# Michael Esper

Michael James Esper (born December 1, 1976) is an American actor, best known for his stage work.

## Early life

Esper was born in Manhattan and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. He is the son of acting teachers William and Suzanne Esper, of the William Esper Studio. He attended Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights. He attended Rutgers University after attending Oberlin College for one year.

## Stage career

Esper has appeared on Broadway in Sting's The Last Ship, A Man for All Seasons, Green Day's American Idiot and The Lyons. He also starred in the Off-Broadway premieres of Leslye Headland's Assistance, Nicky Silver's The Lyons, and Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. His voice is included on American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording as well as the cast album for Lazarus.
After a break from stage work, he returned to New York theater in February 2014 with David Grimm's play Tales from Red Vienna off-Broadway, opposite Nina Arianda. He followed that by starring in Sting's musical The Last Ship. The Last Ship began previews on Broadway in September 2014 and ran through January 24, 2015. Esper also appeared in David Bowie and Enda Walsh's musical Lazarus at New York Theatre Workshop. He was nominated for a 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in Lazarus. Esper has also appeared in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2016 and again at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, which ran until April 29, 2017.
Additional stage credits include Crazy Mary, for which he won the Clarence Derwent Award, Big Bill, subUrbia, Manic Flight Reaction, As You Like It, and The Four Of Us.

## Reception

The New York Daily News described him as a "rising star" and said, "He acts with an emotional openness and authenticity that's as striking as it is uncommon. Esper's talent is evident whether he's punking out on Broadway in the Green Day musical American Idiot or assuming the cadence and carriage of 16th-century England in A Man for All Seasons."

## Acting credits
### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Company/Venue |
| 2004 | Big Bill | Pete/Ball Boy/Others | Lincoln Center Theater |
| 2005 | As You Like It | Silvius | Delacorte Theater |
| 2005 | Manic Flight Reaction | Luke | Playwrights Horizons |
| 2006 | subUrbia | Pony | Second Stage Theatre |
| 2006 | The Agony and the Agony | Nathan | Vineyard Theatre |
| 2007 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Edmund | Druid Theatre (Dublin) |
| 2007 | Crazy Mary | Skip | Playwrights Horizons |
| 2008 | Me, Myself and I | OTTO | McCarter Theatre |
| 2008 | The Four of Us | David | Manhattan Theatre Club |
| 2008 | A Man for All Seasons | William Roper | Roundabout Theatre Company (Broadway) |
| 2009–2011 | American Idiot | Will | Berkeley Repertory Theatre St. James Theatre (Broadway) |
| 2011 | The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures | Eli | Public Theater and Guthrie Theater |
| 2011–2012 | The Lyons | Curtis Lyons | Vineyard Theatre Cort Theatre (Broadway) |
| 2012 | Assistance | Nick | Playwrights Horizons |
| 2014 | Tales from Red Vienna | Bela Hoyos | Manhattan Theatre Club |
| 2014–2015 | The Last Ship | Gideon Fletcher | Bank of America Theatre (Chicago) Neil Simon Theatre (Broadway) |
| 2015–2016 | Lazarus | Valentine | New York Theatre Workshop |
| 2016 | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | Edinburgh International Festival |
| 2016–2017 | Lazarus | Valentine | King's Cross Theatre (London) |
| 2017 | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | Duke of York's Theatre (West End) |
| 2018 | Seared | Mike | Williamstown Theatre Festival |
| 2018 | Catch As Catch Can | Tim/Theresa | New Ohio Theatre |
| 2019 | A Bright Room Called Day | Vealtninc Husz | The Public Theater |
| 2022 | Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical | Essem | Sheen Center |
| 2023–2024 | Appropriate | Franz Lafayette | Hayes Theater (Broadway) Belasco Theatre (Broadway) |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Dying is Easy | Albert Matson | |
| 2001 | A Beautiful Mind | Young John Nash | |
| 2002 | American Gun | Burglar | |
| 2005 | Loggerheads | Gill | |
| 2005 | Bittersweet Place | Joey | |
| 2007 | Light and the Sufferer | Paul | |
| 2010 | All Good Things | Daniel Marks | |
| 2012 | Watching TV with the Red Chinese | Billy | |
| 2012 | Frances Ha | Dan | |
| 2012 | Crazy Love | Joey | Short film |
| 2013 | Runner Runner | Billy Petricoff | |
| 2014 | The Drop | Rardy | |
| 2018 | For George on His 30th Birthday | George Dougherty | Short film |
| 2018 | Ben Is Back | Clayton | |
| 2022 | Resurrection | Peter | |
| 2023 | Beau Is Afraid | Officer Johnson | |
| 2023 | The Creator | Captain Cotton | |
| 2024 | Pavements | Essem | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Law & Order | David Sutton | Episode: "Take-Out" |
| 2009 | Bunker Hill | Pete Walsh | TV pilot |
| 2013 | The Good Wife | Gregory Steck | Episode: "The Wheels of Justice" |
| 2013 | Do No Harm | Dr. Kenneth Jordan | 13 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Person of Interest | Jason Greenfield | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Believe | Jack Callahan | Episode: "Sinking" |
| 2014 | Halt and Catch Fire | Ron Cane | Episode: "Close to the Metal" |
| 2014–2015 | Nurse Jackie | Gabe | 7 episodes |
| 2015 | Elementary | Donald Pruitt | Episode: "The Cost of Doing Business" |
| 2016 | Shades of Blue | Donnie Pomp | 11 episodes |
| 2016 | The Family | Doug/Pocked-Marked Man | 12 episodes |
| 2016 | BrainDead | Noah Feffer | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Trust | John Paul Getty Jr. | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | Prodigal Son | Jon Littman | Episode: "Annihilator" |
| 2019 | Reprisal | Colin Quinn | Episode: "The Tale of Harold Horpus" |
| 2019 | Ray Donovan | Adam Rain | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | The Outsider | Kenneth Hayes | 4 episodes |
| 2021 | Evil | Scientist | Episode: "B Is for Brain" |
| 2023 | Florida Man | Deacon | 5 episodes |
| 2023 | Julia | Noel Winton | Episode: "Bûche De Noël" |
| 2024 | Fallout | Bud Askins / Brain-on-a-Roomba | 2 episodes |
| 2024 | Law & Order | Kenneth Lane | Episode: "Catch and Kill" |