Blake Robbins (actor)

William Blake Robbins (born June 17, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. Although he appeared in films like Martyrs (2015 film), The Ugly Truth and Wind River (film), Robbins is more known for his guest-starring appearances as Officer Dave Brass on the HBO drama series Oz (TV series), Tom Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office (American TV series), as well Mitch Glender on the FX (TV channel) crime drama series Sons of Anarchy.
 
After almost two decades working as an actor, Robbins stepped behind the camera and made his directorial debut with the independent drama The Sublime and Beautiful (2014), which premiered at Slamdance Film Festival. His second feature as director, the modern-day western (genre) The Scent of Rain and Lightning (film), received critical acclaim.
==Early life==
Robbins was born in Karamürsel, Turkey, where his father served in the United States Navy. Robbins has one brother. His parents divorced when he was little and his mother remarried. Robbins had a strong connection with his stepfather, who passed away in April 2013. Robbins's biological father along with his brother struggled with alcoholism. After earning a degree in Business marketing, Robbins attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Soon after, he began to perform on Broadway theatre|Broadway, working also as an acting coach for a while. Robbins currently resides in Los Angeles. 
==Career==
Robbins began his career in 1996 with a guest appearance in an episode of the American Broadcasting Company|ABC soap opera All My Children. He went on to guest star in television series such as Law & Order, Third Watch and Firefly (TV series)|Firefly, before landing a recurring role as Officer Dave Brass in the HBO drama Oz (TV series)|Oz between 2001 and 2003. During the 2000s, Robbins continued acting on shows like Charmed, Strong Medicine, Medium (TV series)|Medium, Crossing Jordan, The O.C., 24 (TV series)|24, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds and Private Practice (TV series)|Private Practice, appearing also as Tom Halpert on the NBC’s comedy The Office (American TV series)|The Office, opposite Steve Carell and John Krasinski.
 
Robbins' first film role was in the independent drama Going Under (2004 film)|Going Under (2004). Since then, he appeared in other features such as the dramedy Love Comes to the Executioner (2006), the western Bunker Hill (film)|Bunker Hill (2008), as well the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth (2009), in which he stars alongside Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.
Throughout the 2010s, Robbins guest-starred in several television series including FlashForward, The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, CSI: NY, Sons of Anarchy, Masters of Sex and Legends (TV series)|Legends. Simultaneously, Robbins worked on a number of independent films, namely Rubber (2010 film)|Rubber (2010), Jayhawkers (film)|Jayhawkers (2014), Martyrs (2015 film)|Martyrs (2015) and Wind River (film)|Wind River (2017). More recently, he starred in Marcel Sarmiento's horror thriller Faceless (2021).
 
Robbins made his directorial debut with the independent drama The Sublime and Beautiful (2014), which he also wrote and stars in as David Conrad, a father who loses his children in a car accident. Shot in only 12 days on a budget of $30,000, the film premiered at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival. Writing for Variety (magazine)|Variety, film critic Ronnie Scheib stated that Robbins "brings nothing new to Hollywood's dead-children genre".
 
