Michael Stahl-David (born October 28, 1982) is an American actor, known for his role as Sean Donnelly on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

drama series ''

The Black Donnellys ''The Black Donnellys'' is an American drama television series that debuted on NBC on February 26, 2007, and last aired on May 14, 2007. ''The Black Donnellys'' was created by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco and starred Jonathan Tucker, Oliv ...

'' and his lead role as Robert "Rob" Hawkins in the

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced films such as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' Forever ...

-produced film ''

Cloverfield ''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American Found footage (film technique), found footage monster movie, monster horror film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller (in his film debut), Mic ...

''.

Early life

Stahl-David was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the son of

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

s. He graduated from

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...

. He is the older brother to Eric Stahl-David and R. Andrew Stahl-David, both of whom graduated from

Whitney Young Magnet High School Whitney M. Young Magnet High School is a public four-year magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Opened on September 3, 1975, as a public magnet high school, joining Lane Tech in that ...

. Prior to his acting career, Stahl-David was a graffiti artist in Chicago.

Career

Stahl-David began his acting career in 2001, when he played a minor role of Rossetti in ''

New Port South ''New Port South'' is a 2001 American drama film. It was released on September 7, 2001. The film is set in the fictional town of New Port, near Chicago. It stars Will Estes, Todd Field, and Blake Shields, was written by James Hughes and directed ...

''. In 2003, he played a minor role as Craig in '' Uncle Nino''. During this time he was active in the Chicago theater scene, appearing in plays at the

Steppenwolf Theatre Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighbo ...

(''One Arm'', ''Theater District''),

Victory Gardens Theater Victory Gardens Theater is a theater company in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to the development and production of new plays and playwrights. The theater company was founded in 1974 when eight Chicago artists, Cecil O'Neal, Warren Casey, Stuart Go ...

(''Cider House Rules'', ''

Lost in Yonkers ''Lost in Yonkers'' is a play by Neil Simon. The play won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Production The play premiered at The Center for the Performing Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on December 31, 1990, then moved to Broadway at ...

''), and the

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the ...

(''

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? 'The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?' is a full-length play written in 2000 by Edward Albee which opened on Broadway in 2002. It won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and was a finalist for the 2003 Puli ...

'') Shortly after arriving in New York in 2005, he appeared as Peter in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' at the Paper Mill Playhouse. In the winter of 2007 he enjoyed critical success in his role in ''The Overwhelming''

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

. Stahl-David began his television acting career in 2007, when he made a guest appearance as Riordan Grady in the series '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' episode "Players". Later in 2007, he portrayed Sean Donnelly, one of the four Irish brothers, in the short-lived series ''

''. His most recent film appearance was in J.J. Abrams' ''

'' reprising his role as Rob. In September 2008, Stahl-David starred in and directed the web series ''Michael Stahl-David: Behind the Star'' on

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snack ...

. In 2010, Stahl-David starred in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

series ''

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the " 500 Greatest S ...

'', which was cancelled after two episodes due to low ratings. Stahl-David starred as Kevin in the Off-Broadway play ''Picked'' at New York City's

Vineyard Theatre The Vineyard Theatre is a 120-seat Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Founded in 1981 by Barbara Zinn Krieger, the Vineyard states that its goal is "to give ...

from April 6 to May 15, 2011. Stahl-David also starred in the 2014 paranormal romance film ''In Your Eyes'' as one of the lead roles.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Theatre

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stahl-David, Michael 1982 births 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from Chicago