Acting Haas was discovered at the age of five in his kindergarten by
casting director Margery Simkin. His first screen role was as a child in the 1983
nuclear holocaust film
Testament. He became more widely known in 1985 when, at the age of eight, he appeared in
Witness. His performance as an
Amish boy who is the sole witness to a police officer's murder was well received by critics. Haas followed this with roles in films, such as
Solarbabies (1986) and
Lady in White (1988). In 1989, he appeared in the film
Music Box, as the 12-year-old son of
Jessica Lange's character, and grandson of an immigrant who is accused of being a
war criminal. For this role he was nominated for the Young Artist Award. He also starred in the films
Alan and Naomi (1992) and
Rambling Rose (1991). Haas received an
Emmy nomination for his portrayal of
Ryan White in the television film
The Ryan White Story (1989), about an American teenager who contracted
AIDS through contaminated blood treatments for
hemophilia. On stage in 1988, he performed in
Samuel Beckett's
Waiting for Godot at
Lincoln Center in New York City. He went on to appear in
Everyone Says I Love You,
Mars Attacks!, and
Breakfast of Champions. His work in the 2000s includes
Brick,
Last Days, and
While She Was Out. Haas also gained recognition for his portrayal of The Patient in the music video for the
My Chemical Romance song "
Welcome to the Black Parade". In March 2010, Haas was inducted into the
Texas Film Hall of Fame. More recently he appeared in
Red Riding Hood,
Contraband and
Christopher Nolan's
Inception. He has made guest appearances in
Amazing Stories, both the
1985 and the
2002 versions of
The Twilight Zone,
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,
As Told by Ginger,
The Zeta Project,
24,
Criminal Minds,
Dirt and
Entourage. He had a role on the 2012 television series
Touch. In 2014, he co-starred in the horror film
Dark Was the Night. In 2018, Haas played astronaut
Michael Collins, the
Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot, in
First Man, a film about the first human Moon landing space flight in 1969. The film was directed by
Damien Chazelle, with whom he reunited in the 2022 film
Babylon. In September 2024, he was cast in a recurring role on the upcoming superhero series
Spider-Noir.
Music Haas is the drummer and pianist for The Rogues. He has composed parts of several film soundtracks, including
Breakfast of Champions and
Last Days, and performed as a guest musician on the
Macy Gray album
The Trouble with Being Myself and the
Jet album
Shaka Rock. In 2008, he released a solo
EP. He appeared in the music videos for
OutKast's "
Roses,"
My Chemical Romance's "
Welcome to the Black Parade,"
UGK's "
International Player's Anthem (I Choose You),"
Death Cab For Cutie's "
Cath…," and Jet's "
She's a Genius". On February 25, 2011, the media announced that Haas had released a musical collaboration with
Isabel Lucas called "Made for You". The recorded and video clip were filmed in Lukas' LA studio, and were later revealed to be a marketing campaign of the Portuguese band
The Gift for their album
Explode. ==Filmography==