sara Hanley, Henry Thomas as T.J. Karsten ,Wendy Moniz as Elaine McAllister,  Chris Johnson as Drew Stafford,  Braeden Lemasters as Victor McAllister, Elizabeth McLaughlin as Valerie McAllister, Stuart Townsend as Jack McAllister, James Cromwell as Thatcher Karsten in the main roles.

In the 2015 thriller movie Consumed, he played Tommy.

Max appeared in the episode I Do (S2E4)of crime series NCIS: Ne Orleans as Ryan Griggs in 2015.

In the action drama series Chicago Fire, he played the character J. J. in the episodes "I will be Walking" (S4E19) and "The Last One for Mom" (S4EE20)

In the musical comedy movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) he played the young Owen. Adult Owen was played by Jorma Taccone.

A Family Man

In the 2016 directorial debut movie by Mark Williams, Max played Ryan Jensen, the son of Dane Jensen (played by Gerard Butler) and Elise Jensen (played by Gretchen Mol). Dane was brother to Lauren Jensen (played by Julia Butters)

Story revolves around Dane Jensen, a corporate headhunter who job revolves around closing deals in a cut-throat competitive environement. Dane has tough competition with Lynn Wilson, they are competitors.

He is a family man with two children and a wife. He loves them, tries to dedicate his time with them as much as possible.

Dane thinks his son is getting a little of out of shape and starts jogging with him to encourage him to exercise. Ryan often complains of fatigue and has inexplicable bruises, later he is diagonized with cancer. 

Dane starts dedicating more of his time to the family, he loses to his competition at the office, eventually loses his job too. He starts his own company, working from home itself.

Sense8

In the Netflix sci-fi mystery series Sense8, he had a recurring role, he played Young Will in about 7 episodes of season 1 and 2. Brian J. Smith played the adult Will Gorski, an adult police officer

Joe Bell

In the biographical movie Joe Bell, he played Joseph Bell, son of Joe Bell (played by Mark Wahlberg) and his wife Lola Bell (played by Connie Britton).

The story revolves around Joseph's brother Jadin Bell's (played by Reid Miller) death, his homosexuality, bullying, school cheerleading and Joe's resolution to walk across the United States to speak out against bullying and honoring his teenage son Jadin Bell.

In the medical drama Chicago Med, he appeared as EJ Daniels in the episode "A square peg in a round hole"

Lost in Space

One of the early breakthroughs for Max was through the role of Will Robinson in the remake of Lost in Space. The original was released so long ago that his grandmother had watched that series when she was young.

Max played Will Robinson, son of Maureen Robinson (played by Molly Parker) and Toby Stephens (played by John Robinson), a tech geek and a prodigy, he saves a robot from the forest fire, which protects the family eventually. Will has two sisters in Judy Robinson (aylor Russell) and Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson)

The story is about an impact event which threatens the survival of the humanity. The Robinson family is one of the selected for the mission to fly to the Colonist Group, to seek a safe place for the humanity

In the amazon prime series Reacher, he played young reacher in 6 episodes of season 1.

In the Apple TV+ drama series Dear Edward, he plays Jordan Adler, brother of Edward Adler. Jordan dies in a plane crash. It was a main role and he appears in 10 episodes.

Arcadian

In the 2024 action horror movie arcadian directed by Ben Brewer, Max plays Thomas, the son of Paul (played by Nicolas Cage), Thomas has a twin brother in Joseph (played by Jaeden Martell)

The story is about Paul and his twins escaping the end days of humanity and surviving at a distant farmland. Thomas falls in love with Charlotte, a girl on the other farm.

Music Career

Cowboy Jesus & The Sugar Bums: Max is apart of the chicago based music band, he plays mandolin & sings vocals. It has received a Chicago Music Award.

Interesting Facts & Trivia

• Maxwell is learning Spanish in school.
• Max's grandfather (papa) went to school with Carl Sagan, the host of the famous physics show "Cosmos".
• Instagram Kindness Prom: Max attended the Instagram Prom on 6th April 2018 with his mother in Los Angeles.
• 11 from Stranger Things is his favorite characters from the show.
• Animal Lover: His family loves animals, they have rescued many animals, including couple of pitbulls named Rosie Rae and June bug.
• Captain America Fan: Maxwell is a big Captain America fan, his father made him a shield just like that of captain America's.
• Acting Debut: Maxwell was 8 years old when he started acting professionally on the ABC series "Betrayal"
• He is a Harry Potter fan. He is a Gryffindor, his sister Sam a Slytherin.
• Maxwell likes Marvel more than D.C
• Sports: Max likes Basketball, Soccer & Hockey. Not much of a rugby fan.
• He is addicted to his PS4, he likes video games in  general.
• Science Geek: He is a starwars fan, loves Startrek and loves science fiction and robots in general. He wants to study genetics.
• Maxwell takes classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
• He is a big fan of Barack Obama.
• Gerard Butler and Toby Stephens are among his favorite TV/ Movie Dads.
• Maxwell attended the 2018 Pasadena Alien Con.
• Maxwell's father Jeff on his son-> "He's incredibly humble, and kind, and hardworking, and his feet are planted firmly right here in Chicago."
• Endorsements: Some of the brands Maxwell has endorsed are-, Bear, Gucci, Lids, Netflix, SpaceX, Walker.
• 30 top actors under 30: The Hollywood Reporter recognized him as one of the "30 top actors under 30" in 2019

Activism & Philanthropy

• ASPCA Spokes: Max has been a spokesperson of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He advocates for protection and better treatment of dogs.
• Oceana: He has helped raise awareness about ocean related issues through groups like  Oceana
• Sports Mascots: National Congress of American Indians was raising awareness about removal of native american caricatures as sports mascots. Max led a petition at his own high school towards the removal of native american mascot. He argued at the school council that there have been constant efforts even in the past to progressively change and align with modernity, like they had allowed female students to the school in the past and that it is time to change the mascots. The school agreed to change the mascot.

Filmography

Movies

Series

Awards

Quotes

• If you don't anything kind to post, don't post. If you don't anything kind to comment, don't comment on it. 
• It doesn't feel better to tear someone else down.
• [On his parents' circus business] Circus is tough, but it is also fun.
• One of the biggest challenges of being on set was being away from my sister
• I love space.
• [About his sister Samantha] She is the best. I don’t know what I would do without her

Sources

1. Maxwell Jenkins on wikipedia
2.