# Rawson Marshall Thurber

Rawson Marshall Thurber (born February 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for writing and directing the 2004 comedy film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

## Early life

Thurber was born in San Francisco, California. He is the son of attorney Marshall Thurber.
He is a 1997 graduate of Union College (Schenectady, New York), where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and played wide receiver on the football team for two years. He is also a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC.

## Career

Thurber worked as an assistant to screenwriter John August, beginning with the television show D.C. In 2002, he wrote and directed the original Terry Tate: Office Linebacker commercials for Reebok.
In 2004, he wrote and directed the critically and commercially successful comedy film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
He wrote and directed the film adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, released in 2008.
He directed the 2013 We're the Millers, starring Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston. In June 2014, he was rumored to replace Edgar Wright to direct Marvel's Ant-Man, but later turned the job down.
He wrote and directed 2016's action-comedy Central Intelligence with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.
Thurber wrote and directed the 2018 action film Skyscraper from Legendary Pictures, reteaming with Dwayne Johnson and released by Universal. He next wrote and directed Legendary's $150 million budget action comedy Red Notice (2021), starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Johnson. It is the third time he has collaborated with the latter. The project was released by Netflix.
In 2021, Ubisoft announced Thurber would direct the film adaptation of its game series The Division, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain. The film will be released on Netflix.
In 2022, eOne announced that Thurber will be writing and producing the pilot for upcoming TV series Dungeons & Dragons. He also signed on to direct a live-action film based on the Voltron franchise.
In 2023 to 2024, he was planning to do a Dodgeball sequel. He also hired Clay Tarver to write the film's screenplay. Ten years on from that development, Jordan VanDina will now write the movie's script.

## Filmography
### Film

Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer |
| 2000 | Terry Tate: Office Linebacker | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | Manchild | Yes | No |
| 2017 | Play Dodgeball with Ben Stiller | Yes | Yes |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2004 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2008 | The Mysteries of Pittsburgh | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2013 | We're the Millers | Yes | No | No |
| 2016 | Central Intelligence | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Skyscraper | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2021 | Red Notice | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TBA | Voltron | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Acting credits
| Year | Title | Role |
| 2004 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | Obnoxious Las Vegas Homophobe |
| 2007 | The Nines | Game Night Guest |
| 2010 | Easy A | Quiznos Guy |
| 2013 | We're the Millers | The Ultimate Border Guard |
| 2015 | The Wedding Ringer | Cop |
| 2016 | Central Intelligence | Handsome Pants-Catcher |
| 2022 | Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | Voltron Vendor |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Creator | Notes |
| 2006 | The Loop | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "Trouble In The Saddle" |
| 2015 | Marry Me | Yes | No | No | No | Episode "Date Me" |
| 2017-2019 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed 4 episodes |