Born in Rhinebeck, New York, he got into acting
when he was 5 years old, after his sister had appeared in 30-odd
commercials. Since then he has acted opposite some of the best actors
in Hollywood as a bright, expressive actor with complexity,
sensitivity, and emotion. He attended film school at USC and got a
degree in cinema and television production. He plans on continuing his
acting career while also following his aspirations of becoming a
director.
Joseph was originally going to play Jack Banning, Robin Williams' son in Hook (1991), but he was too young for the part. Steven Spielberg went out of his way to the point of changing the script for Jurassic Park (1993) so that Joseph could play Tim.
In the original 1990 novel of Jurassic Park, Tim was age 11 and Lex was age 8. Steven Spielberg swapped their ages in Jurassic Park (1993) so that Joseph could play Tim.