Ben Schwartz

Ben Schwartz
Schwartz in 2009
Born (1981-09-15) September 15, 1981
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Medium Film, television, internet
Nationality American
Years active 2006–present
Genres Improvisational comedy
Website RejectedJokes.com

Ben Schwartz (born September 15, 1981)[1] is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is known for portraying Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the sitcom Parks and Recreation. In 2012, he joined Showtime's comedy House of Lies as the ambitious, brash, and insecure management consultant Clyde Oberholt.

His feature film credits include Peep World,[2] Everybody's Fine, The Other Guys, The Walk, This Is Where I Leave You and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Early life

Schwartz grew up in Riverdale, a neighborhood in the Bronx in New York City until his family moved to Scarsdale when he was 11.[3] In an interview with Kevin Pollak, he stated, "When I told people I was from the Bronx, it was like 'Oh, do you have bullet wounds?' And I'm like 'No, it's just me and, like, Jewish people.'"[3] Schwartz graduated from Edgemont High School in Scarsdale, New York in 1999.

His father was a social worker before going into real estate,[3] and his mother was a music teacher.[4] He has one sister. He graduated from Union College in 2003 with a double major in psychology and anthropology.[5]

Career

On television, Schwartz guest-starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on NBC's Parks and Recreation[6] and was a lead in the Showtime show House of Lies.[7] In 2010, Schwartz played series regular Bill Hoyt on J. J. Abrams' one-hour spy drama Undercovers for NBC.

Schwartz has been writing, directing and acting in his own short films for some time. He had his own segment on HBO’s Funny or Die Presents called Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz and has appeared in multiple CollegeHumor[8] sketches including the popular web series Jake and Amir. Schwartz has been nominated for three Emmys and won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special for coauthoring Hugh Jackman's opening number for the 81st Academy Awards.[9]

In September 2013, he was hired by Paramount Pictures to re-make the 1991 comedy Soapdish,[10] retitled El Fuego Caliente and reworking the original's American soap opera into a Latin telenovela,[11] with producers Rob Reiner and Alan Greisman, and he sold an original pitch to Universal Studios based on an idea by Brian Grazer with Imagine Entertainment attached to produce. He was a staff writer for the third season of Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken and served as a freelance writer for the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live as well as the monologues for the Late Show with David Letterman.[6]

Schwartz is an alumnus of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCBT)[6] and continues to perform there regularly. He is a member of the improv group "Hot Sauce" with Adam Pally and Gil Ozeri, the group performs their long-form improv show "Something Fresh" at UCBT every month.

He and Bill Hader served as vocal consultants for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[12] Schwartz also played a cameo role as a Stormtrooper in the film.[13]

Since 2014 Schwartz has appeared in episodes of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast as the only guest in "Solo Bolo" (2014), "Solo Bolo Dos Lo" (2015), "Solo Bolo Trolo" (2016), "Solo Bolo Cuatrolo" (2016), and "Solo Bolo Cincolo" (2017). In nearly each episode he and host Scott Aukerman compete in the Olympic Song Challenge.[14]

In 2017, Schwartz began voicing Dewey in the Disney XD revival of DuckTales.[15] Schwartz has been featured as himself in Netflix's Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh’s 2017 animated Christmas special - Home for the Holidays - alongside Kelly Clarkson.[16] He is currently the voice of Leonardo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[17] In August 2018, Schwartz was announced to voice the titular character in the 2019 film, Sonic the Hedgehog.[18]

The Wrong Mans

Schwartz will also co-star in an American adaptation of the British TV series The Wrong Mans, opposite comedienne Jillian Bell. The show will appear on Showtime and is executive produced by J.J. Abrams and James Corden.[19]

Books

Schwartz has co-written four books, three with writer Amanda McCall: Grandma’s Dead: Breaking Bad News With Baby Animals, Maybe Your Leg Will Grow Back!: Looking on the Bright Side With Baby Animals, and Why is Daddy in a Dress?: Asking Awkward Questions With Baby Animals; and one with writer Laura Moses, Things You Should Already Know About Dating, You F-king Idiot.[20]

