Sam Rockwell on screen and stage

Rockwell at the premiere of Moon at the Tribeca Film Institute

Sam Rockwell is an American actor. He became well known for his leading roles in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Lawn Dogs (1997), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Matchstick Men (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Moon (2009), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), G-Force (2009), Seven Psychopaths (2012), Mr. Right (2015), Richard Jewell (2019), and The Bad Guys (2022). He has also played supporting roles in The Green Mile (1999), Galaxy Quest (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Frost/Nixon (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Conviction (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), The Way, Way Back (2013), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Vice (2018), and Jojo Rabbit (2019).

For his performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Rockwell won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1989 Clownhouse Randy
1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Head Thug
1991 Strictly Business Gary
1992 Jack and His Friends Louie
In the Soup Pauli
Light Sleeper Jealous
Happy Hell Night Young Henry Collins
1994 Somebody to Love Polish Guy
The Search for One-eye Jimmy Jimmy "One-eye Jimmy" Hoyt
1995 Drunks Tony
Glory Daze Rob
Mercy Matty
1996 Bad Liver and a Broken Heart Broken Heart Short film
Basquiat Thug
Box of Moonlight The Kid a.k.a. Bucky
1997 Arresting Gena Sonny
Lawn Dogs Trent Burns
1998 The Call Back Alan / Christopher Walken
Jerry and Tom Jerry
Louis & Frank Sam
Safe Men Sam
Celebrity Brandon Darrow's Entourage
1999 A Midsummer Night's Dream Francis Flute
The Green Mile William "Wild Bill" Wharton
Galaxy Quest Guy Fleegman
2000 Charlie's Angels Eric Knox
2001 D.C. Smalls Karaoke Singer Short film
Pretzel Sam Short film
BigLove Nate Short film
Made Hotel Clerk Uncredited
Heist Jimmy Silk
2002 13 Moons Rick
Running Time The Hunted Short film
Welcome to Collinwood Pero "Pepe" Mahalovic
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Chuck Barris
Stella Shorts 1998–2002 Pizza Guy Direct-to-video; Short: "Bored"
2003 Matchstick Men Frank Mercer
2004 Piccadilly Jim Jim Crocker / Piccadilly Jim
2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox
The F Word Jeremy
Robin's Big Date The Bat-Man Short film
2007 Joshua Brad Cairn
Snow Angels Glenn Marchand
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Charley Ford
2008 Woman in Burka Sam Short film
Choke Victor Mancini
Frost/Nixon James Reston Jr.
2009 The Winning Season Bill Greaves
Moon Sam Bell [1]
G-Force Darwin Voice
Gentlemen Broncos Bronco / Brutus
Everybody's Fine Robert Goode
2010 Iron Man 2 Justin Hammer [2]
F—K Sam Short film
Conviction Kenneth Waters [3]
2011 Cowboys & Aliens Doc [4]
The Sitter Karl Fairhurst
2012 Seven Psychopaths Billy Bickle [5]
2013 The Way, Way Back Owen
A Single Shot John Moon
Trust Me Aldo Stankas
A Case of You Gary
2014 Better Living Through Chemistry Douglas Varney
All Hail the King Justin Hammer Short film
Laggies Craig Hunter
Loitering with Intent Wayne
2015 Digging for Fire Ray
Don Verdean Don Verdean
Poltergeist Eric Bowen [6]
Mr. Right Francis Munch / Mr. Right
2017 Axis Himself Voice
The Dark of Night Officer Witt Short film
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Officer Jason Dixon Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor [7]
Woman Walks Ahead Colonel Silas Grove
2018 Blaze Oilman #1
Mute Sam Bell Uncredited cameo
Blue Iguana Eddie
Vice George W. Bush [8]
2019 The Best of Enemies C. P. Ellis
Jojo Rabbit Captain Klenzendorf [9]
Richard Jewell Watson Bryant [10]
2020 Trolls World Tour Hickory Voice [11]
The One and Only Ivan Ivan Voice
2022 The Bad Guys Mr. Wolf Voice [12]
See How They Run Inspector Stoppard [13]
2024 Argylle Aidan Wilde
IF Guardian Dog Voice
2025 The Bad Guys 2 † Mr. Wolf[14] Voice role; in production
TBA Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die † TBA Post-production
Stuntnuts: The Movie † Himself Post-production
Untitled Merle Haggard Biopic † Merle Haggard Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1988 The Equalizer Slick Episode: "The Child Broker"
1989 Dream Street Joey Episode: "Girl's Talk"
1990 ABC Afterschool Special Jason Episode: "Over the Limit"
1992–1993 Law & Order Randy Borland, Officer Weddeker 2 episodes
1993 Lifestories: Families in Crisis Kevin Tunell Episode: "Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story"
1995 NYPD Blue Billy Episode: "Torah! Torah! Torah!"
1997 Subway Stories Man Eating Television film
Prince Street Donny Hanson 6 episodes
2005 Stella Gary Meadows Episode: "Office Party"
2011 Gettysburg Narrator Documentary
Voice
2012 Napoleon Dynamite Filson Episode: "FFA"
Voice
2015 Drunk History Bugsy Siegel Episode: "Las Vegas"
2015–2021 F Is for Family Vic Reynolds 44 episodes
Voice
2016 Inside Amy Schumer Sam Episode: "Fame"
2018 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Sam Rockwell/Halsey"
2019 Fosse/Verdon Bob Fosse 8 episodes, also executive producer
2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride Westley Episode: "Chapter Five: Life Is Pain" [15]
2022 The Last Movie Stars Stuart Rosenberg 6 episodes docuseries
Voice
2023 What If...? Justin Hammer Voice; Episode: "What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?"

