Sam Rockwell on screen and stage

Sam Rockwell is an American actor. He is known for his roles on stage and screen and has earned various accolades. After making his film debut in 1989, he established himself as a memorable character actor before gaining a reputation in Hollywood which led him to leading man roles.

Rockwell made his film debut in the slasher film Clownhouse (1989). He then earned acclaim for his roles in the British drama Lawn Dogs (1997), the prison drama The Green Mile (1999), the satirical space comedy Galaxy Quest (1999), the comedy Charlie's Angels (2000), the biographical spy film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), the black comedy crime film Matchstick Men (2003), the space comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), the revisionist western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), the political drama Frost/Nixon (2008), and the space drama Moon (2009). He continued to earn acclaim in the black comedy the drama Conviction (2010), Seven Psychopaths (2012), the coming of age comedy The Way, Way Back (2013), the black comedy Jojo Rabbit (2019), and the biographical drama Richard Jewell (2019).

For his role as a hot headed racist cop in the Martin McDonagh drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), he earned both the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award. He was Oscar-nominated for his role as George W. Bush in the political satire Vice (2018). He is also known for his role as Justin Hammer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man 2 (2010) and a doctor in the science-fiction western Cowboys & Aliens (2011). He has voiced roles in the animated films G-Force (2009), The Bad Guys (2022) as well its sequel (2025).

On television, he portrayed Bob Fosse in the FX on Hulu limited series Fosse/Verdon (2019) and a man struggling with his identity in the the third season of The White Lotus (2025) both of which earned him Primetime Emmy Award nominations. On stage, he has starred as an explosive hustler in the Broadway revival of the David Mamet play American Buffalo (2022), earning him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination.