Michael Stuhlbarg

Biography:

Michael Stuhlbarg was born on July 5, 1968, in Long Beach, California, to Susan and Mort Stuhlbarg. His father, originally a salesman, later built a successful career manufacturing security products. Raised in the Reform Jewish tradition, Stuhlbarg has said his connection to Judaism is more spiritual than religious. He trained as an actor at The Juilliard School in New York as part of Drama Division Group 21 (1988–1992), graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1992.

Beyond Juilliard, he also studied acting at UCLA, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the British American Drama Academy at Oxford, and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, and even trained in mime with Marcel Marceau.

Stuhlbarg began performing on stage early in his career. He played Charles VII in a 1993 production of Saint Joan, and the following year took on the title role in Richard II. Although critics noted his promise, some felt his interpretations suffered from questionable direction. His stage work continued with the two-person drama Old Wicked Songs in 1995, followed by his award-winning performance in Long Day’s Journey into Night in 1996, which earned him the Elliot Norton Award. In 1997, he took on multiple roles in Henry VIII.

He made his screen debut in the 1998 film A Price Above Rubies. In 1999, he appeared as Ernst Ludwig in the Studio 54 revival of Cabaret. A year later, he played both Time and Clown in The Winter’s Tale, earning praise for his quirky physicality. He portrayed a Hungarian Jew forced into the Sonderkommando in The Grey Zone (2001), after appearing in the play version years earlier. He continued to build his stage reputation with roles in Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, and The Persians, before earning major acclaim in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman (2005). His portrayal of Michal won him a Drama Desk Award and his first Tony nomination.

In 2006, Stuhlbarg performed in Measure for Pleasure and The Voysey Inheritance, and began a recurring role on Aaron Sorkin’s series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. His 2008 film roles included Afterschool and a brief part in Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies. That same year he played Prince Hamlet at the Delacorte Theater. His breakout film role came when he was cast as the lead in the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man (2009), earning him a Golden Globe nomination. He also had small roles in Cold Souls and Ugly Betty.

From 2010 to 2013, Stuhlbarg portrayed crime boss Arnold Rothstein in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. He reunited with Martin Scorsese in Hugo (2011) and appeared as the clairvoyant alien Griffin in Men in Black 3 (2012). He then appeared in Seven Psychopaths, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (as Congressman George Yeaman), and the biopic Hitchcock.

His later roles included Bobby Fischer’s manager in Pawn Sacrifice (2014), computer scientist Andy Hertzfeld in Steve Jobs (2015), and Edward G. Robinson in Trumbo (2015). He also appeared in Miles Ahead (2015). In 2016, he played a CIA agent in Arrival, doctor Nicodemus West in Doctor Strange, and an Irish lobbyist in Miss Sloane. USA Today called him “one of the best in Hollywood right now.”

In 2017, he played Sy Feltz in Fargo Season 3. That same year, he appeared in three major Oscar contenders: Call Me by Your Name (as Samuel Perlman), The Shape of Water (as Dr. Hoffstetler), and The Post (as editor A. M. Rosenthal), becoming only the sixth actor to appear in three Best Picture–nominated films in a single year.

Stuhlbarg was set to portray Howard Austen in the Gore Vidal biopic Gore, but the project was shelved after allegations against Kevin Spacey. He earned Emmy nominations for playing Richard Clarke in The Looming Tower (2018) and Richard Sackler in Dopesick (2021). From 2020 to 2023, he starred as crime boss Jimmy Baxter in the series Your Honor. In 2024, he returned to Broadway as Boris Berezovsky in Peter Morgan’s Patriots, and also appeared as a Russian arms dealer in the espionage thriller The Amateur.

Stuhlbarg married Mai-Linh Lofgren in 2013; the couple has no children.

On March 31, 2024, he was attacked in Central Park when a man threw a rock that struck him in the neck. The attacker was arrested and charged with assault.