Sam Rockwell

As a child, Rockwell lived in San Francisco with his father he but spent summers with his mother in Greenwich Village, tagging along with her to downtown theaters and after parties. While hanging out at a theater rehearsal one summer day, a director suggested that 10-year-old Rockwell would be a hilarious addition to a comedy sketch. He was instantly attracted to the stage, and began appearing in productions every year after that.

After Rockwell was cast in the TV film "Clownhouse" in 1988, he decided to move to New York full time and pursue acting. He trained at the acclaimed William Esper studio. He auditioned steadily, landing guest spots on cop dramas and independent films like "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "In the Soup," as well as joining downtown's LAByrinth theater company. His career really took off with his off-center performance in Tom DeCillo's festival favorite "Box of Moonlight" in 1996, in which he portrayed a whacked out, backwoods loner who helps enable the spiritual rebirth of staid engineer John Turturro.

Rockwell wrapped many projects within a year of "Box of Moonlight," including a starring role in "Lawn Dogs." His performance earned him Best Actor honors at both the Montreal World Film Festival and the Catalonian International Film Festival. He followed up with a pair of hilarious mob-gone-wrong comedies "Jerry and Tom" and "Safe Men" in 1998 before taking the stage for a two and half month run in a production of Mike Nichols' dark comedy, "Goose Pimples."

Woody Allen gave Rockwell a bit part as an entourage member in "Celebrity." But Rockwell's chilling supporting role as "Wild Bill" Wharton in the Oscar-nominated "The Green Mile" made audiences take notice. In 1999's "Galaxy Quest," he played a goofy struggling actor; and in 2000's "Charlie's Angels," he portrayed the villainous software billionaire Eric Knox. Rockwell balanced his big screen status with a return to the stage, appearing in "Dumb Waiter" and "Zoo Story" off Broadway and "Hot L Baltimore" at the Williamstown Theater in Cape Cod.

In George Clooney's directorial debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," he brilliantly played a funhouse mirror version gameshow host-turned-self-proclaimed CIA assassin, Chuck Barris. In 2003, he was cast in the critic's pick "Matchstick Men," and singled out by critics for his scene-stealing appeal as the promising protégée of a phobia-addled con artist. Then he was cast as Zaphod Beetlebrox in "The Hitchhikers's Guide to the Galaxy," based on the perennial favorite sci-fi books by Douglas Adams.

Next Rockwell was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman in a critically acclaimed LAByrinth Theater production of "Judas Iscariot." His role in 2007's "Snow Angels" earned him a nomination for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, before inhabiting a Revolutionary war reenactor and con man in "Choke," based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. In director Ron Howard's acclaimed "Frost/Nixon," he had a supporting role as journalist James Reston, Jr., which he followed with a starring role as an astronaut suffering from isolation and loneliness in the moody sci-fi drama "Moon." After voicing team leader Darwin in the animated "G-Force," Rockwell portrayed rival weapons manufacturer to billionaire Tony Stark in the hit sequel, "Iron Man 2."

Rockwell was next seen in director Tony Goldwyn's based-on-fact drama "Conviction." For his unfiltered portrayal of Kenny Waters, the actor received a score of Best Supporting Actor nominations. He followed this up with "Cowboys & Aliens." In 2011, he was at his comically menacing best as Karl, the mercurial drug dealer out to collect a debt from Jonah Hill in the adventure comedy "The Sitter." The following year, writer-director Martin McDonagh's violent dark comedy "Seven Psychopaths" found Rockwell surrounded by a top-flight ensemble cast that included Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson and Christopher Walken. With a manic energy perfectly suited for the role of Billy -- an out-of-work actor and part-time dognapper -- Rockwell's performance earned him an Indie Spirit Award nod for Best Supporting Male.