• Faith: Bahai
• Career: Actor
• Birthday:  January 24, 1984

Justin Baldoni was born in Los Angeles, California, and was raised in Memford, Oregon. His mother was born to Ashkenazi parents, while his father grew up Catholic. By the time Baldoni was born, both of his parents had converted to the Baháʼí Faith. At South Medford High School, Baldoni was involved in track and soccer. In his last year of high school, Baldoni tore his hamstring, preventing him from running in college. After moving back to Los Angeles, Baldoni was encouraged by a manager to pursue a career in acting. His debut performance in 2004 was on The Young and the Restless. In 2012, Baldoni produced a show titled My Last Days. The show followed the stories and reflections of individuals with terminal illnesses. The episodes illuminated how people cope with death, purpose, and the temporal nature of life. Then, in 2013, Baldoni married Emily Foxler. The couple has a son and a daughter.

Baldoni is better known for his role as Rafael Solano in the CW series, Jane the Virgin. In 2019, he directed Five Feet Apart, and a year later, he directed Clouds. In 2024, Baldoni directed It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover's widely popular romance novel of the same title.

Is Justin Baldoni Religious?

In his directing, Baldoni's faith shapes how he structures the work environment. Actors and executives who have worked with him often have differing views on practices he incorporates, such as leading a prayer before filming or having the cast open up to each other about their personal lives and feelings. He has also co-founded a Baháʼí media company named Wayfarer Entertainment.

Being Baháʼí has had an immense impact on how Baldoni understands the nature of faith. He describes faith as having a conscious knowledge of what is true and good and acting on it. For Baldoni, knowledge without action is not faith at all. The actor is vocal about his faith and Baháʼí practices on his platforms. He shares Baháʼí customs, such as the holiday Ayyám-i-Há, a day when Baháʼís spread joy, exchange gifts, and perform acts of service to others. Baldoni has also been an active advocate for the Baháʼí in Iran, the country where the tradition was founded during the mid-19th century. Baháʼí suffered persecution from the Iranian government. Although the Baháʼí is a universalist religion, Muslim elites in Iran see it as unorthodox and contrary to Islam.

Baldoni's faith has been a topic of contention in a case involving him and actor Blake Lively, who in the early months of 2025 sparked controversy by marrying her husband, Ryan Reynolds, at a cotton plantation.

In December 2024, the It Ends With Us actor filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment against Baldoni when—among a number of other allegations—she learned that her character would be giving birth with a doctor played by Adam Mondschein. Not only are Mondschein and Baldoni reportedly close friends, but Mondschein also belongs to Baldoni's Baháʼí community. The resulting litigation has had a drastic impact on Hollywood, with actors, producers, and others backing Lively or Baldoni. This, combined with mixed views on how Baldoni brings his faith into the workplace as a director, has sparked debates about the place of religion in professional work environments like the production set.