Sam Rockwell

Early films

After his debut role in the horror film Clownhouse (1989) (produced by Francis Ford Coppola's production company), which he filmed whilst living in San Francisco, he moved to New York and trained at the William Esper Studios, with teacher Terry Knickerbocker.^[10] His career slowly gained momentum in the early 1990s, when he alternated between small-screen guest spots in TV series like The Equalizer, NYPD Blue and Law & Order and small roles in films such as Last Exit to Brooklyn and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He also appeared as the title character in The Search for One-eye Jimmy. During this time, Rockwell worked in restaurants as a busboy and delivered burritos by bicycle.^[11] At one point, Rockwell even worked as a private detective's assistant. "I tailed a chick who was having an affair and took pictures of her at this motel", he told Rolling Stone in 2002. "It was pretty sleazy." A well-paying Miller commercial in 1994 finally allowed him to pursue acting full-time.

The turning point in Rockwell's career was Tom DiCillo's film Box of Moonlight (1996), in which he played an eccentric man-child who dresses like Davy Crockett and lives in an isolated mobile home. The ensuing acclaim put him front and center with casting agents and new-found fans alike, with Rockwell himself acknowledging that "That film was definitely a turning point...I was sort of put on some independent film map after 10 years in New York."^[9]

He also received strong reviews for the film Lawn Dogs (1997), where he played a working-class lawn mower who befriends a wealthy 10-year-old girl (Mischa Barton) in an upper-class gated community in Kentucky; Rockwell's performance won him Best Actor honors at both the Montreal World Film Festival and the Catalan International Film Festival. In 1999, Rockwell played prisoner William "Wild Bill" Wharton in the Stephen King prison drama The Green Mile. At the time of the film's shooting, Rockwell explained why he was attracted to playing such unlikeable characters. He said, "I like that dark stuff. I think heroes should be flawed. There's a bit of self-loathing in there, and a bit of anger... But after this, I've really got to play some lawyers, or a British aristocrat, or they'll put a label on me."^[6]

Hollywood recognition

Rockwell at the 2009 premiere of Moon at the Tribeca Film Institute

After appearances as a bumbling actor in the sci-fi parody Galaxy Quest (1999), in the Shakespeare adaptation A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) as Flute, and as gregarious villain Eric Knox in Charlie's Angels (2000), Rockwell won the biggest leading role of his career as The Gong Show host Chuck Barris in George Clooney's directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). Rockwell's performance was well received, and the film received generally positive reviews.

Rockwell has also received positive notices for his role opposite Nicolas Cage in Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men (2003), with Entertainment Weekly calling him "destined by a kind of excessive interestingness to forever be a colorful sidekick."^[12] He received somewhat more mixed reviews as Zaphod Beeblebrox in the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). He then had a notable supporting role as Charley Ford, brother of Casey Affleck's character Robert Ford, in the well-received drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), in which Brad Pitt played the lead role of Jesse James. According to an interview on The Howard Stern Show, director Jon Favreau considered casting him as the titular character in Iron Man as the studio was initially hesitant to work with Robert Downey Jr., who had been considered for his role in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Rockwell appeared in the Iron Man sequel, released in 2010, as Tony Stark's rival weapons developer, Justin Hammer. He is said to have accepted the role without reading the script. He had never heard of the character before he was contacted about the role, and was unaware that Hammer is an old man in the comic books.

In addition to big-budget feature films, Rockwell also appears in indie films such as The F Word and he played a randy, Halloween-costume-clad Batman in a short, Robin's Big Date, opposite Justin Long as Robin. He also starred in the film Snow Angels (2008) opposite Kate Beckinsale. He worked on several occasions with the comedy troupe Stella (Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain), making cameo appearances in their short films and eponymous TV series.

Rockwell played Victor Mancini in the film Choke (2008), based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Critic Roger Ebert said of his performance that he "seems to have become the latter-day version of Christopher Walken – not all the time, but when you need him, he's your go-to guy for weirdness."^[13]

In 2007, Rockwell guest-starred in the web series Casted: The Continuing Chronicles of Derek Riffchyn, Greatest Casting Director in the World. Ever. He appears opposite Jonathan Togo as Derek and Justin Long as Scott. Rockwell plays an aspiring young actor named Pete Sampras.^[14]

Rockwell at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2009, he starred in the critically acclaimed science fiction film Moon, directed by Duncan Jones. His performance was widely praised, with some critics calling for an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination.^[15]

From left: Robert Downey, Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, and Rockwell at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International

On May 3, 2010, it was announced that Rockwell would team up again with Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau, for Favreau's adaptation of the graphic novel Cowboys & Aliens. He played a bar owner named Doc who joins in the pursuit of the aliens.^[16]

Rockwell also appeared in Martin McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths (2012),^[17] as well as Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's The Way, Way Back (2013).^[18] For his performance in The Way, Way Back, some critics felt he again deserved an Academy Award nomination.^[19][20]

In January 2014, it was announced that Rockwell was cast in the upcoming film The Eel, in which he would play an escaped convict. The film was produced by Kevin Walsh, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash, marking Rockwell's second collaboration with all three.^[21] Additionally, Rockwell starred in the 2015 remake of Poltergeist.

On May 3, 2016, it was announced that Rockwell would be voicing Mortimer Ramsey in the upcoming action game, Dishonored 2. Rockwell was cast along with other Marvel Cinematic Universe actors.^[22]

In August 2017, Rockwell was cast to play George W. Bush in Adam McKay's upcoming biopic of Dick Cheney.^[23] Rockwell reteamed with McDonagh in the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). For his role as violent police officer Jason Dixon, Rockwell received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture,^[24] a Screen Actors Guild Award, and his first Academy Award win.

Theatre

Since 1992, Rockwell has been a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company, where John Ortiz is a co-artistic director. In 2005, Philip Seymour Hoffman directed him in Stephen Adly Guirgis' hit play The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Rockwell work-shopped a LAByrinth production, North of Mason-Dixon, which debuted in London in 2007 and then premiered in New York City later the same year. Other plays in which Rockwell performed are: Dumb Waiter (2001), Zoo Story (2001), The Hot L Baltimore (2000), Goosepimples (1998), Love and Human Remains, Face Divided, Orphans, Den of Thieves, Dessert at Waffle House, The Largest Elizabeth, and A Behanding in Spokane.

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre