# Lewis Pullman

Lewis James Pullman is an American actor. A son of actor Bill Pullman, he began his acting career with the film The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017), starring his father. His subsequent film credits include supporting roles in The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018), Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), and a starring role in 'Salem's Lot (2024).
On television, Pullman played Major Major Major Major in Catch-22 (2019) and starred in Outer Range (2022–2024) and Lessons in Chemistry (2023), for which the latter, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and Critics' Choice TV Award.

## Early life and background

Pullman is the son of actor Bill Pullman and modern dancer Tamara Hurwitz. He has a sister, Maesa, who is a singer-songwriter, and a brother, Jack, who is a puppet-maker. His mother is of Russian and Jewish descent.
He said he was "on the tractor division [in college]. I figured if acting didn't work out I could be on the road crew, working the back hoe." In 2015, he graduated from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina, with a bachelor's degree in Social Work.

## Career

Pullman plays the drums in the band Atta Boy alongside Eden Brolin, Freddy Reish, and Dashel Thompson. They released their first album, Out of Sorts, in 2012 as a "whimsical experiment." Their second album, Big Heart Manners, was released in 2020 after an eight-year hiatus.
Pullman began his acting career with several short films, starting with The Tutor in 2013. He had to split his time between living in Los Angeles and Montana. After graduating college in 2015, he was asked by filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris to audition for Highston, a television series from Sacha Baron Cohen and Amazon Studios. In September 2015, his casting was confirmed and the series was given a six-episode order. The series starred Pullman in the lead role as a 19-year-old whose imaginary friends were real-life celebrities. The pilot episode, guest-starring Flea and Shaquille O'Neal, was well received by critics. In December 2017, however, Highston was canceled after only one episode.
Pullman made his feature film acting debut in 2017 with The Ballad of Lefty Brown, a Western starring his father in the titular lead role. His additional roles in 2017 include the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led Aftermath, the British drama Lean on Pete, and the critically acclaimed film Battle of the Sexes, the latter also starring his father.
In 2018, Pullman had a leading role in the slasher film The Strangers: Prey at Night. Though the film received mixed reviews when compared to its predecessor, it was a box-office success, grossing $32.1 million against a $5 million production budget. That same year, he starred alongside Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, and Chris Hemsworth in Bad Times at the El Royale. On casting Pullman, writer and director Drew Goddard said "it was one of those good old-fashioned casting searches. After meeting with lots and lots and lots of actors, Lewis came in and you just felt that immediately. The last time that happened, quite honestly, was when Chris Hemsworth walked in for The Cabin in the Woods. You're just looking for actors who inherently fit the role — and then also transcend the role. Lewis had that sort of magic." Upon release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics, and his performance was also singled out, with Den of Geek calling it a "standout" and The Seattle Times writing that he "shines as the troubled desk clerk, who serves as the film's (very) late-arriving moral conscience."
In 2019, Pullman had a recurring role as Major Major Major Major in Catch-22, the George Clooney-led Hulu adaptation of the 1961 novel. He also starred in the thriller Them That Follow, and in 2020, he had a small role in the indie film Pink Skies Ahead. In 2022, Pullman played Rhett Abbott in the Amazon series Outer Range, Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Floyd in the Tom Cruise-led sequel Top Gun: Maverick, and the romantic lead in Press Play. Top Gun: Maverick wrapped filming in 2019 but was delayed several times before releasing in 2022; it grossed over $1.4 billion in theaters and is Pullman's highest-grossing film to date. In 2023, Pullman played a youth pastor in The Starling Girl, the president of a fraternity in The Line, and had a major role in William Friedkin's final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. He also starred alongside Brie Larson in the Apple TV+ miniseries Lessons in Chemistry.
In 2024, he starred in the crime thriller Skincare and the James Wan-produced horror film adaptation of Stephen King's 1975 novel 'Salem's Lot.
He will next star as Robert Reynolds / Sentry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thunderbolts*, scheduled to be released in 2025.

## Filmography
### Film

Lewis Pullman's film credits :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | The Tutor | James | Short film |
| 2015 | The Peter Cassidy Project | Henry Lovegood | Short film |
| 2016 | Where You Are | Adult James | Short film |
| 2016 | The Realest Real | Patrick | Short film |
| 2017 | The Ballad of Lefty Brown | Billy Kitchen | |
| 2017 | Aftermath | Adult Samuel | |
| 2017 | Lean on Pete | Dallas | |
| 2017 | Battle of the Sexes | Larry Riggs | |
| 2018 | The Strangers: Prey at Night | Luke | |
| 2018 | Bad Times at the El Royale | Miles Miller | |
| 2018 | Craig's Pathetic Freakout | Lewis | Short film |
| 2019 | Them That Follow | Garret | |
| 2019 | Lefty/Righty | Righty | Short film |
| 2020 | The Voice in Your Head | Dan | Short film |
| 2020 | Pink Skies Ahead | Ben | |
| 2021 | Sorry I Missed This | Trevor | Short film |
| 2022 | Top Gun: Maverick | Lt. Robert "Bob" Floyd | |
| 2022 | Press Play | Harrison | |
| 2023 | The Starling Girl | Owen Taylor | |
| 2023 | The Line | Todd Stevens | |
| 2023 | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | Lt. Thomas Keefer | |
| 2023 | Water Rises | Him | |
| 2024 | Skincare | Jordan Weaver | |
| 2024 | Riff Raff | Rocco | |
| 2024 | 'Salem's Lot | Ben Mears | |
| 2025 | Thunderbolts* † | Robert "Bob" Reynolds / Sentry | Post-production |
| TBA | Ann Lee † | TBA | Post-production |

### Television

Lewis Pullman's television credits :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2019 | Catch-22 | Major Major Major Major | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
| 2022–2024 | Outer Range | Rhett Abbott | Main role, 14 episodes |
| 2023 | Lessons in Chemistry | Calvin Evans | Miniseries; 8 episodes |
Key :
| † | Denotes projects that have not yet been released |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2019 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Bad Times at the El Royale | Nominated |
| 2024 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries | Lessons in Chemistry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series | Lessons in Chemistry | Nominated |
| 2024 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Lessons in Chemistry | Nominated |