What is Justin Bartha's Net Worth and Salary?
Justin Bartha is an American actor who has a net worth of $25 million. Justin Bartha is probably best known for his roles in the "National Treasure" and "Hangover" film series. On television, Justin Bartha earned recognition for his work on the NBC sitcom "The New Normal" and the CBS All Access legal drama "The Good Fight." Bartha's other credits include the films "The Rebound," "Holy Rollers," and "Dark Horse," and the theatrical productions "Lend Me a Tenor" and "Asuncion."
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Justin Bartha was born on July 21, 1978 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Betty, a school teacher, and Stephen, a real estate developer. He has an older brother named Jeffrey. Bartha grew up in a Reform Jewish family. When he was eight, he moved with his family to West Bloomfield, Michigan. He went on to attend West Bloomfield High School, graduating in 1996. Subsequently, Bartha moved to New York City to study filmmaking and theatre at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
Bartha started his film career working behind the camera as a production assistant on the mafia comedy "Analyze This." Shortly after, he made his acting debut in the drama film "54," in which he played an uncredited part as a club-goer at the titular Studio 54 in New York City. Bartha was subsequently in the short film "Tag."
Film Career
In 2003, Bartha played the role of Brian in the critically reviled comedy "Gigli," starring Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. He played another character named Brian in the short film "Carnival Sun," and wrote and directed a short film called "Highs and Lows." Bartha had one of his most notable roles in 2004, playing sarcastic computer expert Riley Poole in the action adventure film "National Treasure." Costarring Nicolas Cage, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, and Harvey Keitel, the film was a substantial box-office success, spawning the 2007 sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," in which Bartha reprised his role as Poole. His other credits around this time include the romantic comedies "Trust the Man" and "Failure to Launch."
Following an appearance in the romantic anthology film "New York, I Love You," Bartha had another of his most popular roles in the 2009 hit comedy "The Hangover." In the film, he played Doug Billings, a member of the self-titled "Wolfpack" who goes missing after a raucous night of partying in Las Vegas. Bartha reprised his role in the sequels "The Hangover Part II" and "The Hangover Part III." The actor has had many more prominent roles over the years. The same year as the first "Hangover" film, Bartha starred in the romantic comedies "Jusqu'à toi" and "The Rebound." In 2010, he played ecstasy dealer Yosef Zimmerman in the indie dramedy "Holy Rollers," starring Jesse Eisenberg. Bartha's other credits have included "Dark Horse," "CBGB," "White Girl," "Sticky Notes," "Driven," "Sorry for Your Loss," "Against the Clock," and "Sweet Girl."
(Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)
Hangover Payday
The four primary actors in "The Hangover" – Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Justin – were relative unknowns before the movie was officially green-lit. The studio behind the project was so concerned about the lack of star power that it came very close to killing the movie altogether. Thankfully (for comedy fans), the movie's director Todd Phillips was so confident in his chosen actors that he went to the studio and offered to give back $6.5 million in salary in exchange for back-end points. He also reminded the studio that those four actors were set to earn less than $1 million, collectively.
The studio relented and the first Hangover went on to make $470 million at the box office and $75 million off DVD sales. It was the highest grossest R-rated comedy up to that point.
Amazingly, the studio never thought the lock in the four actors or Phillips for potential sequels. The group was therefore able to negotiate generous salaries and backend shares. When the sequel earned nearly $600 million at the box office, Todd Phillips earned another $70 million and the four actors each earned $30 million.
In total Phillips earned $150 million from the three Hangover movies and the four primary actors earned $40 million.
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Television Career
Bartha first appeared on the small screen in the 2004 HBO television film "Strip Search." A couple years later, he was part of the main cast of the short-lived NBC sitcom "Teachers," which costarred Sarah Alexander, Phil Hendrie, and Deon Richmond. Bartha subsequently lent his voice to the History Channel miniseries "WWII in HD."
Bartha had his television breakthrough in 2012, when he began a main role on the NBC sitcom "The New Normal." He played obstetrician David Sawyer, one half of a gay couple that decides to use a surrogate mother to have a child. Bartha acted opposite Andrew Rannells in the show's 22 episodes, before the series was ultimately canceled in 2013. Following this, Bartha was part of the main cast of the short-lived Fox sitcom "Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life."
From 2017 to 2018, he had another main role, this time on the legal series "The Good Fight." Appearing in the show's first two seasons, Bartha played Colin Morrello, a lawyer in the US Attorney's office who becomes a congressman for the 1st district of Illinois. Bartha's other television credits have included the comedy series "Drunk History" and the crime drama "Godfather of Harlem."
Stage Career
In 2010, Bartha made his theatrical debut playing Max in the Broadway revival of Ken Ludwig's farcical play "Lend Me a Tenor." The production costarred Tony Shalhoub, Brooke Adams, Jan Maxwell, and Anthony LaPaglia. The next year, Bartha played Charlie in Zach Braff's original play "All New People," costarring Anna Camp, Krysten Ritter, and David Wilson Barnes. He also reunited with his "Holy Rollers" costar Jesse Eisenberg to star in Eisenberg's off-Broadway play "Asuncion." Bartha went on to appear in a production of "The Sunshine Boys" at Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, and later in "Permission" at MCC Theatre in New York. He also appeared in Jesse Eisenberg's short play "A Little Part of All of Us," which was produced for the non-profit organization Playing on Air. Beyond his acting, Bartha served as a guest director at the Matrix Theatre Company, where he directed the teenage company in the play "Are You Passing?"
Personal Life
In January of 2014, Bartha married Pilates instructor Lia Smith in Hawaii. Shortly after, the couple had a daughter named Asa Charlotte. In 2016, Bartha and Smith had another daughter named Ruby.
