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).
Acted in
The Bad Guys 2
2025
as Mr. Wolf (voice)
IF
2024
as Guardian Dog (voice)
Argylle
2024
as Aidan Wilde
See How They Run
2022
as Inspector Stoppard
The Last Movie Stars
2022
as Self
The Last Movie Stars
2022
as Stuart Rosenberg (voice)
Maraschino Ruby
2022
as Wolf (voice)
The Bad Guys
2022
as Wolf (voice)
What If...?
2021
as Justin Hammer (voice)
The One and Only Ivan
2020
as Ivan (voice)
Home Movie: The Princess Bride
2020
as Westley
Trolls World Tour
2020
as Hickory (voice)
Richard Jewell
2019
as Watson Bryant
Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary
2019
as Self
Jojo Rabbit
2019
as Captain Klenzendorf
Fosse/Verdon
2019
as Bob Fosse
The Best of Enemies
2019
as Claiborne Paul Ellis
Vice
2018
as George W. Bush
Blue Iguana
2018
as Eddie
Blaze
2018
as Oilman 3
The Origins of Ebbing
2018
as Self
Mute
2018
as Sam Bell
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2017
as Jason Dixon
Woman Walks Ahead
2017
as Silas Groves
The Dark of Night
2017
as Officer Witt
Axis
2017
as Himself
Mr. Right
2016
as Mr. Right
Don Verdean
2015
as Don Verdean
Digging for Fire
2015
as Ray
Poltergeist
2015
as Eric Bowen
Walking the Mile
2014
as Self (archive footage)
Laggies
2014
as Craig Hunter
Loitering with Intent
2014
as Wayne
Better Living Through Chemistry
2014
as Douglas Varney
Showing Up
2014
as Self
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King
2014
as Justin Hammer
A Case of You
2013
as Gary
Schooled: The Price of College Sports
2013
as Narrator (voice)
A Single Shot
2013
as John Moon
The Way Way Back
2013
as Owen
Trust Me
2013
as Aldo
Seven Psychopaths
2012
as Billy Bickle
The Sitter
2011
as Karl
Cowboys & Aliens
2011
as Doc
Gettysburg
2011
as Narrator
Conviction
2010
as Kenny Waters
Iron Man 2
2010
as Justin Hammer
F--k
2010
as Sam
Everybody's Fine
2009
as Robert
Gentlemen Broncos
2009
as Bronco / Brutus
G-Force
2009
as Darwin the Guinea Pig (voice)
Moon
2009
as Sam Bell
The Winning Season
2009
as Bill
I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale
2009
as Self
Frost/Nixon
2008
as James Reston Jr.
Choke
2008
as Victor Mancini
The Assassination of Jesse James: Death of an Outlaw
2008
as Self
Woman In Burka
2008
as Sam
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2007
as Charley Ford
Snow Angels
2007
as Glenn Marchand
Joshua
2007
as Brad Cairn
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'
2005
as Self
Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
2005
as Self
Nobody Wants Your Film
2005
as Self
Robin's Big Date
2005
as The Bat-Man
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005
as Zaphod Beeblebrox
Unscripted
2005
as Self
Piccadilly Jim
2004
as Jim Crocker
Matchstick Men
2003
as Frank Mercer
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2002
as Chuck Barris
13 Moons
2002
as Rick
Welcome to Collinwood
2002
as Pero
Heist
2001
as Jimmy Silk
Made
2001
as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
BigLove
2001
as Nate
Charlie's Angels
2000
as Eric Knox
Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile
2000
as Self (uncredited)
Galaxy Quest
1999
as Guy Fleegman
The Green Mile
1999
as 'Wild Bill' Wharton
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1999
as Francis Flute
Jerry and Tom
1998
as Jerry
Celebrity
1998
as Darrow Entourage
Safe Men
1998
as Samuel
Lawn Dogs
1997
as Trent Burns
Subway Stories
1997
as Man Eating (segment "Sax Cantor Riff")
Drunks
1997
as Tony
Prince Street
1997
Arresting Gena
1997
as Sonny
Box of Moonlight
1996
as The Kid
Basquiat
1996
as Thug
Mercy
1995
as Matty
Glory Daze
1995
as Rob
The Search for One-eye Jimmy
1994
as One-eye Jimmy
Somebody to Love
1994
as Polish Guy
NYPD Blue
1993
as Billy
In the Soup
1992
as Pauli
Light Sleeper
1992
as Jealous
Happy Hell Night
1992
as Young Henry Collins
Jack and His Friends
1992
as Louie
Strictly Business
1991
as Gary
Law & Order
1990
as Randy Borland
Law & Order
1990
as Officer Weddeker
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1990
as Head Thug
Over The Limit
1990
as Jason
Last Exit to Brooklyn
1989
as Al
Clownhouse
1989
as Randy Collins
The Equalizer
1985
as Slick
ABC Afterschool Special
1972
as Jason
The Oscars
1953
as Self - Presenter
The Adventures of Drunky
as Drunky
