# Martin Donovan

Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as Trust (1990), Surviving Desire (1991), Simple Men (1992), Amateur (1994), Flirt (1995), and The Book of Life (1998), starring as Jesus Christ in the latter. Donovan also played Peter Scottson on Showtime's cable series Weeds. He made his writing/directorial debut with the film Collaborator (2011). Donovan played Detective Hap Eckhart in Christopher Nolan's psychological thriller Insomnia (2002) and the Protagonist's CIA handler, Fay, in Nolan's science fiction action thriller film Tenet (2020).

## Early life

Donovan was born Martin Paul Smith in Reseda, California.
He graduated from Crespi Carmelite High School and attended Pierce College for two years. He attended American Theater Arts, a combined conservatory and theater company in Los Angeles, where he appeared in the plays Richard's Cork Leg by Brendan Behan and Private Life of the Master Race by Bertold Brecht. In 1983, he and his future wife, Vivian, moved to New York City. He joined the off-off-Broadway Cucaracha Theater on Greenwich Street.

## Career

Donovan has appeared in fourteen episodes of the Showtime television series Weeds, which stars Mary-Louise Parker, for which he was nominated for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by An Ensemble in a Comedy Series. He has also acted with Parker in Saved!, Pipe Dream and The Portrait of a Lady. For the latter film, he won the National Society of Film Critics' Award for best supporting actor.

