Early roles and breakthrough (2012–2017) During a middle-school play production, Hedges was spotted by the casting director for
Wes Anderson's
Moonrise Kingdom (2012), who eventually cast him in the film as Redford.
Jason Reitman's romance
Labor Day (2013), and
Terry Gilliam's science fiction film
The Zero Theorem (2013). In 2014, Hedges had a minor role in Anderson's
The Grand Budapest Hotel and played the son of
Jeremy Renner's character in
Michael Cuesta's drama
Kill the Messenger, which was based on
CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking. The latter led the critic
Todd McCarthy to rank him as "very good," and Rodrigo Perez of
IndieWire considered him to be the "surprise stand-out of the cast." In 2015, he was cast in the
NBC miniseries
The Slap, which was adapted from the
Australian series of the same name. Hedges next joined the cast of
Kenneth Lonergan's independent drama
Manchester by the Sea (2016). In it, he played Patrick Chandler, a 16-year-old boy dealing with the recent death of his father, who is left in the care of his unwilling and troubled uncle (played by
Casey Affleck). The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival. Tim Robey of
The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Hedges, phenomenal, fights off every cliché of 'troubled' teenagerhood and gives us a gruff, sympathetic boy with a tearaway sex drive."
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian said his performance was "glorious" and added that he "makes a tremendous troubled 16-year-old." It earned over $78 million against its $9 million budget. For his work, Hedges won a
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, and received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, among others. The following year, Hedges made his stage debut as the lead in the Trip Cullman-directed
off-Broadway play
Yen, penned by the playwright
Anna Jordan. The production ran from February 19 to March 4 at the
Lucille Lortel Theatre. Taking note of his performance as an aggressive and violent teenager who shares a troubled relationship with his half-brother,
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times wrote that he "delivers an expert anatomy of an adolescent on the edge of explosion". Hedges was nominated for the
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play and won the
Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut Performance. Also in 2017, Hedges had supporting roles in two films—
Greta Gerwig's directorial debut
Lady Bird and
Martin McDonagh's crime drama
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, both of which were nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. The cast of the latter film were awarded with the
SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast.
Lead roles and theatre (2018–present) Hedges had three film releases in 2018. He played the supporting role of a teenager who violently bullies his younger brother (played by
Sunny Suljic) in
Mid90s, which marked the directorial debut of
Jonah Hill. Eric Kohn of
IndieWire wrote, "Hedges, quickly becoming the most impressive actor of his generation, buries himself in the gruff, unhappy role of an angst-riddled teen." Hedges played the lead role in his two other 2018 films
Boy Erased and
Ben Is Back. In the former, based on the
eponymous memoir, he played the son of a Baptist pastor who is forced to take part in a
gay conversion therapy program.
Russell Crowe and
Nicole Kidman played his parents. Writing for
The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Farber noted that Hedges "carries the entire show and is alternately frightened, bewildered and defiant. There isn't a false note in his performance." For
Boy Erased, Hedges received a nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama. In
Ben Is Back, a drama directed by his father and co-starring
Julia Roberts, he played the titular character, a drug addict who returns home after spending time in rehab. Pete Hammond of
Deadline Hollywood praised both Roberts's and Hedges's performances, adding that they "are pitch perfect together, never striking a false note in demonstrating the everlasting bond between a mother and son." Also in 2018, Hedges made his first appearance on
Broadway in a revival of Kenneth Lonergan's play
The Waverly Gallery, alongside
Elaine May, at the
John Golden Theatre. He played the role of a teenager coping with his grandmother's
Alzheimer's disease.
Chris Jones of the
Chicago Tribune credited him for effectively conveying the "frustration family members feel when one of their own starts to decline."
Honey Boy, a drama penned by and co-starring
Shia LaBeouf about his childhood and relationship with his father, marked Hedges's first film release of 2019. Hedges and
Noah Jupe played Otis Lort, a character based on LaBeouf, at different ages. Reviewing the film for
Entertainment Weekly, Leah Greenblatt wrote that Hedges "doesn’t seem to have found a role yet he can’t fully inhabit; his Otis is raw and furious, and genuinely funny." He next took on a supporting part in
Trey Edward Shults'
Waves, a drama about the emotional journey of a suburban family, which led Peter Debruge of
Variety to consider it "an impactful reminder of how much the actor can bring to a smaller role". In 2020, Hedges appeared in the miniseries
Home Movie: The Princess Bride for
Quibi to raise money for
World Central Kitchen. Also that year, he starred alongside
Michelle Pfeiffer in the black comedy
French Exit, and was part of the ensemble cast of
Steven Soderbergh's comedy film
Let Them All Talk. In his review for the former film, IndieWire's David Ehrlich was appreciate of Hedges' "subdued but strikingly thoughtful performance". The following year, he appeared in an episode of the
FX anthology series
The Premise. Hedges took a small break from acting to focus on writing, and returned to the stage in a 2023
West End theatre production of
Brokeback Mountain at
@sohoplace, in which he starred as
Ennis Del Mar opposite
Mike Faist's
Jack Twist. Comparing his performance to
Heath Ledger's portrayal of Del Mar in the
2005 film of the same name, theatre critic Matt Wolf of
The New York Times wrote that Hedges "may not have the immediate physical command that Ledger had onscreen, but he shares his late predecessor’s furrowed brow and a sense of roiling anguish". The following year, he had a supporting role in the biographical film
Shirley, about the 1972 presidential run of
Shirley Chisholm. Hedge's next release,
Sorry, Baby, starring, written and directed by
Eva Victor, premiered at the
2025 Sundance Film Festival. Commenting on his role as a kind neighbour of the film's troubled protagonist (played by Victor), Peter Debruge considered it "perfectly suited to Lucas Hedges’ uniquely sensitive energy". He is set to star alongside
Daniel Radcliffe in the war thriller
Trust the Man. ==Personal life==