Christopher Denham
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Blue Island, Illinois, U.S.
Occupations
Years active2003–present

Christopher Denham is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He is perhaps best known for supporting roles in Shutter Island, Argo, Being the Ricardos and his role in the Sundance Film Festival cult phenomenon, Sound of My Voice, as well as the television series Billions, Shining Girls, opposite Elisabeth Moss and Amazon Prime's Utopia, created by Gillian Flynn.

Early life

Denham grew up on the south side of Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied acting and creative writing.[1][2] While there, he was a member of the Celebration Company at the Station Theatre where he performed in the plays "This Is Our Youth," "American Buffalo," and "The Beauty Queen of Leenane."

Career

Theatrical career

Denham made his Broadway debut opposite Danny Glover in the 2003 revival of "Master Harold"...and the Boys.[3] In 2005, Denham originated the role of Matt in the Steppenwolf Theater production of Adam Rapp's Red Light Winter.[4] The production moved to New York where Denham won Outstanding Lead Actor at the 2006 Lucille Lortel Awards.[5] 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.[6] 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

Denham'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.[7] His breakout film role was as Mark Lijek, one of the six escaped hostages rescued by Tony Mendez in Argo.[8] Denham later portrayed scientist Jim Meeks on the Emmy-nominated Manhattan. In 2017, he joined the cast of Billions as attorney Oliver Dake.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] He also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed thriller, Preservation, starring Wrenn Schmidt, Pablo Schreiber and Aaron Staton.[12] which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and was distributed by The Orchard.

Denham plays the Russian spy Klaus Fuchs in Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer, for Universal Pictures, which was released in July 2023.[13]

Filmography

Film

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
2018 The Amaranth Dr. Alan Campbell
2021 Being the Ricardos Donald Glass
2023 Oppenheimer Klaus Fuchs

Television

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"
2013 The Following Vince McKinley 3 episodes
2013 The Good Wife Trent Episode: "What's in the Box?"
2014–2015 Manhattan Jim Meeks 10 episodes
2017–2018 Billions Oliver Dake 17 episodes
2018 One Dollar Peter Trask 10 episodes
2020 Utopia Arby 8 episodes

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2003 "Master Harold"...and the Boys Hally Roundabout Theater Company
2004 Wintertime Jonathan Second Stage Theater[14]
2005 Red Light Winter Matt Steppenwolf Theater
2006 Red Light Winter Matt Barrow Street Theater
2006 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Lead Actor (tie)
2006 cagelove Playwright, Director Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
2006 The Lieutenant of Inishmore Mad Padraic Lyceum Theatre
2008 Kindness Dennis Playwrights Horizons[15]
2015 China Doll Carson Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
2018 The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin James Durnin Roundabout Theater Company

Awards and nominations

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[16]
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[17]

References

  1. ^ Sod, Ted (May 29, 2013). "Conversation with Christopher Denham". Broadway World. NY, NY. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  2. ^ Moore, Camille (October 2020). "10 Things You Didn't Know about Christopher Denham". TV Over Mind. TV?. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Isherwood, Charles (June 1, 2003). "Master Harold … and the Boys". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  4. ^ Parisi, Barbara, ed. (2011). The Best American Short Plays 2009-2010. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-55783-763-9.
  5. ^ McBride, Walter (May 3, 2006). "Photo Coverage: 2006 Lucille Lortel Awards". Broadway World. Broadway World. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Ezell, Brice (January 26, 2016). "David Mamet and Al Pacino's 'China Doll' Rat-a-Tats Without the Tat". PopMatters.
  7. ^ Dargis, Manohla (April 26, 2012). "The Guru in the Basement Promises a Journey to... Something". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  8. ^ Regalbuto, Benny (September 23, 2020). "Why Arby from Utopia looks so familiar". Looper. Looperland?. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Sitges Film Festival". Sitges Film Festival. Sitges Film Festival. 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  12. ^ Zimmerman, Samuel. "First Look: Christopher Denham's "PRESERVATION"". Fangoria. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Bacalzo, Dan (March 2, 2004). "Wintertime". TheaterMania. NYC. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  15. ^ Isherwood, Charles (October 13, 2008). "Welcome to New York; Now Go Find a Friend". The New York Times. NYC. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ 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.

External links

Authority control databases
Categories