Sawyer Barth (born November 7, 2001) is an American actor, known for their role as Flake in And Then I Go and as Frank Cleary in the ABC sitcom The Kids Are Alright.

Sawyer Barth
Born (2001-11-07) November 7, 2001 (age 22)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Biography and career

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A native of West Long Branch, New Jersey, Barth began receiving acting lessons at Actors Playground School of Theatre in Freehold, NJ at the age of 10[1] and since then has been actively involved in the entertainment industry, starring in plays, movies and TV, including anti-gun violence plays Bang Bang You're Dead and Lost Angels with the Playground Theatre Project based at Actors Playground. Barth was also active in competitive soccer throughout high school.[2]

In And Then I Go, Barth played the disturbed loner Flake. Barth had originally auditioned for the main role of Edwin, and was instead called back to be cast as his troublesome best friend.[3] A critic commented, "Darbo [playing the main character] and Barth both prove exceptionally receptive to the filmmakers' sometimes surprising guidance by exhibiting contrasting responses. Barth excels at concentrating the frustration that an uncaring family and educational system foist upon Flake into sudden bursts of uncontained rage."[4] With regard to the on-screen violence in the film, Barth stated in an interview: "They yelled 'Cut,' and then I walked out of the gym just to take a breather. I handed over my gun—which wasn't a prop gun, it was a real gun it just wasn't loaded—to the ammunition handlers, and I just walked outside for a second. It was way more intense, that felt way more real than I expected. Pointing that thing at an actual human and pretending to shoot them… it's something that shouldn't physically be done."[5]

In 2018, Barth was cast as Frank Cleary in the ABC show The Kids Are Alright. In 2019, they were a guest star in CBS's God Friended Me as Jacob Abbott. Barth's directorial debut was in 2023 with a theatrical production of Art,[6] also co-producing and co-starring. In 2024, Barth and actor-producer Dylan Pitanza officially launched their nonprofit theatre organization, Utopia for Losers, featuring play stagings at Actors Playground and in off-off-Broadway New York venues.[7][8] Barth is making their Broadway debut understudying the role of Tony in The Hills of California as of September 2024, in a production directed by Sam Mendes.[9]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Walk Young Danny Greenstein
2015 Bridge of Spies Bellamy[10]
The Bar Mitzvah Club Arty
2017 And Then I Go Roddy (Flake) [4]
Super Dark Times Charlie Barth Supporting role
The Real Stephen Blatt Drew Cassidy 1 episode; "The Consultant"
2018 Irreplaceable You Teen Sam
Defender Lawrence
2020 Goodbye Grandma Sawyer Short[11]
2021 Country Starts At Home McCann, Tyler Short

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Following Chris 1 episode; "Sacrifice"
Black Box Young Joshua Black 3 episodes; "Kiss the Sky", "Sweet Little Lies", "Forget Me"
The Knick The Whispering Kid 1 episode; "Get the Rope"
2015 Public Morals Michael Muldoon 7 episodes; "A Fine Line", "Family is Family", "Ladies Night", "A Good Shooting", "Collection Day", "No Crazies on the Street", "A Thought and a Soul"
2016 Amy's Brother Zach Pilot
Home Nate Bell Pilot
2018–19 The Kids Are Alright Frank Cleary Series Regular
2019 God Friended Me Jacob Abbott 1 episode; "The Lady"
2022 East New York Darren 1 episode; "The Small Things"

References

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  1. ^ The Inkblot News (7 January 2017). "Barth takes the big screen". Retrieved 13 March 2019 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ @ShoreBoysSoccer (11 October 2017). "Leonardo Montesinos with his 13th goal of the year to send Shore to the SCT. 2 goals for Leo, one for Sawyer Barth" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "AND THEN I GO's Sawyer Barth Interview with Teens Wanna Know". 19 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b Lowe, Justin (21 June 2017). "'And Then I Go': Film Review, LAFF 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  5. ^ "'And then I Go' star Sawyer Barth on humanizing a school shooter on the anniversary of Columbine". Newsweek. 20 April 2018.
  6. ^ "ART By Yasmina Reza is Coming to Freehold, New Jersey This Weekend". BroadwayWorld. 26 July 2023.
  7. ^ "REASONS TO BE PRETTY BY NEIL LABUTE | Humanitix". events.humanitix.com. 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  8. ^ "Instagram". instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  9. ^ https://v.playbill.com/person/sawyer-barth
  10. ^ "Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  11. ^ "Goodbye Grandma (Short 2020) - IMDb". IMDb.
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