Sam Rockwell
Birthdate: Nov 5, 1968
Birthplace: Daly City, California, USA
Sam Rockwell has built an intriguing career as a reliably creative actor capable of delivering many shades to characters who often exist on the fringes of socially accepted behavior. He is the definition, in many ways, of the classic working actor: With a resume slowly built in numerous American indie films, he has graduated to the Hollywood big leagues over the past two decades in a remarkable range of movies and performances, culminating in the rare coup of double Oscar nominations for Vice (2018)—as George W. Bush--and his winning turn in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Over Ebbing, Missouri (2018).
Rockwell’s characters can also operate on the right side of the law, as in his turn as a British inspector in See How They Run (2022) with Saoirse Ronan and Adrien Brody. He’s added to this range as a voice actor for animated features, such as DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys (2022) and Augenblick Studios’ The Adventures of Drunky (release date not announced) with Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Coogan, and Nina Arianda.
Shuttling between Left and Right Coast divorced parents as an only child, Rockwell followed in their footsteps as an actor. He experienced the typical syndrome of unsteady acting work until Tom DiCillo’s Box of Moonlight (1996), where his colorful performance earned strong reviews and industry notice. He worked with other key indie directors like Julian Schnabel (Basquiat (1996), Richard Shepard (Mercy (1995))), John Duigan (Lawn Dogs (1997), and Alexandre Rockwell (Louis & Frank (1998)), culminating with Woody Allen’s Celebrity (1999) opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Kenneth Branagh, and Judy Davis.
With The Green Mile (1999), in which Rockwell played one of his baddest of bad guys, Rockwell launched a remarkable string of screen appearances in a savvy mix of studio and prestige projects, ranging from Galaxy Quest (1999) and Charlie’s Angels (2000) to David Mamet’s Heist (2001) with Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito; George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) in a stunning portrayal of spy/gameshow host Chuck Barris; Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men (2002) with Nicolas Cage; the film version of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), with Martin Freeman, Yasiin Bey, Zooey Deschanel, and John Malkovich; and Andrew Dominik’s magnificent Western with Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).
Through this period, Sam Rockwell’s prolific roster of credits included supporting work in such major studio projects as Frost/Nixon (2008), Marvel’s Iron Man 2 (2010), Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction (2010) with Hilary Swank and Melissa Leo; and Cowboys & Aliens (2011), with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Before Three Billboards, Rockwell first collaborated with playwright-director Martin McDonagh on Seven Psychopaths (2012) with Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, and Abbie Cornish. Rockwell has fluidly jumped between edgy comedies and dramas—often with the same film--including Mr. Right (2015) with Anna Kendrick and Tim Roth, and most notably in Three Billboards with Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson.
Less noticed is the array of performances of actual and living figures Rockwell has portrayed, from Chuck Barris, outlaw Charley Ford, and George W. Bush, to Bob Fosse (in the acclaimed mini-series, Fosse/Verdon (2019) with Michelle Williams) and Watson Bryant in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell (2019), as well as his upcoming portrayal of Merle Haggard in writer-director Robin Bissell’s untitled biopic about the creator of the “Outlaw” sound in country music.
Rockwell then performed in three consecutive voice roles in three animated features, two from DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures: the Walt Dohm-directed jukebox musical comedy, Trolls World Tour (2020), and as a lead in the Pierre Perifel-directed heist comedy, The Bad Guys (2022). Rockwell’s third animated feature performance was another lead in Disney’s fantasy drama, The One and Only Ivan (2020), with cast members Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, and Bryan Cranston.
Sam Rockwell starred in the British comic mystery, See How They Run (2022), co-starring Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Harris Dickinson, and David Oyelowo, and released by Searchlight Pictures. Rockwell then joined the colorful ensemble of producer-director Matthew Vaughn’s spy action comedy, Argylle (2024), starring Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Cranston, John Cena, Richard E. Grant, and Samuel L. Jackson, and backed by Apple Original Films with Universal Pictures and Apple TV+ as distributors in theaters and on streaming.
Rockwell took on another voice role in director/writer/producer/co-star John Krasinski’s live-action/animated fantasy, IF (2024), (whose title refers to Imaginary Friend), with such fellow voice actors as Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Jon Stewart, Christopher Meloni, Richard Jenkins, Awkwafina, and Vince Vaughn, and a live-action cast including Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and Bobby Moynihan, and released by Paramount Pictures.
Personal Details
Born in the Bay Area and raised in his early years in San Mateo, Sam Rockwell’s acting parents, Pete and Penny Rockwell moved the family to New York City when he was age two. He was an only child. His parents divorced when he was five, and his father then raised him in San Francisco and summer with his mother in New York City, where he joined his mother in improv comedy sketches in East Village comedy clubs. He has been in a relationship with actor Leslie Bibb since 2007. His height is 5’ 8”.
