Peter Sarsgaard

Biography

John Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is an American actor. His first feature role was in Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), playing Raoul, the ill-fated son of Athos. Sarsgaard later achieved critical recognition when he was cast in Boys Don't Cry (1999) as John Lotter. He landed his first leading role in the 2001 film The Center of the World. The following year, he played supporting roles in Empire, The Salton Sea, and K-19: The Widowmaker. For his portrayal of Charles Lane in Shattered Glass, Sarsgaard won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the 2004 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sarsgaard has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including the 2004 comedy-drama Garden State, the biographical film Kinsey (2004), the drama The Dying Gaul (2005), and big-budget films such as Flightplan (2005), Jarhead (2005), The Skeleton Key (2005), Orphan (2009), An Education (2009), Knight and Day (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Lovelace (2013), Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves (2013), Blue Jasmine (2013), Black Mass (2015), and The Magnificent Seven (2016). Sarsgaard also appeared in the American TV series The Killing (2013) as a man on death row perhaps wrongfully convicted for the brutal murder of his wife—a performance which he says included "some of the best acting I have ever done in my life." In 2021, he had a recurring role on the Hulu miniseries Dopesick. Sarsgaard has appeared in Off-Broadway productions including Kingdom of Earth, Laura Dennis, Burn This, and Uncle Vanya. In September 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin in The Seagull. He is married to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Known For

Law & Order

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Late Night with Seth Meyers

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Daily Show

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Conan

All Movies (70)

• The Bride!2026 · as Jake Wiles
• Pet Shop Days2025
• September 52024 · as Roone Arledge
• Coup!2024 · as Floyd Monk
• Memory2023 · as Saul
• The Survivor2022 · as Emory Anderson
• The Batman2022 · as District Attorney Gil Colson
• The Lost Daughter2021 · as Professor Hardy
• The Guilty2021 · as Henry Fisher (voice)
• Best Summer Ever2020 · as Camera Man
• Human Capital2020 · as Quint Manning
• Mr. Jones2019 · as Walter Duranty
• The Sound of Silence2019 · as Peter Lucian
• The Lie2018 · as Jay Logan
• Loving Pablo2017 · as Shepard
• Wormwood2017 · as Frank Olson
• Jackie2016 · as Robert Kennedy
• The Magnificent Seven2016 · as Bartholomew Bogue
• Starring Austin Pendleton2016 · as Self
• Experimenter2015 · as Stanley Milgram
• Black Mass2015 · as Brian Halloran
• Pawn Sacrifice2015 · as Father Bill Lombardy
• Ladygrey2015 · as Samuel
• Valley Uprising2014 · as Self - Narrator (voice)
• Night Moves2014 · as Harmon
• Lovelace2013 · as Chuck Traynor
• Blue Jasmine2013 · as Dwight
• Very Good Girls2013 · as Fitzsimmons
• Robot & Frank2012 · as Robot (voice)
• Green Lantern2011 · as Hector Hammond
• Knight and Day2010 · as Fitzgerald
• Jake Gyllenhaal Challenges the Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize2010 · as Alan Troy (archive footage)
• An Education2009 · as David Goldman
• Mama's Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Children2009 · as Self
• Orphan2009 · as John
• In the Electric Mist2009 · as Elrod Sykes
• Elegy2008 · as Kenneth Kepesh
• The Mysteries of Pittsburgh2008 · as Cleveland Arning
• Indie Sex: Teens2008
• Rendition2007 · as Alan Smith
• Year of the Dog2007 · as Newt
• High Falls2007 · as Pedro
• "Jarhead" Diaries2006 · as Self
• Jarhead: Background2006 · as Self
• Jarhead2005 · as Alan Troy
• Flightplan2005 · as Carson
• The Skeleton Key2005 · as Luke Marshall
• The Dying Gaul2005 · as Robert Sandrich
• Kinsey2004 · as Clyde Martin
• Garden State2004 · as Mark
• Shattered Glass2003 · as Charles 'Chuck' Lane
• Death of a Dynasty2003 · as Brendon III
• Empire2002 · as Jack
• Unconditional Love2002 · as Window Washer
• K-19: The Widowmaker2002 · as Vadim Radtchinko
• The Salton Sea2002 · as Jimmy the Finn
• The Center of the World2001 · as Richard Longman
• Housebound2000 · as Mignon
• The Cell2000 · as Julia Hickson's Fiancee (uncredited)
• Boys Don't Cry1999 · as John Lotter
• Desert Blue1999 · as Billy Baxter
• Freak City1999 · as Cal Jackson
• Another Day in Paradise1998 · as Ty
• The Man in the Iron Mask1998 · as Raoul
• Subway Stories1997 · as Boy No. 1 (segment "Underground")
• Dead Man Walking1995 · as Walter Delacroix
• The Damning of a Country Merchant—
• Zero K—
• Road House 2—
• Erosion— · as Christian Andersen

All TV Shows (24)

• DTF St. Louis2026 · as 'Modern Love' / Christopher Spurce
• Presumed Innocent2024 · as Tommasino 'Tommy' Molto
• Dopesick2021 · as Rick Mountcastle
• Homemade2020 · as Frank
• Interrogation2020 · as David Russell
• The Looming Tower2018 · as Martin Schmidt
• Wormwood2017 · as Frank Olson
• America Divided2016 · as Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self
• The Slap2015 · as Hector
• Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self
• The Killing2011 · as Ray Seward
• Conan2010 · as Self
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien2009 · as Self
• Indie Sex2007 · as Self
• Cracker1997
• The Daily Show1996 · as Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien1993 · as Self - Guest
• Law & Order1990 · as Josh Strand
• This Week1981
• Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self - Host
• Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
• Neuromancer— · as John Ashpool