Moore was born September 25, 1977 in Portland, Oregon, the son of Missy (née Irvine) and John Moore. Moore was raised in Portland, where his family resided in the Mount Tabor neighborhood. He graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School in 1995.
Before relocating to Hollywood, Joel starred with Gretchen Stouts and Nina Smidt in Tom Monson's Drug Wars, The High Times (1999), a video about underage binge drinking.
In 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and appeared in several television commercials, including ones for eBay, Cingular Wireless, and Best Buy. Moore shot an international campaign for a branch of Siemens cell phones, XELIBRI, which won a Lion Award.
Moore's first major film role was in 2004's Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Between 2004 and 2005, he appeared in a recurring guest role on the NBC series LAX. This was followed by roles in the films Grandma's Boy, and as a jaded art student in Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential (both 2006). The same year, he also had a lead role in the independent slasher film Hatchet, a bit part in The Shaggy Dog, and a supporting role in El Muerto, based on the eponymous comic book series. Also in 2007, Moore made directorial debut with the psychological thriller Spiral, which he filmed in his hometown of Portland, and co-starred in with Amber Tamblyn.
Moore has also starred in several music videos, and directed films: His directorial debut was the psychological thriller Spiral (2007), followed by the drama Youth in Oregon (2016), and Killing Winston Jones (2018).
In 2008, he was cast in the supporting role of Dr. Norm Spillman in James Cameron's Avatar (2009). The same year, he was cast as Colin Fisher on the Fox series Bones, a guest role he would portray across sixteen episodes until the series' conclusion in 2017. Moore also had a supporting role in Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009), a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. He also starred alongside Katy Perry in her music video for "Waking Up in Vegas" in 2009.
He would also reprise his role with a cameo appearance in Hatchet III (2013). Between 2014 and 2015, he portrayed the lead role in the series Forever, and also had film roles in the thriller The Guest (2014), and played Joey Ramone in the historical film CBGB (2013).
In 2016, he directed his second feature, Youth in Oregon, starring Frank Langella, Christina Applegate, and Billy Crudup. In 2017, it was reported that Moore had signed on to appear in both of the Avatar sequels, Avatar 2 (2020) and Avatar 3 (2021).