Awards
Winner, Best Supporting Actor, Academy Awards (2018); Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, Academy Awards (2018); Winner, Best Supporting Actor, BAFTA Awards (2018); Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, BAFTA Awards (2018); Winner, Best Actor Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival (2002); Winner, Best Supporting Actor, Golden Globes (2018); Three-times nominee, Screen Actors Guilds Awards (2000, 2009, 2020); Winner, Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture, Screen Actors Guild Awards (2018); Winner, Best Actor, Television or Limited Series, Screen Actors Guild (2020).
Actor
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Critics Choice Award
Critics Choice Awards
Independent Spirit Award
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Filmography
actor
Previous (54)
- 2024 |
- 2024 |
- 2023 | Untitled Ben Schwartz/Sam Rockwell Projectas Chipmunk
- 2022 | The Heartas Self - Newsreader
- 2022 | Untitled Martin McDonagh Projectas Daddy
- 2022 | See How They RunasInspector Stoppard
See How They Run
In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered.
- 2022 | The Bad GuysasWolf
The Bad Guys
To avoid prison, a gang of notorious animal criminals pretends to seek being rehabilitated, only for their leader to realize that he genuinely wants to change his ways.
- 2020 | The One and Only Ivanas Ivan
- 2020 | Untitled Carlos Ghosn extraction projectas Michael Taylor
- 2019 | Richard JewellasWatson Bryant
Richard Jewell
Security guard Richard Jewell is an instant hero after foiling a bomb attack at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his life becomes a nightmare when the FBI leaks to the media that he is a suspect in the case.
- 2019 | Jojo RabbitasCaptain Klenzendorf
Jojo Rabbit
A young German boy in the Hitler Youth whose hero and imaginary friend is the country's dictator is shocked to discover that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
- 2019 | The Best of EnemiesasC.P. Ellis
The Best of Enemies
Civil rights activist Ann Atwater faces off against C.P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1971 Durham, North Carolina over the issue of school integration.
- 2018 | Blue Iguanaas Eddie
- 2018 | Cocksman & Cuckoldas Self
- 2018 |
- 2018 |
- 2018 | Woman Walks AheadasSilas Groves
Woman Walks Ahead
Catherine Weldon, a portrait painter from 1890s Brooklyn, travels to Dakota to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull and becomes embroiled in the Lakota peoples' struggle over the rights to their land.
- 2017 | Axis
- 2017 | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriasDixon
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit.
- 2015 | Don Verdeanas Don Verdean
- 2015 | Mr. Rightas Francis
- 2015 | The Adventures of Drunkyas Drunky
- 2015 | PoltergeistasEric Bowen
Poltergeist
A family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces must come together to rescue their youngest daughter after the apparitions take her captive.
- 2014 | Better Living Through Chemistryas Doug Varney
- 2014 | Laggiesas Craig
- 2014 | Loitering with Intentas Wayne
- 2014 | Petersburg Carousel
- 2014 | The Smack
- 2013 | A Single Shotas John Moon
- 2012 | Seven Psychopathsas Billy
- 2011 | The SitterasKarl
The Sitter
A college student on suspension is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.
- 2010 | Convictionas Kenny Waters
- 2009 | Everybody's Fineas Robert
- 2009 | Moonas Sam Bell
- 2009 | The Winning Seasonas Bill
- 2008 | Chokeas Victor Mancini
- 2008 | Frost/Nixonas James Reston, Jr.
- 2007 | Joshuaas Brad Cairn
- 2007 | Snow Angelsas Glenn Marchand
- 2007 | Untitled Merle Haggard Biopicas Merle Haggard
- 2005 | Nobody Wants Your Film
- 2005 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyas Zaphod Beeblebrox
- 2004 | Piccadilly Jimas Jim Crocker
- 2003 | Matchstick Menas Frank Mercer
- 2002 | Confessions of a Dangerous Mindas Chuck Barris
- 2002 | Welcome to Collinwoodas Pero
- 1998 | Jerry and Tomas Jerry
- 1998 | Safe Menas Sam
- 1997 | Arresting Genaas Sonny
- 1997 | Lawn Dogsas Trent
- 1996 | Box of Moonlightas The Kid
- 1995 | Glory Dazeas Rob
- 1991 | Happy Hell Nightas Young Henry Collins
- 1989 | Clownhouseas Randy
Some Facts About Sam Rockwell
Confirmed Bachelor: Sam Rockwell has never been married, and has publicly stated that he’s not interested in being a father.
Theatre Life: Rockwell has kept a robust life in the theatre, performing in plays by Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, Martin McDonagh, Lanford Wilson, David Mamet, and Brad Fraser.
