Christopher Abbott
Birthdate: Feb 1, 1986
Birthplace: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
Christopher Abbott (birthname: Christopher Jacob Abbott) is one of a select few among younger American film actors who have also maintained a steady and serious stage career, following more in the model of British screen and stage actors than the usual American mode—even though Abbott has said that his creative role model is the great American independent filmmaker and actor, John Cassavetes.
Abbott made his screen debut in director/writer Sean Durkin’s fine psychological drama, Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy, and Julia Garner, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival (where Durkin won Best Director) and was released to a robust $5.4 million return by Fox Searchlight.
Abbott co-starred opposite Melanie Lynskey in the comedy-drama, Hello I Must Be Going (2012), with Blythe Danner and John Rubinstein under Todd Louiso’s direction, and premiering at the Sundance Film Festival before a release by Oscilloscope Pictures.
Abbott co-starred opposite Gitte Witt in The Sleepwalker (2014), directed by Mona Fastvold and co-written by Fastvold and Brady Corbet (who also co-starred and marking this couple’s first of several notable films, including The Childhood of a Leader in 2015, Vox Lux in 2018, and The Brutalist in 2024, as well as Fastvold’s The World to Come in 2020), and marking yet another Abbott-starring movie premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
Christopher Abbott was a supporting player to leads Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain in director/writer J.C. Chandor’s crime drama, A Most Violent Year (2014), featuring David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, and Albert Brooks, which was distributed by A24. Abbott then gained further acclaim by taking on the emotionally tough lead title role in filmmaker Josh Mond’s drama, James White (2015), with Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, and Ron Livingston, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival before a limited release by The Film Arcade, and earning Abbott an Indie Spirit awards nomination for best actor.
Abbott appeared in a supporting role in one of his first genre movies, Criminal Activities (2015), marking Jackie Earle Haley’s directorial debut and co-starring Michael Pitt, John Travolta, and Dan Stevens and released by RLJ Entertainment and Image Entertainment. Abbott soon co-starred in his first studio movie, Paramount Pictures’ war comedy, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016), starring Tina Fey with Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molin, and Billy Bob Thornton under the co-direction of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
Christopher Abbott joined Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Riley Keough in filmmaker Trey Edward Shults’s horror movie, It Comes at Night (2017), co-produced and released by A24 to a robust $20 million gross (on $5 million costs). Abbott then co-starred with Jon Bernthal, Imogen Poot,s and Rosemarie DeWitt in the Jamie M. Dagg-directed thriller, Sweet Virginia (2017), launching at the Tribeca Film Festival and distributed by IFC Films.
Abbott co-starred with Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa, Marin Ireland, and Wendell Pierce in director-writer Nicholas Pesce’s psychological horror adaptation of Ryu Murakami’s novel, Piercing (2018), unveiled at the Sundance Film Festival and released by Universal Pictures and Greenwich Entertainment.
Abbott was cast as astronaut David Scott opposite Ryan Gosling’s Neil Armstrong in the Damien Chazelle-directed Apollo 11 drama for DreamWorks, First Man (2018), co-starring Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, and Patrick Fugit, premiering at the Venice Film Festival but underperforming with a $105.7 million gross.
Abbott reunited with filmmaking couple Brady Corbet (director/writer) and Mona Fastvold (co-story writer) for their pop music-themed drama, Vox Lux (2018), starring Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Stacy Martin, and Jennifer Ehle, and after launching in competition at the Venice Film Festival was released by Neon.
Christopher Abbott co-starred with Aubrey Plaza and Sarah Gadon in director/writer Lawrence Michael Levine’s drama, Black Bear (2020), launching at the Sundance Film Festival, followed by Abbott joining director/writer Brandon Cronenberg and co-star Andrea Riseborough in the sci-fi horror movie, Possessor (2020), with Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean and Jennifer Jason Leigh, also premiering in the same edition of Sundance.
Abbott then had a prominent supporting role in director Mona Fastvold’s remarkable second feature (her first without filmmaking partner Brady Corbet), the feminist period drama, The World to Come (2020), based on co-screenwriter Jim Shepard’s short story, and co-starring Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby and Casey Affleck, released by Bleecker Street after launching in competition at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Queer Lion for best LGBTQ+ film.
Abbott followed a supporting appearance in director/writer John Michael McDonagh’s crime drama, The Forgiven (2021), starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, with a co-starring role opposite Margaret Qualley in the dark two-hander psychological comedy, Sanctuary (2022) directed by Zachary Wigon, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and released by Neon.
Abbott joined director Yorgos Lanthimos for his fabulous adaptation (with regular writer collaborator Tony McNamara) of Alastair Gray’s 1992 novel, Poor Things (2023), starring Oscar-winning Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, and Jerrod Carmichael, premiering in competition in the Venice Film Festival and released by Searchlight Pictures to a solid $117.6 million return, and four Oscars (with 11 nominations).