Personal life

Schwartz dated Gina Rodriguez briefly in 2016.[21]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 New York City Serenade Russ
2009 Mystery Team Dougie's Buddy
2009 I Hate Valentine's Day Tammy's Date
2009 Everybody's Fine Writer
2010 The Other Guys Beaman's Assistant
2010 Peep World Nathan Meyerwitz
2013 Turbo Skidmark (voice)
2013 Coffee Town Gino
2013 Better Living Through Chemistry Noah
2013 Runner Runner Craig
2014 This Is Where I Leave You Rabbi Charles "Boner" Grodner
2014 Happy Christmas Party Guest
2014 The Interview Eminem's Publicist
2015 The Walk Albert
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens BB-8 (voice) Consultant[12]
2016 The Intervention Jack
2017 How to Be a Latin Lover Jimmy/Valet
2017 Outside In Ted
2018 Happy Anniversary Sam
2018 Blue Iguana Paul Driggs
2018 An Actor Prepares Jimmy
2018 Night School Marvin
2019 Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic (voice) Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Starveillance Glenn (voice) 3 episodes
2007–2008 Bronx World Travelers Ben 5 episodes; also producer and director
2008–2009 Mayne Street Evan Mintz 10 episodes
2009 Intercourse With A Vampire Waiter 1 episode
2009 Accidentally On Purpose Max Episode: "Working Girl"
2009 Happiness Isn't Everything Jacky Hamburger Television film
2009–2011 Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz Ben Also producer
2009–2015 Jake and Amir Sulu Candles, Carot Slat, himself, others 22 episodes
2010 The Sarah Silverman Program Writer 1 episode
2010–2015 Parks and Recreation Jean-Ralphio Saperstein 21 episodes
2010–2012 Undercovers Bill Hoyt 13 episodes
2011 Funny or Die Presents Ben Segment "Terrible Decisions"; also producer
2011 Mad Various Characters (voice) Episode: "Ribbitless/The Clawface"
2012 Tron: Uprising Rilo Episode: "The Renegade: Part 1"
2012–2016 House of Lies Clyde Oberholt 58 episodes
2012–2015 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja Randy Cunningham (voice) Main cast
2013 The Doc Files Stuffy (voice) Spinoff series to Doc McStuffins
2013 Arrested Development John Beard Jr. Episode: "Colony Collapse"
2013 Bob's Burgers Josh (voice) 2 episodes
2013 CollegeHumor Originals Himself 1 episode; also director
2013–2014 Robot Chicken Various Characters (voice) Episode: "Papercut to Aorta", "Batman Forever 21"
2013–2016 Comedy Bang! Bang! Rodney Wayber 4 episodes
2015–2017 BoJack Horseman Rutabaga Rabbitowitz (voice) 8 episodes
2015 The Simpsons Clerk (voice) Episode: "Cue Detective"
2015 Drunk History Meyer Lansky Episode: "Las Vegas"
2015 The Late Late Show Himself (sidekick) Episode that aired January 30
2016–2017 Animals. Various Characters (voice) 2 episodes
2016 The Earliest Show Josh Bath 6 episodes; also director
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
2017–present DuckTales Dewey (voice) Main cast[15]
2018 Modern Family Nick 2 episodes
2018–present Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leonardo (voice) Main cast

Video games

Year Title Voice role Notes
2013 Turbo: Super Stunt Squad Skidmark

References

  1. ↑ "wcocoa". Improv Resource Center - Forums. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  2. ↑ Fernandez, Jay (25 February 2011). "TRAILER: Rainn Wilson and Sarah Silverman in 'Peep World'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Pollak, Kevin. "Kevin Pollak Chat Show: Ben Schwartz #143". Kevin Pollak Chat Show. YouTube. 10:30. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  4. ↑ Marsh, Steve (12 January 2012). "Ben Schwartz '03". Vulture. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Notable Alumni in Entertainment" (PDF). Union College. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "Ben Schwartz". Upright Citizens Brigade. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  7. ↑ Bacle, Ariana (June 12, 2016). "Ben Schwartz says goodbye to House of Lies in sweet letter". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  8. ↑ ""Ben Schwartz" Stuff on CollegeHumor". CollegeHumor. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  9. ↑ "Primetime Emmy® Award Database". Primetime Emmy Award Database. Emmy.org. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  10. ↑ Kit, Borys (23 February 2011). "Ben Schwartz to Pen 'Soapdish' Remake for Paramount". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  11. ↑ Finke, Nikki (12 December 2011). "The Black List 2011: Screenplay Roster". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  12. 1 2 DiClaudio, Dennis (December 16, 2015). "Turns out Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz did the voice of BB-8 in The Force Awakens". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  13. ↑ @rejectedjokes (4 May 2018). "On this beautiful #MayThe4thBeWithYou I feel like I can finally reveal that I played a Storm Trooper in @starwars The Force Awakens. It was an incredible honor and years later, I'm still smiling from the experience but please do not tell BB8" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ↑ "List of Comedy Bang! Bang! episodes". Wikipedia. 2017-12-22.
  15. 1 2 Petski, Denise (December 16, 2016). "'DuckTales': David Tennant, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz Among Voice Cast For Disney XD Reboot". Deadline. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  16. ↑ Boone, John (November 17, 2017). "Kelly Clarkson Gets Animated in 'DreamWorks Home For the Holidays' Christmas Special (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  17. ↑ Snierson, Dan (November 2, 2017). "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cast features Ben Schwartz and Kat Graham". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  18. ↑ Couch, Aaron (August 8, 2018). "Ben Schwartz to Lead Paramount's 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  19. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley. "Jillian Bell to Star Opposite Ben Schwartz in Showtime's J.J. Abrams-James Corden Comedy". www.thr.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  20. ↑ Bacle, Ariana. "Ben Schwartz, Laura Moses announce new book". www.EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  21. ↑ Webber, Stephanie. "'Jane the Virgin's' Gina Rodriguez Is Dating Ben Schwartz!". www.usmagazine.com. Us Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
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