Adam Scott (actor)

Adam Scott
Scott in 2023
Born	Adam Paul Scott (1973-04-03) April 3, 1973 (age 51) Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
Alma mater	American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Naomi Sablan ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	2

Adam Paul Scott^[1] (born April 3, 1973^[2]) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Ben Wyatt in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, for which he was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He has also appeared as Derek Huff in the film Step Brothers, Johnny Meyer in The Aviator, Henry Pollard in the Starz sitcom Party Down, Ed Mackenzie in the HBO series Big Little Lies, and Trevor in the NBC series The Good Place. In 2022, he began starring in the Apple TV+ psychological drama series Severance, for which he received numerous award nominations, including for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, as well as best actor nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globes, Critics' Choice, and more.

Early life

Scott was born on April 3, 1973, in Santa Cruz, California,^[3] to Anne (née Quartararo)^[3] and Dougald Scott,^[4][5] both of whom are retired teachers.^[6][7] His parents divorced when he was a child.^[8] His father is of Scottish descent, while his mother is of half Italian (Sicilian) descending originally from Portugal's Marannos and half Irish descent.^[9][8] He has two older siblings, Shannon and David.^[6] He graduated from Harbor High School^[10] and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California.^[11]

Career

Film

Scott at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival

Scott has appeared in several feature films, including Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), The Lesser Evil (1998), High Crimes (2002), The Aviator (2004), Torque (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005), The Matador (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Step Brothers (2008), The Vicious Kind (2009), Piranha 3D (2010),^[12] Friends with Kids (2012), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), and Krampus (2015).

Scott attributes his pivot from dramatic to comedic roles to landing the part of Derek Huff in Step Brothers (2008), as he learned comedic improvisation from his co-stars, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Kathryn Hahn.^[13]

He played antagonist Ted Hendricks, Walter Mitty's boss, in the 2013 Ben Stiller remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. His other major studio comedies include Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and the Christmas comedy-horror film Krampus, both in 2015.

Scott has appeared in and produced numerous independent films. He starred as Caleb Sinclaire in the 2010 film The Vicious Kind, for which Scott was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor. The film itself received positive reviews, and he won two individual awards at two separate film festivals. He starred in two films by Matt Bissonette, Who Loves the Sun (2006) and Passenger Side (2009), released on DVD on October 26, 2010. He appeared in the films Our Idiot Brother (2011) with Paul Rudd^[14] and Leslye Hedland's Bachelorette (2012). He had lead roles in Friends with Kids (2012)^[15] and A.C.O.D. (2013).^[16]

In 2015, he executive produced and starred in the comedy film The Overnight.^[17][18]

Scott and Paul Rudd teamed up again to act in and produce the indie comedy Fun Mom Dinner (2017).

Television

Scott's early television roles include Griff Hawkins in Boy Meets World, Josh on Party of Five, a law intern on Murder One, as well as David's love interest, Ben Cooper, on Six Feet Under.

His first series regular role was on the controversial and sexually-explicit HBO drama Tell Me You Love Me (2007) as Palek, a husband struggling to conceive with his wife. In the first two seasons of the HBO baseball comedy series Eastbound & Down, Scott played a cocaine-addicted baseball front office representative.

From 2009 to 2010, he starred as Henry Pollard in the Starz network show Party Down.^[19] For this performance, he earned an Entertainment Weekly Ewwy nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.^[20]

In 2010, Scott joined the cast of NBC's acclaimed comedy series Parks and Recreation, in which he played Ben Wyatt, a state auditor who arrives in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, to evaluate the town's funds^[21] and eventually becomes the love interest of Leslie Knope. He appeared as a guest star in the second season before becoming a main character for the remainder of the series, which ended in 2015.

Scott and his wife created and produced four Adult Swim mockumentary specials, The Greatest Event in Television History, about remaking opening credits sequences of 1980s television shows.