Theatre

Year Title Role Playwright Venue Ref.
1998-1999 Goose-Pimples Vernon Mike Leigh Theatre Row, Off-Broadway [16]
2000 The Hot l Baltimore Bill Lewis Lanford Wilson Williamstown Theatre Festival [17]
2001 Zoo Story Jerry Edward Albee
The Dumb Waiter Gus Harold Pinter
2005 The Last Days of Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot Stephen Adly Guirgis The Public Theater, Off-Broadway [18]
2010 A Behanding in Spokane Mervyn Martin McDonagh Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway [19]
2011 A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Kowalski Tennessee Williams Williamstown Theatre Festival [20]
2014 Fool for Love Eddie Sam Shepard [21]
2015 Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway [22]
2022 American Buffalo Teach David Mamet Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway [23]

Music videos

Year Title Artist(s) Role Ref.
2015 "Down to Earth" Flight Facilities Himself [24]
2024 "Electric Energy" Ariana DeBose, Boy George and Nile Rodgers Himself [25]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2009 G-Force Darwin Voice
2016 Dishonored 2 Mortimer Ramsey Voice

See also

References

  1. ^ Hoad, Phil (July 23, 2019). "How we made Moon – by Sam Rockwell and Duncan Jones". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Ebert, Roger (May 5, 2010). "Slick sequel sports a sick superhero". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  3. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (October 12, 2010). "From Waitress to Brother's Savior, Then Hollywood Hero". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 27, 2011). "Where the deer and the bug-eyed monsters play". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  5. ^ Gilbey, Ryan (December 6, 2012). "Sam Rockwell – last of the goofballs". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  6. ^ Olsen, Mark (May 22, 2015). "Review: 'Poltergeist' remake haunted by its original version". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  7. ^ Gilbey, Ryan (January 16, 2018). "Sam Rockwell got his award for playing a racist cop, not being one". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Desta, Yohana (October 3, 2018). "Vice Is About Dick Cheney, but Sam Rockwell's George W. Bush May Steal the Show". Vanity Fair. New York City. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  9. ^ Brody, Richard (October 22, 2019). "Springtime for Nazis: How the Satire of "Jojo rabbit" Backfires". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  10. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (January 31, 2020). "Richard Jewell review – Clint Eastwood's bomb-hero drama fails to detonate". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  11. ^ Hammond, Pete (April 10, 2020). "'Trolls World Tour' Review: Justin Timberlake & Anna Kendrick Return With Harmonic, Fun, Colorful And Bouncy Musical Sequel". Deadline. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  12. ^ "'The Bad Guys' Director Pierre Perifel On Creating A Redemption Story In "A World Of Heists"". Deadline Hollywood. December 14, 2022. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Kroll, Justin (November 20, 2020). "Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell And David Oyelowo To Star In Untitled Murder Mystery For Searchlight". Deadline. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 26, 2024). "DreamWorks Animation Sets 'The Bad Guys 2' For Late Summer 2025". Deadline. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  15. ^ Breznican, Anthony (June 26, 2020). "Watch the Celebrity-Filled Fan-Film Version of The Princess Bride". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  16. ^ "Sam Rockwell theatre profile".
  17. ^ "Sam Rockwell theatre profile".
  18. ^ "Sam Rockwell theatre profile".
  19. ^ "A Behanding in Spokane". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  20. ^ "Sam Rockwell theatre profile".
  21. ^ "Sam Rockwell theatre profile".
  22. ^ "Fool for Love - Production". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  23. ^ "American Buffalo - Production". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  24. ^ Brodsky, Rachel (February 25, 2015). "Sam Rockwell Dances 'Down to Earth' in Flight Facilities New Video". Spin.
  25. ^ Anthony Hernandez, Brian (January 26, 2024). "Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson and Catherine O'Hara Lip-Sync for Their Lives in 'Electric Energy' Music Video". People. Retrieved February 6, 2024.