Christopher Lowell (born October 17, 1984) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of
Stosh "Piz" Piznarski in the television series ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
'' (2006–2007),
William "Dell" Parker in the television series ''
Private Practice'' (2007–2010),
Sebastian "Bash" Howard in the television series ''
GLOW'' (2017–2019), and Jesse Walker in ''
How I Met Your Father'' (2022-2023). He has also appeared in films, notably ''
Up in the Air'' (2009), ''
The Help'' (2011), and ''
Promising Young Woman'' (2020), all of which were nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...
.
Lowell made his directorial debut with the film ''
Beside Still Waters'' (2013), which he also co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay for.
Early life and education
Lowell was born in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
.
He attended the
Atlanta International School, where he became interested in
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
and
filmmaking
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
.
He attended the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, where he was discovered in his first year while playing
beach volleyball
Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
.
Career
Discovered in 2003 after going through his first major audition, Lowell landed the role of Jonathan Fields on the
ABC teen
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
''
Life As We Know It''.
The
series was cancelled after 13
episode
An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption.
Etymology
The noun ''episode'' is ...
s.
In 2006, Lowell had lead roles in the
coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
film ''
Graduation
A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...
'' and also in a small film entitled ''You Are Here''.
After the end of ''Life As We Know It'', Lowell was cast as
Stosh "Piz" Piznarski in the third season of ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
'', opposite
Kristen Bell and
Jason Dohring.
In 2009 Chris Lowell appeared in several videos by the sketch comedy group
BriTANicK, including "Pillow Talk", and "The Morning After."
From 2007 until 2010, Lowell appeared in the ABC drama ''
Private Practice'', alongside
Kate Walsh,
Audra McDonald, and
Tim Daly
James Timothy Daly (born March 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom '' Wings'' and his recurring role as drug-addicted screenwriter J.T. Dolan on ''The Sopranos.'' He starred as Pete ...
, playing Dell, the receptionist for the Oceanside Wellness Group who was also a qualified nurse,
midwife
A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...
-in-training, and young father to six-year-old daughter Betsy. Lowell exited ''Private Practice'' in the show's third-season finale when Dell died from heart failure, a complication during brain surgery after a vehicle accident.
In 2011, Lowell played the role of Stuart Whitworth in the film ''
The Help'', an
adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...
of
Kathryn Stockett's
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
novel of the same name. The following year, filming began on Lowell's directorial debut, ''
Beside Still Waters''. Set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the film tells the story of a man redefining his outlook on life after the death of his parents.
Lowell also played Derrick on Fox's 2014 comedy ''
Enlisted''.
Lowell is also a
vocalist
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and
harmonicist for the
indie acoustic band Two Shots for Poe.
He starred in the Off-Broadway hit '' Jacuzzi'' at
Ars Nova in New York City.
In May 2021, Lowell was cast in the ''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
'' spinoff series ''
How I Met Your Father'', led by
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...
. In November 2021, Duff and the cast confirmed via social media accounts that the series would premiere on January 18, 2022.
On February 15, 2022, Hulu renewed the series for a 20-episode second season.
He played the role of producer Sebastian “Bash” Howard in the 2017-19 Netflix series GLOW.
Personal life
Lowell and his longtime girlfriend, New Zealand born actress
Kerry Bishé, have a daughter who was born in 2021.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
Chris Lowell cast bio on The CWChris Lowell and his band Two Shots for PoePopGurls Interview: Chris Lowell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowell, Chris
1984 births
American male television actors
Living people
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Male actors from Atlanta
University of Southern California alumni
American male film actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American singers
21st-century American male singers