David Packard Corenswet (born July 8, 1993) is an American actor. After graduating from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

in 2016, he began guest starring in television series, including '' House of Cards'' in 2018. He then played lead roles in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series '' The Politician'' (2019–2020) and ''

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

'' (2020), both created by Ryan Murphy. He has since starred in the films '' Look Both Ways'' and ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...

'', and the HBO miniseries ''

We Own This City ''We Own This City'' is an American miniseries based on the nonfiction book of the same name by ''Baltimore Sun'' reporter Justin Fenton. The miniseries was developed and written by George Pelecanos and David Simon, and directed by Reinaldo Mar ...

'' (all 2022).

Early life and education

Corenswet was raised in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

.Myers, Owen, September 19, 2019. His father, John Corenswet, was from a prominent

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

before becoming a lawyer. His mother is also a lawyer.Zafar, Mishal
"Who Is ''Hollywood'' Star David Corenswet, and Is He Dating Anyone?"
''Showbiz Cheatsheet''. May 1, 2020. Corenswet's maternal grandfather is Edward Packard, creator of the ''

Choose Your Own Adventure ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...

'' book concept, and author of more than 50 books in that series. Corenswet graduated from the Shipley School and earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

in drama in 2016 from the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He applied and was accepted to Juilliard while a freshman at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

Career

Early career

As a child actor, Corenswet appeared in numerous professional theater productions, including the

Arden Theatre Company The Arden Theatre Company is a professional regional theatre company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company includes three theatres: the 175-seat Arcadia Stage and the 360-seat F. Otto Haas Stage, located in the main property at 40 N ...

's 2002 production of

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' (19 ...

's ''

All My Sons ''All My Sons'' is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller. It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1949, and ran for 328 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan (t ...

'', the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's 2003 production of ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'',Wallace, Debra
"The Natural: An Acting Career Seemed Fated for David Corenswet, Star of Netflix's ''The Politician''."
''Suburban Life Magazine Philadelphia''. November 2019. the

Walnut Street Theatre The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnut ...

Company's 2003 production of ''La Vie En Bleu'', and the

People's Light and Theatre Company People's Light is a professional, not-for-profit theatre in Chester County, Pennsylvania . About People's Light Founded in 1974, by Dick Keeler, Ken Marini, and Meg and Danny Fruchter, People's Light serves as one of Pennsylvania's largest prof ...

's 2004 production of ''The Forgiving Harvest'', among others. Corenswet wrote the screenplay for and acted in ''Following Chase'' (2011), directed by Greg Koorhan. He next co-wrote, produced, and starred in a two-season sketch-comedy web series, ''Moe & Jerryweather'' (2014–2016). In 2016, director

Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom '' All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a perform ...

cast Corenswet as a co-lead in his planned television series, ''The Tap'', set at Yale College in 1969. Corenswet played a student.

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...

ordered the pilot episode, which was filmed in 2017, but declined to pick up the series. In Corenswet's first film role after graduating from Juilliard, he starred as Michael Lawson in '' Affairs of State'' (2018), a political thriller. The film also stars

Thora Birch Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress and producer. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in ''Purple People Eater'', for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years ...

Mimi Rogers Miriam Rogers (née Spickler; born January 27, 1956) is an American actress. Her notable film roles are ''Gung Ho'' (1986), '' Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987), '' Desperate Hours'' (1990), and ''Full Body Massage'' (1995). She garnered the grea ...

, and

Adrian Grenier Adrian Sean Grenier (born July 10, 1976) is an American actor, producer, director and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of Vincent Chase in the television series ''Entourage'' (2004–2011). He has appeared in films such as ''Drive Me ...

. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' described the film as "well-acted". Corenswet then appeared in several guest-star roles, including in '' House of Cards'', ''

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

'', and ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a ...

''.

Ryan Murphy projects and rising profile

's '' The Politician'' (2019–2020), he portrayed River Barkley, the lover and high-school political rival of Payton Hobart (

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

). '' Vanity Fair'' described River as a "wealthy, sporty, straight-A student". Corenswet starred as Jack Castello in ''

'' (2020), a Netflix limited series about the

post-World War II The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (US ...

film business in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. The project reunited him with Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the creators of ''The Politician''. Corenswet was also an executive producer on the series. He starred alongside

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...

