Justin Kirk

Justin Kirk (born May 28, 1969) is an American actor. He gained prominence for his roles as Prior Walter in the HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, and Andy Botwin in the Showtime dark comedy series Weeds (2005–2012).
Early life
Kirk was born in Salem, Oregon. His mother was of Russian-Jewish descent and his father was of Danish and English ancestry.
Kirk grew up in Union, Washington, where he attended a grade school on a Native American reservation, until his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, when he was 12 years old. He attended high school there and performed at Children's Theatre Company.
Kirk moved to New York City after graduating. He played guitar in several New York bands in the early 1990s, most notably The Dimestore Darlings. He completed a two-year conservatory acting program at Circle in the Square Theatre School.
Career
Theatre
Kirk began his career on stage appearing off-Broadway in productions such as The Applicant, Shardston, Loose Ends, Thanksgiving, and Lovequest Live. He made his Broadway debut in Frank Gilroy's play Any Given Day which was performed at the Longacre Theatre. From 1994 to 1995, he played Bobby Brahms in Terrence McNally’s award-winning play Love! Valour! Compassion! on and off-Broadway for which he received an Obie Award for Best Performance. He next starred as Stephen Hoffman in Jon Marans’s two-character play Old Wicked Songs, staged at the New York's Promenade Theatre and Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse. In 2012, he appeared in the role of Trip Wyeth succeeding Thomas Sadoski in Jon Robin Baitz’s play Other Desert Cities.
Television
Kirk made his television debut in the short-lived CBS drama series New York News episode "You Thought the Pope Was Something". From 1999 to 2001, he starred as Barto Zane in The WB comedy-drama series Jack & Jill. In 2003, he played Prior Walter in the HBO miniseries Angels in America, directed by Mike Nichols and based on Tony Kushner's award-winning play of the same name. For his role, he received critical acclaim, earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. He gained further acclaim and recognition for his starring role as Andy Botwin in the Showtime dark comedy series Weeds. The series ran for eight seasons from 2005 to 2012.
Kirk had a recurring role on ABC sitcom Modern Family as Charlie Bingham, Mitchell Pritchett's boss. He appeared in a total of six episodes of the series. In 2012, he starred with Crystal the Monkey in the NBC sitcom Animal Practice. The series was canceled after nine episodes, due to low ratings. In 2015, he appeared in two episodes of WGN period drama series Manhattan and FX/FXX comedy-drama series You’re the Worst. In March 2016, he was cast as the lead in the procedural drama series APB. The series ran on FOX for one season. In 2018, he starred alongside Jim Carrey in the Showtime comedy-drama series Kidding.
Kirk returned to HBO playing Hamilton Burger in the period drama series Perry Mason. He next appeared in the drama series Succession in the role of Congressman Jeryd Mencken, a controversial, right-wing presidential candidate.
Film
Kirk first appearance on screen was in the Mike Nichols' 1994 romantic horror film Wolf in a photograph as Laura Alden's deceased brother. He credited Ann Roth, Nichols' longtime costume designer with whom he previously worked on the play Any Given Day for the job. He made his feature film debut in the 1997 drama film Love! Valour! Compassion! recreating his stage role. His other film roles include Vamps (2012), Mr. Morgan's Last Love (2013), Justice League: War (2014), Ghostbusters (2016), Molly's Game (2017), The Tribes of Palos Verdes (2017), and Vice (2018).
Acting credits
Film
Television
Theatre
Podcasts
Music videos
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1969 births
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people of Danish descent
American people of English descent
Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni
Male actors from Salem, Oregon
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male film actors
American male voice actors
Living people