John Gallagher Jr.

John Gallagher, Jr. originated the role of Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening, performing the musical Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company and on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre from 2006 to 2007. He won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance. His other early theater credits include Current Events (2000) at New York City Center, Kimberly Akimbo (2001) at South Coast Repertory, an Off-Broadway production at Manhattan Theatre Club (2003), Fuddy Meers (2004) at London's Arts Theatre and Rabbit Hole (2006) at the Pacific Playwrights Festival and on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre.

In 2008, Gallagher appeared in Port Authority as Kevin at Atlantic Theater Company and Farragut North as Stephen Meyers Off-Broadway. From 2009 to 2011, he played Johnny, also known as the Jesus of Suburbia, in American Idiot, appearing at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and on Broadway at the St. James Theatre. He subsequently played Lee in Jerusalem on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in 2011. His later theater credits include Long Day's Journey into Night (2016), in which he played Edmund Tyrone at the American Airlines Theatre; Nassim (2018), in which he performed Off-Broadway at New York City Center; and Swept Away (2022-2024), in which he played Mate at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage and the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Swept Away was a musical based on the music of The Avett Brothers.

Gallagher's film career began with The Flamingo Rising (2001), a television film, followed by Pieces of April (2003), in which he played Timmy Burns. His subsequent film credits include Mr. Gibb (2006) as Brett Mullen, Whatever Works (2009) as Perry Singleton, Jonah Hex (2010) as Lieutenant Evan and Margaret (2011) as Darren Rodifer. In 2013, he played Mason in Short Term 12 and appeared as himself in the documentary Broadway Idiot. His 2014 film credit The Heart Machine featured him as Cody.

In 2016, Gallagher played Emmett DeWitt in 10 Cloverfield Lane and the character known as the Man in Hush. He appeared as Mike Milch in The Belko Experiment (2017). His 2018 film credits include The Miseducation of Cameron Post, in which he played Reverend Rick; Sadie, in which he played Cyrus; and Peppermint, in which he played Detective Stan Carmichael. In 2019, he played Lee Trombley in The Best of Enemies and Juan in American Woman. His 2020 credits include Underwater as Liam Smith and Come Play as Marty. In 2021, he played Dale Salt in The Same Storm.

Gallagher played Max in Gone in the Night (2022), appeared as himself in the documentary Spring Awakening: Those You've Known (2022) and played Alex in Abandoned (2022). His subsequent film credits include I.S.S. (2023), in which he played Christian, and Which Brings Me to You (2024), in which he played Wallace. In 2026, he appeared as a businessman in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. His additional film projects include The Exorcist: Martyrs and Eleven Days, both listed as being in post-production, as well as Swim Fishy, in which he plays Abel.

Gallagher's television credits include The Flamingo Rising (2001), in which he played Gary; Law & Order (2002), in which he played Terrence Holt in the episode "Girl Most Likely"; and The West Wing (2002), in which he played Tyler in the two-part episode "20 Hours in America." In 2003, he appeared as Eric in Ed and as Ray Spier in two episodes of NYPD Blue. He played Gary in the 2004 episode "Conscience" of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Paul in two episodes of Love Monkey (2006). In 2009, he played Jeff Lynwood in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Lead."

From 2012 to 2014, Gallagher played James "Jim" Harper in 25 episodes of HBO's The Newsroom. In 2014, he appeared as Christopher Kitteridge in three episodes of the miniseries Olive Kitteridge. His later television credits include High Maintenance (2018), in which he played Zach in the episode "Steve"; Easy (2019), in which he played Lucas in the episode "Yes"; and Modern Love (2019), in which he played Rob in the episode "At the Hospital, an Interlude of Clarity." In 2020, he played Liam Dempsey Jr. in four episodes of Westworld and Luke Ducharme in the Love Life episode "Magnus Lund Part II."

In addition to acting, Gallagher has pursued a career as a singer-songwriter and solo performer. He released his debut album, Six Day Hurricane, under the name Johnny Gallagher in 2016. Produced by guitarist Thad DeBrock, the album was released by Rockwood Music Hall Recordings. Gallagher followed it with the self-released album 8th and Jane in 2021. In 2024, he released Goodbye or Something through Grand Phony Music Co. The album was recorded at Studio G Brooklyn and featured Zach Jones, Oscar Albis Rodriguez, Chris Cubeta, Hannah Winkler and Todd Caldwell. Gallagher has also performed as an opening act for Anaïs Mitchell, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Fantastic Cat, Mike Viola and Dave Hause, and collaborated with Alex Orange Drink and Sarah Greenwell of Gymshorts and Greensleeves.

Gallagher released his EP Almost Ok on May 29, 2026. He has continued performing live, including a tour with Bandits on the Run following the release of Goodbye or Something and a spring Midwest tour in support of Almost Ok, with a fall tour planned in support of Nicole Atkins.