Scott continued his streak of comedic roles in several episodes of Ken Marino's The Bachelor parody Burning Love and on David Wain's Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. From 2016 to 2018, Scott appeared in five episodes of the acclaimed Michael Schur show The Good Place as Trevor, a demon.^[22]

In 2017 and 2019, Scott took a turn to dramatic work by appearing in HBO's Big Little Lies as Ed Mackenzie, husband of main character Madeline Mackenzie, played by Reese Witherspoon.^[23][24]

Scott starred with Craig Robinson in the sitcom Ghosted,^[25] which premiered on October 1, 2017, on Fox, lasting just one season.^[26] He and his wife executive produced the show.

In 2020, Scott hosted the one-season ABC game show Don't, executive produced by Ryan Reynolds.^[27]

In 2022, Scott began starring in and producing the Apple TV+ show Severance, which is produced and directed by Ben Stiller.^[28] His performance was critically acclaimed.^[29]

The cult hit Party Down was revived in 2023, with Scott reprising the character of Henry Pollard.^[30]

Scott has had numerous guest appearances, including in the Adult Swim comedy Childrens Hospital and HBO's Veep. He has appeared on CSI: Miami and Law & Order. He was also on the show NTSF:SD:SUV::, in the episode "The Risky Business of Being Alone in Your Home", and has also appeared in the Comedy Central television show Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, as a newscaster in the episode "Relapse into Refreshment". He has appeared in a series of commercials for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

Podcasting

With Scott Aukerman, Scott is the co-host and co-creator of the Earwolf podcast U Talkin' U2 To Me, launched in February 2014.^[31] The series is introduced at the outset of each episode as "the comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things U2," though it generally uses discussion of the band as a jumping off point for improv and absurdist humor. In February 2018, Scott and Aukerman launched another podcast in the same format, this time covering the career and work of the band R.E.M., titled R U Talkin' R.E.M. Re: Me?. A third podcast, R U Talkin' RHCP Re: Me?, debuted in July 2020, in which Scott and Aukerman discuss the Red Hot Chili Peppers; the podcast's format was almost immediately abandoned in favor of discussing Talking Heads and, as of the second episode, was renamed U Talkin' Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head. In September 2023 the show began to focus on discussing the work of Bruce Springsteen, and was renamed U Springin' Springsteen On My Bean?.

Scott has been a guest on many podcasts including Comedy Bang! Bang!, How Did This Get Made?, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, and Kevin Pollak's Chat Show.^[32]

Personal life

Scott in 2019

Scott married producer Naomi Sablan in 2005. They have two children.^[8]

Scott is a "die-hard" fan of the band R.E.M., much like his character in Parks and Recreation.^[8] In 1992, he appeared as an extra in the music video to their song "Drive".^[33]

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Scott revealed he invited actor Mark Hamill to one of his childhood birthday parties. Guest host Kristen Bell surprised Scott with the guest appearance of Hamill wielding a lightsaber in observance of Star Wars Day.^[34]

A Democrat, he supported the Harris-Walz campaign during the 2024 presidential election.^[35]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Cityscrapes: Los Angeles	Joe
1996	Hellraiser: Bloodline	Jacques
	The Last Days of Frankie the Fly	Race Track Valet
	Star Trek: First Contact	Defiant Conn Officer
1997	Dinner and Driving	Larry
1998	Girl	Scott
	The Lesser Evil	Young George
	Hairshirt	Fan At Bar
1999	Winding Roads	Brian Calhoun
2001	Date Squad	Fred	Short film
	Seven and a Match	Peter
2002	Ronnie	Ronnie Schwann
	High Crimes	Lieutenant Terrence Embry
	Bleach	Fulton	Short film
2003	Something More	Saul	Short film
	Two Days	Stu
2004	Torque	FBI Agent Jay McPherson
	Off the Lip	David
	The Aviator	Johnny Meyer
2005	The Matador	Phil Garrison
	Monster-in-Law	Remy
2006	Art School Confidential	Marvin Bushmiller
	First Snow	Tom Morelane
	Who Loves the Sun	Daniel Bloom
	The Return	Kurt
2007	Knocked Up	Nurse Samuel
2008	The Great Buck Howard	Alan Berkman
	August	Joshua Sterling
	Corporate Affairs	Jack Hightower
	Step Brothers	Derek Huff
	Lovely, Still	Mike Malone
2009	The Vicious Kind	Caleb Sinclaire
	Passenger Side	Michael Brown	Also executive producer
2010	Operation: Endgame	The Magician
	AIDS: We Did It!	Man	Short film
	Leap Year	Jeremy Sloane
	Piranha 3D	Novak Radzinsky
2011	Fight for Your Right Revisited	Cab Driver	Short film
	The Terrys	Narrator	Short film
	Our Idiot Brother	Jeremy Horne
	Friends with Kids	Jason Fryman
2012	Bachelorette	Clyde Goddard
	HJ Gloves	Man #2	Short film
	See Girl Run	Jason
	The Guilt Trip	Andrew Margolis Jr.
2013	A.C.O.D.	Carter	Also executive producer
	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	Ted Hendricks
2014	They Came Together	Sound Engineer	Cameo
2015	The Overnight	Alex	Also executive producer
	Sleeping with Other People	Dr. Matthew Sobvechik
	Hot Tub Time Machine 2	Adam Yates Jr.
	Black Mass	Robert Fitzpatrick
	Krampus	Tom Engel
2016	Other People	—	Producer
	My Blind Brother	Robbie
2017	Fun Mom Dinner	Tom	Also executive producer
	The Disaster Artist	Himself	Cameo
	The Most Hated Woman in America	Jack Ferguson
	Flower	Will Jordan
	Little Evil	Gary Bloom
2019	Between Two Ferns: The Movie	Himself
2020	Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics	After School Special Host
2023	First Time Female Director	Acting Coach	Uncredited cameo
2024	Madame Web	Ben Parker
2025	A Sprinkle of History	Irv Robbins
†	Double Booked		Also director and producer
†	The Saviors		Also producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Dead at 21	Dan Bird	Episode: "Pilot"
1994–1995	Boy Meets World	Band Member / Griffin Hawkins	4 episodes
1995	ER	David Kerstetter	Episode: "Full Moon, Saturday Night"
1995	Murder One	Sydney Schneider	6 episodes
1996	NYPD Blue	Gordon Puterbaugh	Episode: "The Nutty Confessor"
1996	High Incident	Walter Gonning Jr.	Episode: "Change Partners"
1997	Payback	Adam Stanfill	Television film
1998–1999	Party of Five	Josh Macon	7 episodes
1999	Wasteland	Phillip, The Coffee Boy	7 episodes
1999	Sagamore	Alex	Television film
2002	Glory Days	Howard Dichotsky	Episode: "Everybody Loves Rudy"
2002	Six Feet Under	Ben Cooper	2 episodes
2004	CSI: Miami	Danny Cato	Episode: "Stalkerazzi"
2005	Veronica Mars	Chuck Rooks	Episode: "Mars vs. Mars"
2005	Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List	Himself	Episode: "Hot to Tot"
2006	Law & Order	Robbie Howell	Episode: "America, Inc."
2007	Tell Me You Love Me	Palek	10 episodes
2009	Trust Me	Josh Burkett	2 episodes
2009–2010	Eastbound & Down	Pat Anderson	2 episodes
2009–2010, 2023	Party Down	Henry Pollard	26 episodes; also executive producer
2010	The Sarah Silverman Program	Agent Schroeder	Episode: "Just Breve"
2010	Childrens Hospital	Lieutenant D'Ghor Koru	Episode: "Joke Overload"
2010	Nick Swardson's Pretend Time	News Anchor	Episode: "Mudslide Junction"
2010	The Wonderful Maladys	Alice's Ex-Boyfriend	Pilot
2010	American Dad!	Marshall	Voice Episode: "The People vs. Martin Sugar"
2010–2015, 2020	Parks and Recreation	Ben Wyatt	98 episodes Directed episode: "Farmers Market"
2011	Funny or Die Presents	Narrator	Episode #2.10
2011	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Van Damm	Episode: "The Risky Business of Being Alone in Your Home"
2012–2013	Burning Love	Damien Assante	6 episodes
2012–2014	The Greatest Event in Television History	Himself	4 episodes; also creator, director and executive producer
2012–2016	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself / Plumber Pierre	4 episodes
2013	Robot Chicken	Care Bear / Father	Voice Episode: "Botched Jewel Heist"
2013	Maron	Himself	Episode: "Mexican Angel"
2013	Drunk History	John Wilkes Booth	Episode: "Washington D.C."
2013	Timms Valley	US Marshal Lonny	Voice Pilot
2016	Angie Tribeca	Surgeon	Episode: "The Wedding Planner Did It"
2016	Animals.	Shane	Voice Episode: "Cats."
2016	Bajillion Dollar Propertie$	Johnny Dunne	Episode: "Meet Platinum"
2016	The Adult Swim Golf Classic	Adam Scott	TV special
2016–2018	The Good Place	Trevor	5 episodes
2017	Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special	Himself	Variety special
2017, 2019	Big Little Lies	Ed MacKenzie	14 episodes
2017	Veep	Tonight Show Host	Episode: "A Woman First"
2017	Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later	Ben	7 episodes
2017–2018	Ghosted	Max Jennifer	16 episodes; also executive producer
2017	Do You Want to See a Dead Body?	Himself	Episode: "A Body and a Puddle"
2018	I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman	George Washington	Episode: "Hall of Presidents"
2019	I'm Sorry	Dr. Steve Goldberg	Episode: "These Are My Fingers"
2019	The Twilight Zone	Justin Sanderson	Episode: "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet"
2020	Nailed It!	Himself (guest judge)	Episode: "Howdy, Failure!"
2020	Celebrity Escape Room	Himself	TV special
2020	Don't	Himself (host)	8 episodes; also executive producer
2021	Duncanville	Nick	Voice Episode: "Das Banana Boot"
2021	Big Mouth	Mr. Keating	Voice Episode: "Green-Eyed Monster"
2022–present	Severance	Mark Scout	Main role; also producer[36]
2022–2024	Loot	John Novak	7 episodes
2022	Inside Job	Ron Staedtler	Voice 5 episodes
2024	Dinner Time Live with David Chang	Himself	Episode: "United Plates of America"
2025	The Studio	Himself

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2009	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Lead Actor	The Vicious Kind	Nominated
2013	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Parks and Recreation	Nominated
2014	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2016	Independent Spirit Awards	Best First Feature	Other People	Nominated
2019	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Villain	The Good Place	Nominated
2020	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Big Little Lies	Nominated
2022	AFI Awards	Outstanding Television Program of the Year	Severance	Won
	Critics Choice Super Awards	Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series		Won
	Film Independent Spirit Awards	Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series		Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor in a Television Series — Drama		Nominated
	Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Drama		Nominated
	Peabody Awards	Entertainment		Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Drama Series		Nominated
	Producers Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama		Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Actor in a Streaming Television Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Webby Awards	Best Actor		Won
2023	Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Comedy Series	Party Down	Nominated
	Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	Best Comedy Cable Series		Won

References

1. "Adam Scott Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
2. Mike Rose, cleveland com (2024-04-03). "Famous birthdays list for today, April 3, 2024 includes celebrities Cobie Smulders, Paris Jackson". cleveland. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
3. "California Birth Index, 1905-1995, Ancestry.com". ancestry.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
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18. "Krampus - Naughty New Victims Join the Cast". Dread Central. March 3, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
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34. Berry, Liam (May 5, 2017). "Watch Star Wars Super Fan Adam Scott's Childhood Dreams Come True with a Surprise from Mark Hamill". People. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
35. https://fox56.com/news/local/adam-scott-and-ed-helms-join-harris-walz-campaign-in-scranton
36. White, Peter (November 8, 2019). "Apple Signs 'Severance', Workplace Thriller Series From Adam Scott & Ben Stiller". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 2, 2020.

External links

• Adam Scott at IMDb
• Adam Scott on Twitter
• Adam Scott on Instagram