, Dylan McDermott,

Darren Criss Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee'' (2010–2015) and received Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his leading role as spree ...

, and

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's '' The Practice'' (1998–2003) ...

. ''

Men's Health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst Communications, Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. Started as a men's health maga ...

'' magazine praised Corenswet's performance as that of a "breakout lead". ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' called it "another star-proving turn from David Corenswet." In ''

'', a 2022 HBO limited series from ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...

s writers and executive producers

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...

and

George Pelecanos George P. Pelecanos (born February 18, 1957) is an American author. Many of his 20 books are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writ ...

, Corenswet co-starred as the veteran police investigator David McDougall, whose work helps uncover years of corruption in the Gun Trace Task Force of the Baltimore police department. The series is based on actual events that unfolded in 2016. Corenswet co-starred as Jake in '' Look Both Ways'', a 2022 Netflix original romantic comedy-drama film. Directed by Wanuri Kahiu and written by April Prosser, it also stars

Lili Reinhart Lili Pauline Reinhart (born September 13, 1996) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Betty Cooper on The CW teen drama series'' Riverdale'' (2017–present) and Annabelle in Lorene Scafaria's black comedy crime drama film '' Hu ...

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as ''Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), '' My Dog Skip'' (2000), '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), '' The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), '' ...

Andrea Savage Andrea Kristen Savage (born February 20, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, and writer known for her roles in projects such as the Comedy Central mockumentary series ''Dog Bites Man'' (2006), the comedy film '' Step Brothers'' (2008), Hulu's ...

Danny Ramirez Danny Ramirez (born September 17, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Wes in '' The Gifted'', Mario Martinez in '' On My Block'', Joaquin Torres in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Lt. Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia in '' T ...

, and Aisha Dee. In ''

'', a 2022 feature film released in theaters by A24 and directed by

Ti West Timon C. West (born October 5, 1980) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and occasional actor, best known for his work in horror films. He directed the horror films ''The Roost'' (2005), '' The House of ...

, Corenswet co-starred as The Projectionist.

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

described the film as "mesmerizing" and "enthrall ng"

Upcoming roles

Corenswet joins

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

, Moses Ingram, Mikey Madison, and Dylan Arnold in the forthcoming

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

series '' Lady in the Lake'', directed by

Alma Har'el Alma Har'el ( he, עלמה הראל) is an Israeli-American music video and film director. She is best known for her 2019 feature film debut '' Honey Boy'', for which she won a Directors Guild of America Award. Her 2011 documentary ''Bombay Beac ...

. The series has finished filming, and will debut in 2023. Along with Lucy Boynton, Justin H. Min, and Austin Crute, Corenswet co-stars in ''

The Greatest Hits The Greatest Hits may refer to: * ''The Greatest Hits'' (3 Doors Down album), 2012 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Amii Stewart 2005), 2005 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Australian Crawl album), 2014 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Baby Bird album), 1997 * ''The ...

'', an upcoming romantic musical film for

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...

written, directed, and produced by Ned Benson. Corenswet plays the male lead in a pilot from

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Com ...

, filmed in January 2023: ''The Answers'', FX's adaptation of

Catherine Lacey Catherine Lacey (6 May 1904 – 23 September 1979) was an English actress of stage and screen. Stage Lacey made her stage debut, performing with Mrs Patrick Campbell, in ''The Thirteenth Chair'' at the West Pier Brighton on 13 April 1925. He ...

's novel of same name. His character, Christopher Skye, is a charismatic but troubled movie star involved in an enigmatic, futuristic dating experiment. In May 2023, Corenswet was cast in '' Twisters''. The film is scheduled to be released by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

in the United States, and by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally, on July 19, 2024. In June 2023, Corenswet was cast as Clark Kent / Superman in the upcoming

DC Studios DC Studios is an American film and television studio that is a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. It is dedicated to the production of films, series, and animations based on characters from DC Comics, ...

film '' Superman: Legacy'' from director

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with '' Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a direct ...

; it is set to be the first film in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lante ...

(DCU), and is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2025.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corenswet, David 1993 births 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American people of Jewish descent Juilliard School alumni Living people Male actors from Philadelphia Shipley School alumni American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors University of Pennsylvania alumni