Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell was born on November 5, 1968, in San Mateo, California, the only child of two actors, Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess. The family moved to New York when he was two years old, living first in the Bronx and later in Manhattan. When Sam was five years old, his parents separated, at which point he and his father moved to San Francisco, where he subsequently grew up, while summers and other times were spent with his mother in New York. He made his acting debut when he was ten years old, alongside his mother, and later attended J Eugene McAteer High School in a program called SOTA. While still in high school, he got his first big break when he appeared in the independent film Clownhouse (1989). The plot revolved around three escaped mental patients who dressed up as clowns and terrorized three brothers home alone--Sam played the eldest of the brothers. His next big break was supposed to have come when he was slated to star in a short-lived NBC TV-series called Dream Street (1989), but he was soon fired. After graduating from high school, Sam returned to New York for good and for two years he had private training at the William Esper Acting Studio. During this period he appeared in a variety of roles, such as the ABC Afterschool Specials (1972): Over the Limit (1990) (TV) and HBO's Lifestories: Families in Crisis (1992): Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story (Season 1 Episode 7: 15 March 1993); the head thug in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990); and a guest-star turn in an Emmy Award-winning episode of Law & Order (1990), while working a string of regular day jobs and performing in plays. His performances in The Green Mile (1999) and Galaxy Quest (1999) wowed audiences and critics alike with his chameleon-like performances as a crazed killer in the former and a goofy actor in the latter. More recently, he appeared in another string of mainstream films, most notably as Eric Knox in Charlie's Angels (2000) and as Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), while continuing to perform in smaller independent movies. After more than ten years in the business, Sam has earned his success. In 2018, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as a troubled police deputy in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · The Bad Guys 2 as Mr. Wolf (voice)
- 2024 · IF as Guardian Dog (voice)
- 2024 · Argylle as Aidan Wilde
- 2022 · See How They Run as Inspector Stoppard
- 2022 · The Last Movie Stars as Stuart Rosenberg (voice)
- 2022 · The Last Movie Stars as Self
- 2022 · Maraschino Ruby as Wolf (voice)
- 2022 · The Bad Guys as Wolf (voice)
- 2021 · What If...? as Justin Hammer (voice)
- 2020 · The One and Only Ivan as Ivan (voice)
- 2020 · Home Movie: The Princess Bride as Westley
- 2020 · Trolls World Tour as Hickory (voice)
- 2019 · Richard Jewell as Watson Bryant
- 2019 · Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary as Self
- 2019 · Jojo Rabbit as Captain Klenzendorf
- 2019 · Fosse/Verdon as Bob Fosse
- 2019 · The Best of Enemies as Claiborne Paul Ellis
- 2018 · Vice as George W. Bush
- 2018 · Blue Iguana as Eddie
- 2018 · Blaze as Oilman 3
- 2018 · The Origins of Ebbing as Self
- 2018 · Mute as Sam Bell
- 2017 · Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as Jason Dixon
- 2017 · Woman Walks Ahead as Silas Groves
- 2017 · The Dark of Night as Officer Witt
- 2017 · Axis as Himself
- 2016 · Mr. Right as Mr. Right
- 2015 · Don Verdean as Don Verdean
- 2015 · Digging for Fire as Ray
- 2015 · Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self
- 2015 · Poltergeist as Eric Bowen
- 2015 · The Late Late Show with James Corden as Self
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2014 · Walking the Mile as Self (archive footage)
- 2014 · Laggies as Craig Hunter
- 2014 · Loitering with Intent as Wayne
- 2014 · Better Living Through Chemistry as Douglas Varney
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2014 · Showing Up as Self
- 2014 · The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
- 2014 · Off Camera with Sam Jones as Self
- 2014 · Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King as Justin Hammer
- 2013 · A Case of You as Gary
- 2013 · Schooled: The Price of College Sports as Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · A Single Shot as John Moon
- 2013 · Drunk History as Bugsy Siegal
- 2013 · The Way Way Back as Owen
- 2013 · Trust Me as Aldo
- 2012 · Seven Psychopaths as Billy Bickle
- 2011 · The Sitter as Karl
- 2011 · Cowboys & Aliens as Doc
- 2011 · Gettysburg as Narrator
- 2010 · Conviction as Kenny Waters
- 2010 · Iron Man 2 as Justin Hammer
- 2010 · F--k as Sam
- 2009 · Everybody's Fine as Robert
- 2009 · Gentlemen Broncos as Bronco / Brutus
- 2009 · G-Force as Darwin the Guinea Pig (voice)
- 2009 · Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- 2009 · Moon as Sam Bell
- 2009 · The Winning Season as Bill
- 2009 · I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale as Self
- 2008 · Frost/Nixon as James Reston Jr.
- 2008 · Choke as Victor Mancini
- 2008 · The Assassination of Jesse James: Death of an Outlaw as Self
- 2008 · Woman In Burka as Sam
- 2007 · The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as Charley Ford
- 2007 · Snow Angels as Glenn Marchand
- 2007 · Joshua as Brad Cairn
- 2005 · Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2005 · Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2005 · Nobody Wants Your Film as Self
- 2005 · Robin's Big Date as The Bat-Man
- 2005 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Zaphod Beeblebrox
- 2005 · Unscripted as Self
- 2004 · Piccadilly Jim as Jim Crocker
- 2003 · Matchstick Men as Frank Mercer
- 2002 · Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as Chuck Barris
- 2002 · 13 Moons as Rick
- 2002 · Welcome to Collinwood as Pero
- 2001 · Heist as Jimmy Silk
- 2001 · Made as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
- 2001 · BigLove as Nate
- 2000 · Charlie's Angels as Eric Knox
- 2000 · Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile as Self (uncredited)
- 1999 · Galaxy Quest as Guy Fleegman
- 1999 · The Green Mile as 'Wild Bill' Wharton
- 1999 · A Midsummer Night's Dream as Francis Flute
- 1998 · Jerry and Tom as Jerry
- 1998 · Celebrity as Darrow Entourage
- 1998 · Safe Men as Samuel
- 1997 · Lawn Dogs as Trent Burns
- 1997 · Subway Stories as Man Eating (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
- 1997 · Drunks as Tony
- 1997 · Prince Street as
- 1997 · Arresting Gena as Sonny
- 1996 · Box of Moonlight as The Kid
- 1996 · Basquiat as Thug
- 1995 · Mercy as Matty
- 1995 · Glory Daze as Rob
- 1994 · The Search for One-eye Jimmy as One-eye Jimmy
- 1994 · Somebody to Love as Polish Guy
- 1993 · NYPD Blue as Billy
- 1992 · In the Soup as Pauli
- 1992 · Light Sleeper as Jealous
- 1992 · Happy Hell Night as Young Henry Collins
- 1991 · Strictly Business as Gary
- 1990 · Law & Order as Officer Weddeker
- 1990 · Law & Order as Randy Borland
- 1990 · Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Head Thug
- 1989 · Last Exit to Brooklyn as Al
- 1989 · Clownhouse as Randy Collins
- 1985 · The Equalizer as Slick
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
- 1972 · ABC Afterschool Special as Jason
- Future · Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die as
- Future · A Guy Walks Into a Bar as
- Future · The Heart as
- 1992 · Jack and His Friends as Louie
- 1990 · Over The Limit as Jason
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self - Presenter
- Future · The Adventures of Drunky as Drunky
- Future · Stuntnuts: The Movie as
- Future · Untitled Martin McDonagh Project as