## Personal life

Donovan married actress Vivian Lanko in 1984; they have two sons. They lived in New York City for many years before relocating to Vancouver.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | Hard Choices | Josh | |
| 1987 | At Mother's Request | Det. Rogen | TV movie |
| 1990 | Trust | Matthew Slaughter | |
| 1991 | Surviving Desire | Jude | |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | FBI Agent | a.k.a. X (USA: poster title) |
| 1992 | Simple Men | Martin | a.k.a. Uomini semplici (Italy) |
| 1993 | Quick | Herschel Brewer | a.k.a. Crossfire (UK: video box title) |
| 1994 | The Rook | John Abbott | |
| 1994 | Nadja | Jim | |
| 1994 | Amateur | Thomas Ludens | |
| 1995 | Flirt | Walter | |
| 1996 | The Portrait of A Lady | Ralph Touchett | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor(2nd place) |
| 1996 | Hollow Reed | Martyn Wyatt | |
| 1998 | The Opposite of Sex | Bill Truitt | |
| 1998 | Heaven | Robert Marling | |
| 1998 | Living Out Loud | Robert Nelson | |
| 1998 | The Book of Life | Jesus Christ | |
| 1998 | Spanish Fly | Carl | |
| 1999 | In a Savage Land | Dr. Phillip Spence | |
| 1999 | Onegin | Prince Nikitin | |
| 2000 | Desire | | |
| 2002 | Insomnia | Detective Hap Eckhart | |
| 2002 | Pipe Dream | David Kulovic | |
| 2003 | The United States of Leland | Harry Pollard | |
| 2003 | Agent Cody Banks | Dr. Connors | |
| 2004 | The Pornographer: A Love Story | | |
| 2004 | Saved! | Pastor Skip | |
| 2004 | White Like Me | Gus | |
| 2005 | At Last | Mark Singleton | |
| 2005 | The Quiet | Paul Deer | |
| 2006 | The Visitation | Travis Jordan | |
| 2006 | The Garage | Adult Matt | |
| 2006 | The Sentinel | William Montrose | |
| 2006 | Day on Fire | Walter Evering | |
| 2007 | Wind Chill | Highway Patrolman | |
| 2008 | The Alphabet Killer | Jim Walsh | |
| 2009 | The Haunting in Connecticut | Peter Campbell | |
| 2009 | Duress | Richard Barnet | |
| 2010 | Shadows and Lies | Victor | |
| 2010 | Unthinkable | Jack Saunders | |
| 2011 | Collaborator | Robert Longfellow | Also writer and director Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize |
| 2012 | Silent Hill: Revelation 3D | Douglas Cartland | |
| 2012 | The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Ludlow Cooper | |
| 2013 | Nurse 3D | Larry Cook | |
| 2014 | Sabotage | Floyd Demel | |
| 2014 | Ned Rifle | Rev. Daniel Gardner | |
| 2014 | Inherent Vice | Crocker Fenway | |
| 2015 | Ant-Man | Mitchell Carson | |
| 2017 | Rememory | Gordon Dunn | |
| 2017 | Indian Horse | Jack Lanahan | |
| 2018 | Fahrenheit 451 | Commissioner Nyari | |
| 2019 | The Art of Racing in the Rain | Maxwell | |
| 2019 | White Lie | Doug Arneson | |
| 2019 | Come to Daddy | Ant Timpson | |
| 2020 | Tenet | Fay | |
| Percy | Rick Aarons | |
| 2021 | Redemption Day | Tom Fitzgerald | |
| 2021 | Crisis | Lawrence Morgan | |
| 2023 | BlackBerry | Rick Brock | |
| 2024 | The Apprentice | Fred Trump Sr. | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | At Mother's Request | Det. Rogen | Television movie |
| 1993 | Scam | Gordon Wexler | Television movie |
| 1993 | South Beach | Spencer Robinson | Episode: "School for Scandal" |
| 1993 | The Adventures of Pete & Pete | | Episodes: "Apocalypse Pete" and "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas" |
| 1997 | Night Sins | Paul Garrison | Television movie |
| 1998 | Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples | Aart Vos | TV movie Segment: "Aart and Johtje Vos" |
| 1998 | When Trumpets Fade | Capt. Roy Pritchett | Television movie |
| 1999 | The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer | Richard DiBenedetto | Television movie |
| 2000 | The Great Gatsby | Tom Buchanan | Television movie |
| 2000 | Custody of the Heart | Dennis Raphael | Television movie |
| 2000 | Wonderland | Dr. Neil Harrison | 8 episodes |
| 2001 | Amy and Isabelle | Peter Robertson | Television movie |
| 2001–2002 | Pasadena | Will McAllister | 13 episodes |
| 2002 | RFK | John F. Kennedy | Television movie |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Archibald Newlands | Episode: "Serendipity" |
| 2003 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Howard Delhomme | Episode: "After the Show" |
| 2004 | Traffic | Brent Delaney | Television miniseries |
| 2004 | Dark Shadows | Roger Collins | Unaired TV pilot |
| 2005–2006 | Weeds | Peter Scottson | 14 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005) |
| 2006 | Law & Order | Robert White | Episode: "Cost of Capital" |
| 2007 | The Dead Zone | Malcolm Janus | 6 episodes |
| 2007 | Masters of Horror | Cliff Addison | Episode: "Right to Die" |
| 2007 | Ghost Whisperer | Tom Gordon | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Unnatural History | Bryan Bartlett | 13 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | Boss | Ezra Stone | 10 episodes |
| 2012 | The Firm | Kevin Stack | Recurring role |
| 2012 | The Listener | Michael Morrissey | Episode: "Cold Case Blues" |
| 2012 | The Selection | King Clarkson | Television movie |
| 2013 | King & Maxwell | Robert A. Scott | 5 episodes |
| 2013–2015 | Rogue | Richard Campbell | 11 episodes |
| 2013 | Homeland | Leland Bennett | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | The Lottery | Darius Hayes | 10 episodes |
| 2016 | Legends of Tomorrow | Zaman Druce | Recurring role 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Conviction | President Theodore Morrison | Episode: "Enemy Combatant" |
| 2017–2018 | Lethal Weapon | Grant Davenport | Episode: "Wreck the Halls" and "One Day More" |
| 2017–2018 | Beyond | Isaac Frost | 5 episodes |
| 2017 | The Lost Wife of Robert Durst | Detective Struk | Television movie |
| 2018 | Electric Dreams | Odin | Episode: "Safe and Sound" |
| 2018 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Captain Logan Carter | Episode: "Flight Risk" |
| 2018 | Carter | Hamilton Gerard | Episode: "The Ring" |
| 2019 | Big Little Lies | Martin Howard, father of Bonnie | 3 episodes |
| 2019–2020 | Nancy Drew | Everett Hudson | 3 episodes |
| 2020 | Dead Still | Bushrod Whacker | 3 episodes |
| 2021 | Firefly Lane | Wilson King | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Archive 81 | Virgil Davenport | Main role |
| 2023 | Special Ops: Lioness | Errol Meade | Recurring role |
| 2023 | Sealed with a List | Silas Redmond | Television film |