Sam Rockwell

Photo of Sam Rockwell

Biography

After delivering a decade of memorable, off-the-wall performances in independent films like "Box of Moonlight" (1996) and "Lawn Dogs" (1997), actor Sam Rockwell's supporting role as an unrepentant killer in "The Green Mile" (2000) finally made him known to mainstream audiences. But it was his loopy turn as game show host-turned-CIA agent Chuck Barris in the fantastical biopic "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002) that completed his …
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Job Title

Actor, Producer

Born

November 5, 1968

Career Milestones

2012

Cast in ensemble crime comedy "Seven Psychopaths"

2011

Cast opposite Jonah Hill in "The Sitter"

2011

Played a saloon owner in the sci-fi Western "Cowboys & Aliens"

2010

Played a man wrongly accused of a crime in "Conviction"

2010

Cast as Tony Stark's rival Justin Hammer in Jon Favreau's "Iron Man 2"

2009

Played an astronaut working alone in the sci-fi thriller "Moon"

2008

Portrayed James Reston Jr. in the film adaption of Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon"

2008

Cast as Victor Mancini, a sex addict in the film "Choke," based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk

2008

Played an estranged husband who tries to reconnect with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) in "Snow Angels"

2007

Co-starred as Charles Ford, Robert's brother in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

2007

Co-starred with Vera Farmiga in the Sundance screened "Joshua"

2005

Cast as Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed, ex-hippie President of the Galaxy in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

2003

Starred alongside Nicolas Cage in Ridley Scott's "Matchstick Men"

2002

Breakthrough role as controversial 'Gong Show' host, Chuck Barris in George Clooney's directorial debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"

2002

Played Pero is the Russo brothers' heist comedy "Welcome to Collinwood"

2001

Appeared with Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito in the crime thriller "Heist"

2001

Acted in both "The Dumbwaiter" and "The Zoo Story" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

2000

Played villain Eric Knox in "Charlie's Angels"

1999

Played psychotic killer and villain William 'Wild Bill' Wharton in "The Green Mile" opposite Tom Hanks

1999

Cast as a bumbling actor in the sci-fi satire "Galaxy Quest"

1998

Starred as Jerry opposite Joe Mantegna's Tom in "Jerry and Tom"

1997

Won raves for his performance as a Cockney salesman in the off-Broadway production of "Goose-Pimples" by Mike Leigh

1997

Appeared in HBO's "Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground"

1997

His working-class Trent mowed lawns and bonded with 10-year-old Devon in "Lawn Dogs"

1996

Delivered critically-acclaimed performance opposite John Turturo in Tom DiCillo's "Box of Moonlight"

1996

Played One-Eye Jimmy in "The Search for One-Eye Jimmy"; worked with John Turturo for the first time

1995

Cast as one of two who kidnapped John Rubinstein in "Mercy"

1994

Re-teamed with director Alexandre Rockwell for "Somebody to Love"

1992

First feature with director Alexandre Rockwell, "In the Soup"

1992

Appeared in Paul Schrader's "Light Sleeper"

1990

TV debut in "Over the Limit," an ABC "Afterschool Special"

1989

Landed small part in "Last Exit to Brooklyn"

Steadily employed as an actor in theater and commercials

1988

Feature debut in the horror film "Clownhouse"; produced by Francis Ford Coppola

1978

Launched performing career at age of 10, appearing in a play with his mother

Raised mostly by father, but spent summers as a child in NYC with his mother

Awards

2013

Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male in Seven Psychopaths

2010

Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in Conviction

2009

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in Frost/Nixon

2009

Seattle International Film Festival for Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award in Moon

2003

Berlin International Film Festival for Silver Bear for Best Actor in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

2000

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in The Green Mile

1997

Montreal World Film Festival for Best Actor in Lawn Dogs