Christopher Abbott then co-starred with Mackenzie Davis and Ariane Labed in director/writer Justin Anderson’s adaptation of Deborah Levy’s 2011 novel, Swimming Home (2024), premiering in competition at the Rotterdam Film Festival. Abbott quickly followed this by reuniting with filmmaker Josh Mond for the cell phone-shot saga, It Doesn’t Matter (2024), with Jay Will, premiering in the Acid section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Abbott starred opposite Barry Keoghan in Christopher Andrews’s Irish-Belgian thriller, Bring Them Down (2024), with Nora-Jane Noone, Paul Ready, Susan Lynch, and Colm Meaney, and premiering at the Toronto Film Festival before a release by Mubi. Abbott, in his first Marvel Comics role, reunited with director J.C. Chandor and played opposite Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the long-delayed superhero movie, Kraven the Hunter (2024), the sixth entry in Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man Universe featuring Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola and Russell Crowe, but proving to be a major disappointment with a box office total below $130 million costs and a wave of poor reviews.
Christopher Abbott appeared in his second genre in a row co-starring with Julia Garner (who, like Abbott, launched her movie career in Martha Marcy May Marlene) in the Leigh Whannell-directed remake of the 1941 Universal Pictures horror classic, the slightly retitled Wolf Man (2025), with Matilda Firth and Sam Jaeger.
Abbott returned once again to work with director and co-writer (with Brady Corbet) Mona Fastvold for her drama about the Shakers, Ann Lee (date to be announced), co-starring Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Tim Blake Nelson, Stacy Martin, and Matthew Beard. Abbott then starred in director/writer Sarah Elizabeth Mintz’s filmmaking drama, The Maid of Orleans (date to be announced), co-starring Nadia Tereszkiewicz.
Personal life
Christopher Abbott was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, and raised in Greenwich’s Italian-American Chickahominy neighborhood and in Stamford, Connecticut, by his parents Anna and Orville Abbott. Abbott has one older sister, Christina. Abbott attended high school and then Norwalk Community College, followed by attending HB Studio for acting studies. Abbott’s height is 6’. r’s estimated net worth is $2 million.
Known For
Awards
Nominee, Best Actor—Limited Series or TV Movie, Golden Globe Awards (2020); Two-time Nominee, Best Ensemble Performance/Best Actor, Gotham Awards (2011, 2015); Nominee, Best Male Lead, Independent Spirit Awards (2016); Winner, Ensemble Cast, South by Southwest Film Festival (2013).
Independent Spirit Award
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Critics Choice Award
Critics Choice Awards
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, USA
Christopher Abbott Movies
actor
Upcoming (1)
- 2025 |
Bring Them Down
asMichael
An Irish shepherding family thrust into battle on several fronts: internal strife, hostility within the family, rivalry with another farmer. Paternalism, heritage, and the generational trauma cycle through the cultural prism of Ireland.
Previous (28)
- 2025 |
- 2024 | It Doesn't Matteras Chris
- 2024 | Swimming Homeas Joe
- 2024 |
Kraven the Hunter
asThe Foreigner
Kraven's complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
- 2023 |
- 2022 | Entergalacticas Reed
- 2022 |
On the Count of Three
asKevin
Jerrod Carmichael makes his directorial debut and stars in On the Count of Three, a darkly comic feature about two best friends, Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott), on the last day of their lives.
- 2021 |
The World to Come
asFinney
Somewhere along the mid-19th century American East Coast frontier, two neighboring couples battle hardship and isolation, witnessed by a splendid yet testing landscape, challenging them both physically and psychologically.
- 2020 | Black Bearas Gabe
- 2020 |
- 2019 | Full-Dressas Chris
- 2019 | Full-Dressas Nick
- 2019 |
- 2018 |
- 2018 |
- 2018 |
- 2017 |
- 2017 |
It Comes at Night
asWill
Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son. Then a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.
- 2016 | Katie Says Goodbyeas Bruno
- 2016 |
- 2015 | Criminal Activitiesas Warren
- 2015 | James Whiteas James White
- 2014 | A Most Violent Yearas Louis Servidio
- 2014 | The Sleepwalkeras Andrew
- 2013 | All That I Amas Christian
- 2012 | Art Machineas Cap'n Tar
- 2012 | Hello I Must Be Goingas Jeremy
- 2011 | Martha Marcy May Marleneas Max
Facts About Christopher Abbott
Role Model: Christopher Abbott has noted that his role model for his career is the great American actor-turned-filmmaker John Cassavetes.
Joy of Filming: Abbott has said that “it’s one of the most beautiful things in the world, to go off and make a film. At the heart of it, making a film—it’s pretend. It’s a silly thing to do. But it can be important, and to have that experience with people you love is one of the best things you can do.”
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