page_title: Rob McElhenney
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Rob McElhenney / Career
caption_attribution_description: Rob McElhenney speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Game of Thrones", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
context_page_description: Robert McElhenney III is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for playing Mac on the FX/FXX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He is also one of the developers, executive producers, and the creator of the show, which has provided him with writing and directing credits for various episodes.
context_section_description: McElhenney scored his first major role with a small part in The Devil's Own, followed by small parts in A Civil Action, Wonder Boys, and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, though his role in The Devil's Own was cut out of the final edit. He later had more substantial parts in Latter Days and The Tollbooth, and a small role in the Law & Order episode "Thrill". At the age of 21, a debut script by McElhenney was optioned with writer-director Paul Schrader attached to direct, before the project fell through after one year of edits and rewrites.
  Initially based in New York City after his graduation from high school, McElhenney moved to Los Angeles at the age of 25. In 2004, McElhenney was waiting tables between acting jobs, and had met Glenn Howerton through his agent, and Charlie Day in New York while shooting a horror film. His idea for a sitcom, starring himself, Howerton and Day, was filmed on a budget of $200 and pitched to many cable networks. After receiving offers from many of the stations, McElhenney chose to sign with FX as they allowed him more creative freedom. McElhenney was contracted as It's Always Sunny's showrunner, and both Howerton and Day were listed as executive producers.
  McElhenney claims that 50 weeks of each year are consumed by acting, producing, and writing for the show, but he did find time to appear in the third season of Lost in the episode "Not in Portland". This was a result of McElhenney meeting Lost co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof, who is a fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. McElhenney continued the role in Lost, featured again in the sixth season for a single episode. McElhenney is a fan of Game of Thrones and was thrilled that the series' writers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, asked to write an episode of It's Always Sunny. He and his co-producers accepted the offer, resulting in the Season 9 episode "Flowers for Charlie" in 2013. In 2019, McElhenney made a cameo appearance as an extra in the Season 8 premiere episode "Winterfell".
  On July 21, 2015, McElhenney was confirmed by Mojang as the director of the upcoming animated Minecraft movie. He has since left the project.
  In 2017, he appeared as a guest in the acclaimed Fargo episode "The Law of Non-Contradiction". He received praise for his performance from critics, who saw his character as a reference to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
caption: McElhenney at Comic Con 2016
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