Joseph Mazzello
Biography
Joseph Mazzello (born September 21, 1983 ) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tim Murphy in Jurassic Park, Roarke Hartman in The River Wild, Eugene Sledge in the HBO miniseries The Pacific, Dustin Moskovitz in The Social Network, and Queen bass player John Deacon in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Mazzello was born in Rhinebeck, New York, and raised in Hyde Park, New York, the son of Virginia (née Strong) and Joseph Francis Mazzello Jr., who owned a dance studio.
Mazzello is Italian American and went to the Catholic school Our Lady of Lourdes. He is an alumnus of the University of Southern California, entering the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2001 following a recommendation letter from director Steven Spielberg.
Mazzello paid for school with his salary from a small appearance in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), something the actor jokingly referred to as his graduation present from Spielberg.
Mazzello's first film appearance was a small role in the 1990's Presumed Innocent, starring Harrison Ford. He then went on to appear in Radio Flyer, Jersey Girl, and the TV film Desperate Choices: To Save My Child in 1992.
In 1993, Mazzello got his first big breakthrough when he portrayed Tim Murphy in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. Later in the same year, he also starred in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands. He later appeared in 1994's The River Wild as Roarke Hartman.
In 1995, Mazzello had roles in The Cure and Three Wishes. Both films were critical and commercial failures. Mazzello continued his film career with lead roles in Star Kid in 1997, and in Simon Birch with Ian Michael Smith in 1998.
Both were critical and commercial flops. He also provided voice-over work in the English dub of The Adventures of Buratino.
