Ellar Coltrane

Coltrane was born in Austin, Texas, to Genevieve (née Kinney), an equine-assisted therapist for autistic people, and Bruce Salmon, a musician. their parents divorced when they were nine, and their mother subsequently remarried. Coltrane's half-sister, Evelyn, was born when they were 11.

In 2001, at age six, Coltrane was cast by filmmaker Richard Linklater to play the title character in the film Boyhood; Linklater wanted to make an unprecedented film that would show a boy's coming of age, but with the actors growing up or aging on screen. Coltrane and other members of the cast were filmed intermittently for several days at a time between May 2002 and August 2013, by which time Coltrane had turned 19; there were 45 days of filming altogether. During Coltrane's childhood, they also appeared in various other films, including a small role in Linklater's 2006 film Fast Food Nation.

In 2016, Coltrane appeared in the Barack Obama drama film Barry, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The following year, they co-starred with Emma Watson in James Ponsoldt's film adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel The Circle (2017), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.