Robbins directed his second film, The Scent of Rain and Lightning (film)|The Scent of Rain and Lightning (2017), starring Maika Monroe, Brad Carter, Mark Webber (actor)|Mark Webber, Maggie Grace and Justin Chatwin. Based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Nancy Pickard, the story centers on Jody Linder (Monroe), a young woman who finds out the man responsible for murdering her parents has been released from prison. Having its world premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival, the film garnered a positive reception from critics; in his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Scheck opined that it was "a well-acted, intelligent thriller", while Bradley Gibson of the Film Threat called the feature "smart, sharp, hard, well paced and well acted with a fresh approach to the genre".
==Filmography==
=== Film ===
	Denotes productions that have not yet been released
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
2004	Going Under (2004 film)|Going Under 	Axel 	
2005	Alice 	The Intruder 	Short film
2006	Love Comes to the Executioner 	Stuttering Guard 	
2006	Arc 	Thomas Blake 	
2007	The Son of Sam's Daughter 	Ben's Dad 	Short film
2008	Christmas Break 	Mr. Chatsworth 	Short film
2008	Bunker Hill (film)|Bunker Hill 	Delmar 	
2009	The Only Good Indian 	Moller 	
2009	The Ugly Truth 	KPQU Big Wig 	
2010	Rubber (2010 film)|Rubber 	Cop Eric 	
2011	Part Time Fabulous 	Dr. Carr 	
2011	Dispatch 	Killer 	
2012	The Men's Room 	The Man 	Short film
2012	Between the Forest and the Field 	Daniel 	Short film
2012	Blackout 	Jimmy 	Short film
2013	Imprints 	Doctor 	Short film
2013	Cliff 	Dr. Keanon 	Short film
2013	The Lull Breaker 	Pa 	Short film
2013	The Championship Rounds 	Phillip 	Short film
2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	David Conrad 	also writer, producer and director
2014	Jayhawkers (film)|Jayhawkers 	Dick Harp 	
2014	Buttwhistle 	Mr. Blancmange 	
2014	Moths 	Mr. Cunningham 	Short film
2015	Martyrs (2015 film)|Martyrs 	Dad 	
2016	Ctrl Alt Delete 	Charlie 	
2016	From Ashes to Immortality 	Jon Orr 	Short film
2017	Wind River (film)|Wind River 	Tim 	
2017	The Scent of Rain and Lightning (film)|The Scent of Rain and Lightning	Sheriff Don Phelps	also director and producer
2017	DriverX 	Rick 	
2018	Funny Story 	Dan 	
2018	Backpedals 	Hugo 	Short film
2019	Let's Scare Julie 	Uncle Vince 	
2019	Things That Fall 	The Professor 	Short film
2021	Faceless 	Tom 	
TBA 	To Leslie 	Handyman 	Post-production
TBA 	 	 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1996 	All My Children 	Valet 	1 episode
1999 	Law & Order 	Heinrich 	Episode: "Marathon"
2000 	Third Watch 	Peter 	Episode: "History"
2002 	Push, Nevada 	Lexus Driver 	Episode: "Jim's Domain"
2002 	Firefly (TV series)|Firefly 	Agent McGinnis 	Episode: "Ariel"
2001–2003	Oz (TV series)|Oz 	Officer Dave Brass 	15 episodes
2003 	10-8: Officers on Duty 	Dr. Lawrence 	Episode: "Late for School"
2004 	Cold Case 	David Lake 	Episode: "Late Returns"
2004 	Charmed 	Patrol Officer 	Episode: "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World: Part 1"
2004 	Strong Medicine 	Morgan Benedicto 	Episode: "Healing Touch"
2005 	Medium (TV series)|Medium 	Trooper 	Episode: "A Priest, a Doctor and a Medium Walk Into an Execution Chamber"
2005 	Crossing Jordan 	Peter Ellison 	Episode: "Embraceable You"
2005 	Wanted (2005 TV series)|Wanted 	Martin Beckwith 	Episode: "The Promise of Darkness"
2005 	The O.C. 	Don 	2 episodes
2006 	E-Ring 	James Ogilvy 	Episode: "Five Pillars"
2006 	24 (TV series)|24 	Ross 	Episode: "Day 5: 2:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m."
2007 	Without a Trace 	Craig Dalton 	Episode: "Connections"
2008 	Eli Stone 	Howard Masters 	Episode: "Heartbeat"
2008 	Criminal Minds 	Jonathan Morris 	Episode: "A Higher Power"
2008 	Private Practice (TV series)|Private Practice	Mark Miller 	Episode: "A Family Thing"
2008 	Entourage (U.S. TV series)|Entourage 	Guy on Plane 	Episode: "First Class Jerk"
2008–2009	The Office (American TV series)|The Office 	Tom Halpert 	2 episodes
2010 	The Forgotten (TV series)|The Forgotten 	Dr. Max Rayburn 	Episode: "Patient John"
2010 	FlashForward 	Special Agent Buckner	4 episodes
2010 	The Closer 	Mr. Witten 	Episode: "Heart Attack"
2010 	Secret Millionaires 	Dr. Cadillac 	1 episode
2011 	Rizzoli & Isles 	Scott James 	Episode: "Brown Eyed Girl"
2011 	Bling Ring#Film depictions|The Bling Ring 	Mr. Bishop 	Television film
2012 	CSI: NY 	Jimmy Portico 	Episode: "2,918 Miles"
2012 	NCIS (TV series)|NCIS 	Scott Martin 	Episode: "Gone"
2013 	Monday Mornings 	Dr. David Martin 	Episode: "Pilot"
2013 	Sons of Anarchy 	Mitch Glender 	2 episodes
2013 	Masters of Sex 	Security Guard Brown 	Episode: "Manhigh"
2014 	Legends (TV series)|Legends 	Dennis Evans 	2 episodes
2015 	The Ultimate Evil 	David Berkowitz 	unknown episodes
2017 	Law & Order True Crime 	Harry 	3 episodes
2021 	Bad Vibes 	Rob 	1 episode
==Awards and nominations==
Name of the award ceremony, year presented, work(s) nominated, category, and the result of the nomination 
Award ceremony 	Year	Work(s) 	Category 	Result	
Cleveland International Film Festival 	2017	The Scent of Rain and Lightning 	Best American Independent Feature Film 	 	
Kansas City FilmFest 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Heartland - Best Feature Narrative 	 	
Kansas City FilmFest 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Heartland - Best Narrative Feature 	 	
Kansas City FilmFest 	2017	The Scent of Rain and Lightning (film)|The Scent of Rain and Lightning	Best Narrative Feature 	 	
Milano International Film Festival Awards	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Best Actor 	 	
Milano International Film Festival Awards	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Best Director 	 	
Milano International Film Festival Awards	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Best Best Screenwriting 	 	
Nashville Film Festival 	2017	The Scent of Rain and Lightning 	Bridgestone Narrative Feature Competition	 	
Newport Beach Film Festival 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Directing 	 	
Newport Beach Film Festival 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Best Feature Film 	 	
Newport Beach Film Festival 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Best Actor 	 	
Slamdance Film Festival 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Best Narrative Feature 	 	
Slamdance Film Festival 	2014	The Sublime and Beautiful 	Narrative Feature Film 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Category:1965 births
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors