Robert McElhenney III (/ˈmækəlhɛni/MAK-əl-hen-ee; born April 14, 1977) is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his role as Mac on the FX/FXX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present), a show he created and co-developed with Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton and on which he continues to serve as an executive producer and writer. He is also known for playing Ian Grimm on the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest (2020–present), which he co-created with Day and Megan Ganz as executive producers.
In September 2020, McElhenney became the co-owner of the Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C. with Ryan Reynolds; this was covered in the Emmy Award-winning FX sports documentary series Welcome to Wrexham (2022–present), for which he won an Emmy Award as one of the executive producers.
Early life
Robert McElhenney III was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 1977. Both of McElhenney's parents were of Irish descent.[1] He was raised Catholic.[2] Through his father, he is a cousin of Olympic rower Marcus McElhenney. When he was eight years old, his parents divorced after his mother came out as a lesbian.[2] He and his two younger brothers were primarily raised by their father, though their parents remained close after the divorce.[2] His two brothers are gay,[2] and he describes himself as having "always been part of the gay community".[3] Through his father's subsequent marriage, he also has a half-sister and step-brother.
McElhenney had his first major acting role with a small part in the 1997 film The Devil's Own, though his role was cut out of the final edit. He followed this with small parts in the films A Civil Action, Wonder Boys, and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing. He later had more substantial parts in the films Latter Days and The Tollbooth, and a guest role in the Law & Order episode "Thrill". When he was 21, a screenplay he wrote was optioned with Paul Schrader attached to direct, but the project fell through after a year of edits and rewrites.[8]
Initially based in New York City, McElhenney moved to Los Angeles at the age of 25.[8] When he was 27 years old, he was waiting tables between acting jobs and had met Glenn Howerton through his agent, as well as meeting Charlie Day while shooting a horror film in New York City.[8] His idea for a sitcom starring himself, Howerton, and Day came from a suggestion originally made by one of his closest childhood friends.[2] The pilot was filmed on a budget of $200 and pitched to various cable networks.[9] After receiving offers from many of the networks, McElhenney chose to sign with FX as they allowed him more creative freedom, and the show was eventually titled It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. McElhenney was contracted as its showrunner, while both Howerton and Day were listed as executive producers.[8]
McElhenney has said that 50 weeks per year are taken up by acting, producing, and writing for It's Always Sunny, though he did find time to appear in the Lost episode "Not in Portland". This was a result of him meeting Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, who is a fan of It's Always Sunny. He later reprised his Lost role in another episode. He is a fan of Game of Thrones and said that he was thrilled when the series' creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss asked him if they could write an episode of It's Always Sunny. He and his co-producers accepted the offer,[10] resulting in the episode "Flowers for Charlie" in 2013. In 2019, he had a cameo appearance as an extra in the Game of Thrones episode "Winterfell".
In July 2015, McElhenney was confirmed by Mojang as the director of the upcoming animated Minecraft movie,[11] but he later left the project.[12]
In 2017, McElhenney appeared in a guest role as a police officer in the acclaimed Fargo episode "The Law of Non-Contradiction". He received praise for his performance from critics, who saw many of his character's traits and plot points as references to It's Always Sunny.[13][14]
In 2020, McElhenney co-created the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest alongside Charlie Day and Megan Ganz. He also stars as Ian Grimm on the show and serves as a writer and executive producer. The series has received critical acclaim, with the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes giving the series an 89% approval rating.[15]
Since November 2021, McElhenney, Day and Howerton have been releasing The Always Sunny Podcast.[16][17] The three discuss topics of all sorts with the general framing of the podcast usually focusing on the creators discussing each episode of the show, sharing behind-the-scenes information, and what was going on to inspire the episodes. Cast members from the show also appear to discuss their own characters, and how they got into the show.
Business interests
In 2009, McElhenney and his wife Kaitlin Olson along with others purchased Skinner's Bar, now Mac's Tavern at 226 Market St in Philadelphia.[18][19][20]
On September 23, 2020, it was announced by the Wrexham Supporters Trust that a business partnership had been formed by McElhenney and Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and that they were in talks to purchase the Welsh football team Wrexham AFC.[21] On November 16, 2020, it was confirmed that the two had successfully taken over the club after receiving the backing of the Wrexham Supporters Trust.[22][23] On April 22, 2023, Wrexham achieved promotion to League Two and also became National League champions under their ownership. This marked a return for Wrexham to the English Football League after a 15 year absence.[24] On April 13, 2024, Wrexham secured promoted to League One after finishing 2nd in League Two and securing automatic league promotion. In April 2024 some of Club Necaxa´s owners purchased a 5% stake in Wrexham, reciprocated by Reynolds and McElhenney purchasing a minority ownership stake in Club Necaxa.[25]
On June 7, 2022, McElhenney announced the launch of a new entertainment-tech company named Adim, co-founded by himself, Chase Rosenblatt, Melissa Kaspers, Spencer Marell, and Richard Rosenblatt.[26]
On June 26, 2023, it was announced that both Ryan Reynolds and McElhenney were part of an investor group that bought a 24% equity stake in the Alpine F1 Team.[29]
In preparation for the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, McElhenney put on 60 lb (27 kg) of fat and let his beard grow out to give extra humor to his character and add a new comedic direction for the season. His co-star Charlie Day described the weight gain as "disgusting" and said that the rest of the cast was "a little on the fence about it for his own personal health and safety". McElhenney subsequently lost 23 lb (10 kg) in a month after the season was finished filming, and lost the rest of the weight later in the year in time to film the next season.[35][36]
In preparation for the show's 13th season, he transformed his body again, though this time he became excessively fit and athletic. He later joked in an Instagram post, "Look, it’s not that hard. All you need to do is lift weights six days a week, stop drinking alcohol, don’t eat anything after 7pm, don’t eat any carbs or sugar at all, in fact just don’t eat anything you like, get the personal trainer from Magic Mike, sleep nine hours a night, run three miles a day, and have a studio pay for the whole thing over a six to seven month span. I don’t know why everyone’s not doing this. It’s a super realistic lifestyle and an appropriate body image to compare oneself to. #hollywood ".[37]
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