Christopher Denham is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He is known for supporting roles in Oppenheimer, Shutter Island, Argo, Being the Ricardos, Charlie Wilson's War and Sound of My Voice. His television credits include Billions, Shining Girls opposite Elisabeth Moss, and Amazon Prime's Utopia, created by Gillian Flynn. Denham has appeared on Broadway in Master Harold...and the Boys, Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and David Mamet's China Doll, opposite Al Pacino.
Christopher Denham | |
|---|---|
| Born | Blue Island, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Early life
editDenham grew up on the south side of Chicago and worked at the famous Steppenwolf Theatre.
Career
editTheatrical career
editDenham made his Broadway debut opposite Danny Glover in the Roundabout Theatre revival of "Master Harold"...and the Boys. Denham originated the role of Matt in the Steppenwolf Theater production of Adam Rapp's Red Light Winter.[1] The production moved to New York where Denham won Outstanding Lead Actor at the 2006 Lucille Lortel Awards.[2] His other Broadway credits include the title role in Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and David Mamet's China Doll, opposite Al Pacino.[3] Off-Broadway, Denham appeared at Playwright's Horizons in Adam Rapp's Kindness opposite Katherine Waterston, Charles Mee's Wintertime at Second Stage, and Steven Levenson's The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, opposite David Morse at Roundabout Theatre Company. Regionally, Denham has worked with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, New York Stage and Film and the Sundance Lab for Directors and Screenwriters.
Film and television career
editDenham's first major film role was as CIA paramilitary operations officer Mike Vickers in Charlie Wilson's War, directed by Mike Nichols. He starred opposite Brit Marling in the acclaimed psychological thriller Sound of My Voice which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.[4] His breakout film role was as Mark Lijek, one of the six escaped hostages rescued by Tony Mendez in Argo.[5] Denham later portrayed scientist Jim Meeks on the Emmy-nominated Manhattan. In 2017, he joined the cast of Billions as attorney Oliver Dake.[6] He appeared as Sheriff Peter Trask in Craig Zobel's One Dollar, which premiered on CBS All Access. In 2020, he was a series regular in Gillian Flynn's Utopia as Arby.[7] Denham has collaborated with legendary directors Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island), Mike Nichols (Charlie Wilson's War), Barry Levinson (The Bay), Tony Gilroy (Duplicity), Jodie Foster (Money Monster) and Aaron Sorkin (Being The Ricardos). Other TV credits include: Rubicon, Person of Interest, The Good Wife, Prodigal Son, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, and The Following.
Denham wrote and directed the 2008 horror film Home Movie (IFC Films) which premiered at Toronto After Dark and won the Citizen Kane Award for up-and-coming director at the Sitges Film Festival.[8] He also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed thriller, Preservation, starring Wrenn Schmidt, Pablo Schreiber and Aaron Staton.[9] which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and was distributed by The Orchard. He also directed the psychological thriller, Old Flame, which is distributed by Gravitas Ventures.
Denham plays the Russian spy Klaus Fuchs in Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer, for Universal Pictures, which was released in July 2023.[10]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Headspace | Alex Borden | |
| 2007 | Two Families | Greg | Television film |
| Blackbird | Clarke | ||
| Charlie Wilson's War | Mike Vickers | ||
| The Key to Reserva | Leonard | Short film | |
| 2008 | El camino | Gray | |
| Home Movie | Directorial debut | ||
| 2009 | Duplicity | Ronny Partiz | |
| Alexander the Last | Actor | ||
| Bottleworld | Fred | ||
| 2010 | Shutter Island | Peter Breene | |
| Camp Hell | Christian | ||
| 2011 | Sound of My Voice | Peter Aitken | |
| Restive | Lott | ||
| Enter Nowhere | Kevin | ||
| 2012 | Forgetting the Girl | Kevin Wolfe | |
| Argo | Mark Lijek | Hollywood Film Awards for Ensemble of the Year Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Ensemble Cast Award Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast | |
| The Bay | Sam | ||
| 2014 | Bad Country | Tommy Weiland | |
| Preservation | As director | ||
| 2015 | Area 51 | As writer | |
| 2016 | Money Monster | Ron Sprecher | |
| 2017 | Camera Obscura | Jack Zeller | |
| 2018 | Fast Color | Bill | |
| The Amaranth | Dr. Alan Campbell | ||
| 2021 | Being the Ricardos | Donald Glass | |
| 2023 | The Adults | Scott | |
