I think Emile Hirsch was just destined for stardom. He’s been acting since the age of eight, and by the time he made his feature film debut in 2002, he had already accumulated credits on Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, NYPD Blue, 3rd Rock From The Sun, and ER. His first film, also his first starring role, was The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, co-starring alongside Kieran Culkin, Jodie Foster and Vincent D’Onofrio. For some reason, though, it doesn’t feel like his first big-screen performance. He followed The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys with the films The Emperor’s Club, Imaginary Heroes, Lords of Dogtown, and Alpha Dog, before gaining loads of acclaim in the Sean Penn-directed film Into the Wild. After Into the Wild, he starred in Speed Racer (which some might see as a blight on his record, but I think he was perfect for the role), but came back from that box office dud with another highly acclaimed film: Milk. Most recently he has appeared in the films Taking Woodstock, Killer Joe, and The Darkest Hour, and he has many more films on the way. Emile Hirsch turns 27 today.