# Tom McCarthy (director)

Thomas Joseph McCarthy (born June 7, 1966) is an American filmmaker and actor who has appeared in several films, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television series such as The Wire, Boston Public and Law & Order.
McCarthy has received critical acclaim for his writing and directing work for the independent films The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), and Spotlight (2015), the last of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, won McCarthy the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.
McCarthy also co-wrote the film Up (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He also wrote Million Dollar Arm (2014), and directed and executive-produced for the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017). McCarthy also directed Stillwater (2021), based on a script he co-wrote.

## Early life

McCarthy was raised in New Providence, New Jersey, one of five children of Carol and Eugene F. "Gene" McCarthy; His father worked in the textile industry. McCarthy was raised Catholic in a family of Irish descent. He is a graduate of New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey and Boston College (1988), where he was a member of the improv comedy troupe My Mother's Fleabag; and the Yale School of Drama, where he studied under Earle R. Gister.

## Career

McCarthy spent several years doing stand-up comedy and theater in Minneapolis and Chicago before going into television and film. He starred in Flags of Our Fathers as James Bradley, and in the final season of The Wire as the morally challenged reporter Scott Templeton. He made his Broadway debut in the 2001 revival of Noises Off!.
McCarthy's directorial debut, The Station Agent, which he also wrote, won the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and awards at film festivals ranging from San Sebastian to Stockholm, Mexico City, and Aspen.
McCarthy's second feature film was The Visitor, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and for which McCarthy won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director. He appeared in the 2009 dramas The Lovely Bones and 2012. In 2010, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the Pixar animated film Up, which he co-wrote.
In 2010, McCarthy directed the unaired pilot for the HBO series Game of Thrones, but the final cut of the episode was poorly received by showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. McCarthy was replaced by Tim Van Patten, who directed the final version of the pilot that aired in 2011. The experience discouraged McCarthy from returning to television directing for several years.
He also co-wrote and directed 2011's Win Win, based on his experiences as a wrestler at New Providence High School.
McCarthy's independent drama film Spotlight (2015) was widely acclaimed. It received six Academy Awards nominations, three Golden Globe Awards nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and eight Critics' Choice Movie Awards nominations.
McCarthy directed the first two episodes of 13 Reasons Why, from Anonymous Content and Paramount Television. It is based on the 2007 The New York Times bestselling YA book by Jay Asher. In 2019, he signed a first-look TV deal with Fox 21 Television Studios (now 20th Television).

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Credit | Credit | Credit | Notes |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 2003 | The Station Agent | Yes | Yes | No | BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2007 | The Visitor | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | Up | No | Story | No | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2011 | Win Win | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | Million Dollar Arm | No | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | The Cobbler | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2015 | Spotlight | Yes | Yes | No | Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Academy Award for Best Director Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay |
| 2018 | Christopher Robin | No | Yes | No | |
| 2018 | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | No | Uncredited | No | Rewrites on reshoots |
| 2020 | Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | Stillwater | Yes | Yes | Yes | |

#### Acting credits

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Crossing the Bridge | Chris | |
| 1993 | Rift | Bartender #1 | |
| 1997 | Conspiracy Theory | Helicopter Spotter | |
| 1999 | In My Sister's Shadow | Michael Butler | |
| 1999 | 30 Days | Brad Drazin | |
| 2000 | Certain Guys | Mitch | |
| 2000 | Meet the Parents | Dr. Robert "Bob" Banks | |
| 2002 | The Guru | Lars | |
| 2004 | The Last Shot | Agent Pike | |
| 2005 | Good Night, and Good Luck | Palmer Williams | |
| 2005 | Syriana | Fred Franks | |
| 2005 | The Great New Wonderful | David Burbage | |
| 2006 | All the King's Men | Editor | |
| 2006 | The Situation | Major Hanks | |
| 2006 | Beautiful Ohio | Older William Messerman | |
| 2006 | Flags of Our Fathers | James Bradley | |
| 2007 | Year of the Dog | Pier Spade | |
| 2007 | Michael Clayton | Walter | Voice only |
| 2008 | Baby Mama | Kate's Date | |
| 2009 | Mammoth | Bob | |
| 2009 | Duplicity | Jeff Bauer | |
| 2009 | The Lovely Bones | Principal Caden | |
| 2009 | 2012 | Gordon Silberman | |
| 2010 | Jack Goes Boating | Dr. Bob | |
| 2010 | Fair Game | Jeff | |
| 2010 | Little Fockers | Dr. Bob | |
| 2015 | Pixels | Michael the Robot | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Credit | Credit | Credit | Notes |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 2010 | Game of Thrones | Yes | No | No | Unaired pilot |
| 2011 | Game of Thrones | No | No | Consulting | Episode: "Winter Is Coming" |
| 2014 | Kim Philby: His Most Intimate Betrayal | Yes | No | Yes | BBC docudrama, episode 2 |
| 2017 | 13 Reasons Why | Yes | No | Executive | Episodes "Tape 1, Side A" and "Tape 1, Side B" |
| 2019 | The Loudest Voice | No | Yes | Executive | Also creator |
| 2022–23 | Alaska Daily | Yes | Yes | Executive | Also creator |

#### Acting credits

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Mary & Tim | Tim Melville | Television film |
| 1996 | New York Undercover | Gus Farina | Episode "Toy Soldiers" |
| 1998 | Saint Maybe | Ian Bedloe | Television film |
| 1998 | Spin City | Priest | Episode "Bye, Bye, Birdie" |
| 2000 | D.C. | Joseph Scott | Episode "Truth" |
| 2000 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Nick Ganzer | Episode "Contact" |
| 2000 | Ally McBeal | Peter Hanks | Episode "Do You Wanna Dance?" |
| 2000–2001 | Boston Public | Kevin Riley | 14 episodes |
| 2001 | The Practice | Kevin Riley | Episode "The Day After" |
| 2002–2008 | Law & Order | Various characters | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | The Wire | Scott Templeton | 10 episodes |
| 2020 | Little America | Professor Robbins | Episode "The Cowboy" |
| 2022 | The Last Movie Stars | Sidney Lumet | Documentary series |

## Other awards and nominations

| Year | Title | Award |
| 2003 | The Station Agent | Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay Sundance Film Festival Audience Award (Dramatic) Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2007 | The Visitor | Brisbane International Film Festival Interfaith Award Deauville American Film Festival Grand Special Prize Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award for Best Director Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Director Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2009 | Up | Nominated – Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production Nominated – Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form |
| 2011 | Win Win | Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Screenplay Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2014 | The Cobbler | Nominated – Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Release |
| 2015 | Spotlight | AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Director Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Original Screenplay Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Director Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Original Screenplay Boston Online Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Chicago International Film Festival Best Narrative English-Language Feature Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Screenplay Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay London Film Critics' Circle Award for Screenwriter of the Year Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay Satellite Award for Best Director Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director Nominated – Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Nominated – Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Nominated – Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay |