John Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is an American actor. His first feature role was in Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), playing Raoul, the ill-fated son of Athos. Sarsgaard later achieved critical recognition when he was cast in Boys Don't Cry (1999) as John Lotter. He landed his first leading role in the 2001 film The Center of the World. The following year, he played supporting roles in Empire, The Salton Sea, and K-19: The Widowmaker. For his portrayal of Charles Lane in Shattered Glass, Sarsgaard won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the 2004 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sarsgaard has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including the 2004 comedy-drama Garden State, the biographical film Kinsey (2004), the drama The Dying Gaul (2005), and big-budget films such as Flightplan (2005), Jarhead (2005), The Skeleton Key (2005), Orphan (2009), An Education (2009), Knight and Day (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Lovelace (2013), Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves (2013), Blue Jasmine (2013), Black Mass (2015), and The Magnificent Seven (2016). Sarsgaard also appeared in the American TV series The Killing (2013) as a man on death row perhaps wrongfully convicted for the brutal murder of his wife—a performance which he says included "some of the best acting I have ever done in my life." In 2021, he had a recurring role on the Hulu miniseries Dopesick. Sarsgaard has appeared in Off-Broadway productions including Kingdom of Earth, Laura Dennis, Burn This, and Uncle Vanya. In September 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin in The Seagull. He is married to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Jarhead
(Alan Troy)
Boys Don't Cry
(John Lotter)
Garden State
(Mark)
Pet Shop Days
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
(Cleveland Arning)
Kinsey
(Clyde Martin)
Orphan
(John)
Rendition
(Alan Smith)
The Salton Sea
(Jimmy the Finn)
An Education
(David Goldman)
Elegy
(Kenneth Kepesh)
K-19: The Widowmaker
(Vadim Radtchinko)
The Center of the World
(Richard Longman)
The Man in the Iron Mask
(Raoul)
Flightplan
(Carson)
Empire
(Jack)
The Skeleton Key
(Luke Marshall)
Shattered Glass
(Charles 'Chuck' Lane)
Year of the Dog
(Newt)
The Dying Gaul
(Robert Sandrich)
In the Electric Mist
(Elrod Sykes)
Desert Blue
(Billy Baxter)
Knight and Day
(Fitzgerald)
Green Lantern
(Hector Hammond)
Unconditional Love
(Window Washer)
The Damning of a Country Merchant
Mama's Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Children
(Self)
Very Good Girls
(Fitzsimmons)
Robot & Frank
(Robot (voice))
Lovelace
(Chuck Traynor)
Night Moves
(Harmon)
The Bride!
Blue Jasmine
(Dwight)
Freak City
(Cal Jackson)
Memory
(Saul)
Pawn Sacrifice
(Father Bill Lombardy)
Death of a Dynasty
(Brendon III)
Housebound
(Mignon)
Experimenter
(Stanley Milgram)
Black Mass
(Brian Halloran)
Ladygrey
(Samuel)
Dead Man Walking
(Walter Delacroix)
Coup!
(Floyd Monk)
Valley Uprising
(Narrator (Voice))
Vengeance in the Making
(Self)
Jackie
(Robert Kennedy)
The Magnificent Seven
(Bartholomew Bogue)
Another Day in Paradise
(Ty)
The Cell
(Julia Hickson's Fiancee (uncredited))
High Falls
(Pedro)
September 5
(Roone Arledge)
Loving Pablo
(Shepard)
Jake Gyllenhaal Challenges the Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
(Alan Troy (archive footage))
Wormwood
(Frank Olson)
Mr. Jones
(Walter Duranty)
Starring Austin Pendleton
(Self)
The Lie
(Jay Logan)
The Sound of Silence
(Peter Lucian)
Human Capital
(Quint Manning)
The Survivor
(Emory Anderson)
The Batman
(District Attorney Gil Colson)
Subway Stories
(Boy No. 1 (segment "Underground"))
Best Summer Ever
(Camera Man)
The Lost Daughter
(Professor Hardy)
The Guilty
(Henry Fisher (voice))
This Week
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
(Self - Guest)
Cracker
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Killing
(Ray Seward)
Saturday Night Live
(Self - Host)
The Slap
(Hector)
Late Night with Seth Meyers
(Self)
America Divided
(Self)
Wormwood
(Frank Olson)
The Looming Tower
(Martin Schmidt)
Law & Order
(Josh Strand)
Indie Sex
(Self)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
(Self)
Saturday Night Live
(Self - Cameo (uncredited))
Saturday Night Live
(Boogerman)
Interrogation
(David Russell)
Presumed Innocent
(Tommasino 'Tommy' Molto)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
(Self)
Homemade
(Frank)
Dopesick
(Rick Mountcastle)
Conan
(Self)