| Night Shift | Walton Grey | ||
| Maggie Moore(s) | Andy Moore | ||
| Oppenheimer | Klaus Fuchs | ||
| Dogman | Ackerman |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Joey Field | Episode: "Damaged" |
| 2007 | Law & Order | Gerald Stockwell | Episode: "Murder Book" |
| 2010 | Rubicon | Evan Hadas | Episode: "Keep the Ends Out" |
| 2012 | Person of Interest | Kyle Morrison | Episode: "Identity Crisis" |
| 2013 | Deception | Remy Colville | Episode: "Pilot" |
| The Following | Vince McKinley | 3 episodes | |
| The Good Wife | Trent | Episode: "What's in the Box?" | |
| 2014–2015 | Manhattan | Jim Meeks | 23 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Billions | Oliver Dake | 17 episodes |
| 2017 | The Blacklist: Redemption | Brian Mayhew | Episode: "Operation Davenport" |
| 2018 | One Dollar | Peter Trask | 10 episodes |
| 2020 | Utopia | Arby | 8 episodes |
| 2021 | Prodigal Son | Trevor Falvey | Episode: "Bad Manners" |
| 2022 | Shining Girls | Leo Jenkins | 4 episodes |
| 2023 | The Gilded Age | Robert McNeil | 4 episodes |
| 2024 | American Rust | Russell Wolfe | 9 episodes |
Stage
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Master Harold"...and the Boys | Hally | Roundabout Theater Company |
| 2004 | Wintertime | Jonathan | Second Stage Theater[11] |
| 2005 | Red Light Winter | Matt | Steppenwolf Theater |
| 2006 | Red Light Winter | Matt | Barrow Street Theater 2006 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Lead Actor (tie) |
| cagelove | Playwright, Director | Rattlestick Playwrights Theater | |
| The Lieutenant of Inishmore | Mad Padraic | Lyceum Theatre | |
| 2008 | Kindness | Dennis | Playwrights Horizons[12] |
| 2015 | China Doll | Carson | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre |
| 2018 | The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin | James Durnin | Roundabout Theater Company |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Motive | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor | Red Light Winter | Won (tied) |
| 2008 | Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival | "Citizen Kane Award for Best Directorial Revelation" | Home Movie | Won |
| 2012 | Hollywood Film Awards | "Ensemble of the Year" (with John Goodman, Scoot McNairy, Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Tate Donovan, Rory Cochrane, Bryan Cranston, Clea DuVall, Victor Garber, Zeljko Ivanek, Titus Welliver, Bob Gunton, Philip Baker Hall, Richard Kind, Michael Parks, Christopher Stanley, Taylor Schilling) |
Argo | Won[13] |
| 2013 | Palm Springs International Film Festival | "Ensemble Cast Award" (with Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina) |
Argo | Won[14] |
References
edit- ^ Parisi, Barbara, ed. (2011). The Best American Short Plays 2009-2010. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-55783-763-9.
- ^ McBride, Walter (May 3, 2006). "Photo Coverage: 2006 Lucille Lortel Awards". Broadway World. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ Ezell, Brice (January 26, 2016). "David Mamet and Al Pacino's 'China Doll' Rat-a-Tats Without the Tat". PopMatters.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (April 26, 2012). "The Guru in the Basement Promises a Journey to... Something". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ Regalbuto, Benny (September 23, 2020). "Why Arby from Utopia looks so familiar". Looper. Looperland?. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
- ^ McFarland, Melanie (February 19, 2017). ""Hate is nature's most perfect energy source": Showtime's "Billions" hits its stride in its return". Salon. New York. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
- ^ Travers, Ben (September 25, 2020). "'Utopia' Review: Gillian Flynn's Amazon Adaptation Was Not Meant for This Moment". Indie Wire. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ "Sitges Film Festival". Sitges Film Festival. 2008. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ Zimmerman, Samuel. "First Look: Christopher Denham's "PRESERVATION"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (April 4, 2022). "Christopher Denham & Josh Zuckerman Join 'Oppenheimer'; Shane Dax Taylor's Indie 'Best Man' Adds Andrey Ivchenko". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ Bacalzo, Dan (March 2, 2004). "Wintertime". TheaterMania. NYC. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Isherwood, Charles (October 13, 2008). "Welcome to New York; Now Go Find a Friend". The New York Times. NYC. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (October 3, 2012). "Hollywood Film Awards to Honor 'Argo' Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ Kim, Eddie (December 5, 2012). "'Argo' ensemble honored at Palm Springs fest". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
