David Strathairn

David Strathairn made his film debut in Return of the Secaucus 7 and went on to become a prolific character actor in independent and studio films. His early credits include The Brother from Another Planet (1983), Matewan (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Memphis Belle (1990), City of Hope (1991), Sneakers (1992), Passion Fish (1992), The Firm (1993), The River Wild (1994), Dolores Claiborne (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), Limbo (1999), Harrison's Flowers (2000), Blue Car (2002), and Twisted (2004). He frequently collaborated with director John Sayles, appearing in several of his films, including Return of the Secaucus 7, The Brother from Another Planet, Matewan, Eight Men Out, City of Hope, Passion Fish, and Limbo. He received an Independent Spirit Award for City of Hope.

On television, Strathairn appeared in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, Miami Vice, Son of the Morning Star, Paradise, The Sopranos, and the 2000 television adaptation of The Miracle Worker. He portrayed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the CBS television film Day One (1989) and later appeared in the PBS documentary The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2008).

In 2005, Strathairn starred as broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck, earning Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actor. His later film credits include We Are Marshall (2006), Steel Toes (2007), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), The People Speak (2009), Cold Souls (2009), No God, No Master (2012), Nomadland (2020), Remember This (2023), The Luckiest Man in America (2024), and the animated feature Zootopia 2 (2025), in which he made his voice acting debut.

Strathairn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his performance in Temple Grandin (2010). He also starred as Dr. Lee Rosen in the Syfy series Alphas (2011–2012) and portrayed Klaes Ashford in the third and fourth seasons of The Expanse (2018–2019).

In theater, Strathairn has performed in more than 30 stage productions. His credits include Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party (1988–1989), Mountain Language (1989), Booth! A House Divided (1989), Tom Stoppard's Hapgood (1994), Pinter's Ashes to Ashes (1999), Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (2015), and the one-man play Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski, which he performed in 2021. In 2020, he also lent his voice to Berkeley Repertory Theatre's radio adaptation of It Can't Happen Here.