# Tom Pelphrey

Thomas J. Pelphrey (born July 28, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for playing the roles of Jonathan Randall on the CBS television series Guiding Light (for which he won two Daytime Emmy Awards), Mick Dante on the CBS television series As the World Turns, Kurt Bunker on the Cinemax television series Banshee, Ward Meachum on the Netflix series Iron Fist, Ben Davis on the Netflix series Ozark, Perry Abbott on the Prime Video series Outer Range, Don Crowder on the Max limited series Love & Death, Joe Mankiewicz in David Fincher's film Mank, and Jason Derek Brown in the true crime film American Murderer. For his performance on Ozark, Pelphrey received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

## Early life and education

Pelphrey was born in Howell. He graduated from Howell High School in 2000, and from Rutgers University (Mason Gross School of the Arts) in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

## Career
### Guiding Light

Pelphrey's first notable role was Jonathan Randall, the son of Reva Shayne and her late former husband, Richard Winslow, on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light. He joined the cast in September 2004 and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of anti-hero Jonathan.
He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Younger Actor" in 2005 and won the award the following year in April 2006. He received a third consecutive nomination in the same category in 2007 but lost to Bryton McClure. Pelphrey won his second Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Younger Actor" in 2008.

### As the World Turns

Pelphrey signed a contract to play "Mick" on As the World Turns beginning in October 2009. His run ended in February 2010 when his character was sent to prison for his misdeeds. Pelphrey earned an Emmy pre-nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Mick Dante.

### Other television roles

On March 30, 2007, he appeared in an episode of Numb3rs, "Pandora's Box". On October 17, 2008, he appeared in an episode of "Ghost Whisperer", and the following season in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2015 Pelphrey landed the recurring role of Kurt Bunker, a former neo-nazi trying to reintegrate into society, on Cinemax's action drama Banshee. To prepare for this role he started lifting weights and did research by reading books on the neo-Nazi movement in America. In 2017, he appeared in Iron Fist as Ward Meachum and portrayed Ben Davis on the third season of the Netflix crime drama Ozark which was released on March 27, 2020. His portrayal in the latter received critical acclaim and the lack of an Emmy nomination was perceived as a snub by fans and critics. Nonetheless, Pelphrey received nominations for Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast). In the final season of Ozark (2022), Pelphrey reprised the role of Ben Davis as a guest appearance, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
In 2022, he starred on the Amazon Prime Video series Outer Range as Perry Abbott.
In 2023, he starred on the HBO miniseries Love & Death as Don Crowder.

### Theater

From September 6, 2007, to September 30, 2007, Pelphrey performed in Kevin Mandel's A New Television Arrives Finally as the title character, at Theatre 54, in New York. Pelphrey starred in In God's Hat at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, in New York City, through August 7, 2010. In 2012, he appeared in the Broadway cast of the musical drama End of the Rainbow as Mickey Deans; in 2015, he returned to Broadway in a revival of Fool for Love, playing Martin.

## Personal life

In 2022, Tom Pelphrey began dating actress Kaley Cuoco. The two made their first public appearance as a couple at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in May 2022. Pelphrey and Cuoco announced on Instagram in October 2022 that they were expecting their first child together. Cuoco gave birth to their daughter on March 30, 2023. They announced their engagement on August 14, 2024.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | Birds of America | Hitchhiker | |
| 2010 | The Elastic | Marty | Short film |
| 2012 | Junction | David | ReelHeart International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast |
| 2012 | Excuse Me for Living | Dan | |
| 2013 | Turtle Island | Tim | |
| 2013 | Tiger Lily Road | Ricky Harden | |
| 2014 | A Cry from Within | Carl | |
| 2015 | Anchors | Denny | |
| 2015 | The Girl Is in Trouble | Eric | |
| 2015 | Sam | Stephen | |
| 2015 | #Lucky Number | Bret Reynolds | |
| 2015 | Blink | Actor | |
| 2019 | Crazy Alien | Captain Zach Andrews | |
| 2020 | Mank | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | |
| 2022 | American Murderer | Jason Derek Brown | |
| 2022 | She Said | Jim Rutman | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | The Burg | Douche Bag Dave | Episode: "Out" |
| 2007 | Numb3rs | Mike Daley | Episode: "Pandora's Box" |
| 2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Brian | Episode: "Ghost in the Machine" |
| 2008 | CSI: Miami | Mick Ragosa | Episode: "Wrecking Crew" |
| 2004–2009 | Guiding Light | Jonathan Randall | 154 episodes; Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (2006, 2008) Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (2005, 2007) Nominated – Gold Derby Award for Younger Actor – Daytime Drama (2006–2007) Nominated – Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer (2005) |
| 2009–2010 | As the World Turns | Mick Dante | 29 episodes |
| 2009–2016 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Various | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | The Good Wife | Josh Mundy | Episode: "Doubt" |
| 2011 | Body of Proof | Dean Avery | Episode: "Talking Heads" |
| 2012 | Blue Bloods | Mike Galatis | Episode: "The Uniform" |
| 2013 | The Following | Brock | Episode: "Guilt" |
| 2014 | Black Box | Joseph Morgan | Episode: "Forget Me" |
| 2015–2016 | Banshee | Kurt Bunker | 15 episodes |
| 2017 | Chicago P.D. | Thomas Cade | Episode: "Favor, Affection, Malice or Ill-Will" |
| 2017–2018 | Iron Fist | Ward Meachum | Main role; 21 episodes |
| 2019 | Blindspot | Cameron Gibbs | Episode: “Frequently Recurring Struggle for Existence” |
| 2020–2022 | Ozark | Ben Davis | Main role (season 3) Guest role (season 4) Nominated – Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series |
| 2022–2024 | Outer Range | Perry Abbott | Main role |
| 2023 | Love & Death | Don Crowder | Miniseries |
| 2024 | A Man in Full | Raymond Peepgrass | Miniseries |
| 2025 | Task | Robbie | Upcoming miniseries |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Voice role |
| 2011 | Homefront | Connor J. Morgan |