# Josh Charles

Joshua Aaron Charles (born September 15, 1971) is an American film, television, and theater actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on Sports Night, Will Gardner on The Good Wife, which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and his early work as Knox Overstreet in Dead Poets Society and Bryan from Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.

## Early life

Charles is the son of Allan Charles, an advertising executive. He is Jewish on his father's side, and he has described himself as Jewish. He began his career performing comedy at the age of 9. As a teenager, he spent several summers at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in New York. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he was a classmate of Jada Pinkett and Tupac Shakur.

## Career

Charles' film debut was in fellow Baltimore native John Waters' Hairspray in 1988. The following year, he starred alongside Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke in Dead Poets Society. Other film roles have included Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Threesome, Pie in the Sky, Muppets from Space, S.W.A.T, Four Brothers, After.Life, Crossing the Bridge and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
On television, Charles played sports anchor Dan Rydell in Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night, which ran for two years (1998–2000) and earned Charles a Screen Actors Guild nomination. In 2008, Charles played the role of Jake in season one of HBO's In Treatment. In 2009, he returned to network television in the drama The Good Wife. For his work on the series, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2014.
Also in 2011, Charles narrated the debut episode for NFL Network's A Football Life on New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
In 2022, Charles starred in We Own This City, an HBO limited series. The series was noteworthy because it was set in Baltimore, Charles' hometown. His first film, Hairspray, was set in Baltimore and over three decades later, We Own This City was his only other role to-date with ties to the city.
In theater, Charles headlined a production of Jonathan Marc Sherman's Confrontation in 1986. In 2004, he appeared on stage in New York in a revival of Neil LaBute's The Distance from Here, which received a Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble Cast. In January 2006, he appeared in the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Well-Appointed Room for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and he followed this with a run at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, portraying the cloned brothers in Caryl Churchill's A Number. In 2007, he appeared in Adam Bock's The Receptionist at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
He appeared off-Broadway in Annie Baker's The Antipodes at the Signature Theatre in 2017. He made his Broadway debut in Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee at the Hayes Theater in 2018.

## Personal life

In September 2013, Charles married ballet dancer and author Sophie Flack, with whom he lives in New York City. On December 9, 2014, Flack gave birth to the couple's first child, a son. On August 23, 2018, Charles revealed on his Instagram that Flack gave birth to their second child, a daughter.
Charles was born, raised and educated in Baltimore, he got his first big acting break in a John Waters film, and his family still lives in the city. As a result, Charles is known for his deep ties to Baltimore and he returns frequently for visits. Charles is famously a big fan of the Ravens and Orioles, and follows city politics closely.
He supported Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016. In 1999, the office of then New York Senate candidate Hillary Clinton had requested a copy of a Sports Night episode in which Charles' character Dan Rydell talks about his admiration for Clinton and recounts attending a fundraiser for her off-screen.
In August 2014, he signed an open letter from members of the Hollywood community condemning Hamas rocket attacks on Israel during the 2014 Gaza War. In October 2023, he was one of many Hollywood signatories of a letter calling on President Biden to work toward the release of all Israeli hostages after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Hairspray | Iggy | |
| 1989 | Dead Poets Society | Knox Overstreet | |
| 1991 | Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead | Bryan | |
| 1992 | Crossing the Bridge | Mort Golden | |
| 1994 | Threesome | Eddy | |
| 1995 | Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead | Bruce | uncredited |
| 1995 | Coldblooded | Randy | |
| 1996 | The Grave | Tyn | |
| 1996 | Crossworlds | Joe Talbot | |
| 1996 | Pie in the Sky | Charlie Dunlap | |
| 1997 | Cyclops, Baby | Brush Brody | |
| 1997 | Little City | Adam | |
| 1999 | Muppets from Space | Agent Barker | |
| 2000 | Meeting Daddy | Peter Silverblatt | |
| 2003 | S.W.A.T. | T. J. McCabe | |
| 2004 | Seeing Other People | Lou | |
| 2005 | Four Brothers | Detective Fowler | |
| 2006 | The Darwin Awards | Paramedic | |
| 2006 | The Ex | Forrest Mead | |
| 2009 | After.Life | Tom Peterson | |
| 2009 | Brief Interviews with Hideous Men | Subject No. 2 | |
| 2014 | Bird People | Gary Newman | |
| 2014 | Adult Beginners | Phil | |
| 2015 | I Smile Back | Bruce Brooks | |
| 2015 | Freeheld | Bryan Kelder | |
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Chris | |
| 2016 | Norman | Arthur Taub | |
| 2016 | The Drowning | Tom Seymour | |
| 2018 | Amateur | Coach Gaines | |
| 2019 | Framing John DeLorean | Bill Collins | |
| 2023 | Memory | Isaac | |
| 2024 | Mothers' Instinct | Damian Jennings |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Murder in Mississippi | Andrew Goodman | Television film |
| 1993 | Cooperstown | Jody | Television film |
| 1996 | Norma Jean & Marilyn | Eddie Jordan | Television film |
| 1997 | The Underworld | Ehrlich | Television film |
| 1998–2000 | Sports Night | Dan Rydell | 45 episodes |
| 2002 | Our America | Dave Isay | Television film |
| 2005 | Stella | Jeremy | episode: "Meeting Girls" |
| 2007 | Six Degrees | Ray Jones | 4 episodes |
| 2008 | In Treatment | Jake | 8 episodes |
| 2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sean Kelley | episode: "Confession" |
| 2009–2016 | The Good Wife | Will Gardner | 107 episodes, also director (3 episodes) |
| 2014–2016 | Inside Amy Schumer | Various | 4 episodes |
| 2015 | Masters of Sex | Dan Logan | 10 episodes |
| 2015 | Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp | Blake | 6 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Duke Snyder | 5 episodes |
| 2016–2019 | Drunk History | Various | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later | Blake | 6 episodes |
| 2017 | Law & Order True Crime | Dr. Jerome Oziel | 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Forensic Scientist | episode: "Forensic Science" |
| 2019 | The Loudest Voice | Casey Close | 3 episodes |
| 2020 | Away | Matt Logan | 10 episodes |
| 2021 | Law & Order: Organized Crime | Vince Baldi | episode: "Forget it, Jake; It's Chinatown" |
| 2022 | We Own This City | Daniel Hersl | miniseries, main cast |
| 2023 | The Power | Daniel Dandon | recurring role |
| 2024 | The Veil | Max Peterson | 4 episodes |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Ref. |
| 2024 | "Fortnight" | Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2000 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Sports Night | Nominated |
| 2000 | Viewers for Quality Television | Best Actor in a Quality Comedy Series | Sports Night | Nominated |
| 2010 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2010 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2011 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2011 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2012 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2012 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2014 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2014 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2014 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Dramatic Television Actor | The Good Wife | Won |
| 2014 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Good Wife | Nominated |
| 2015 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series | Inside Amy Schumer | Nominated |