Noah Nicholas Emmerich (born February 27, 1965) is an American actor and director who is best known for his roles in films such as Beautiful Girls (1996), The Truman Show (1998), Frequency (2000), Miracle (2004), Little Children (2006) and Super 8 (2011). From 2013 to 2018 he starred as FBI agent Stan Beeman on the FX series The Americans, for which he won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2019.
Early life
Emmerich was born on February 27, 1965, in New York City, New York. His mother, Constance, is a concert pianist; and his father, André Emmerich (1924–2007), was a gallery owner and art dealer. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, André had emigrated from Nazi Germany with his family, who relocated first to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and then to New York in 1940. His aunt had been a classmate of Anne Frank. Noah’s family is Jewish, from Germany and France on his father’s side and from Hungary and Romania on his mother’s. He has two older brothers: Toby Emmerich, a screenwriter and current chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group; and Adam Emmerich, a partner at the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
Noah Emmerich attended the Dalton School and learned to play the trumpet as a youth. He studied the Meisner technique of acting privately under Ron Stetston, an actor/director who is currently senior member of the acting staff at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in History. He sang in the “Yale Spizzwinks(?)” an a cappella singing group; another member performing with him in the group was actor Joshua Malina.
Career
Film
Emmerich had his first starring role in the film Beautiful Girls, which earned him positive reviews from audiences and critics. He had supporting roles in such movies as The Truman Show, Life, and Frequency.
In the 2000s, Emmerich began to star in more dramatic films, such as Julie Johnson, Beyond Borders, Little Children, Pride and Glory and many more. He played the main antagonist, Colonel Nelec, in J. J. Abrams’s film Super 8, which earned positive reviews from critics and was a box office success.
Most notably, he played assistant coach Craig Patrick in the 2004 film Miracle.
In 2016, Emmerich portrayed Bill Hammond in the western Jane Got a Gun.
Television
Emmerich started his career doing guest roles in television series such as NYPD Blue and Melrose Place.
Beginning in the 2000s, Emmerich began to portray more prominent guest roles on television series such as Monk, White Collar[better source needed] and The Walking Dead, which earned him a Saturn Award nomination.
His most notable role in a television series is as FBI Agent Stan Beeman on the FX series The Americans. The series has earned positive reviews from critics and Emmerich earned a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for his performance. The series ran for six seasons ending in May, 2018. Emmerich made his directorial debut on episode 7 of season three of the series, entitled “Walter Taffet”. He again directed episode 5 of season four.
In September 2019, Emmerich starred in Netflix limited series The Spy, as the Israeli Mossad recruiting agent Dan Peleg.
On October 23, 2019, it was announced that Emmerich was cast as Kick Grabaston in the Netflix comedy series, Space Force.
Personal life
Emmerich was married to actress Melissa Fitzgerald from 1998 to 2003. On April 26, 2014, Emmerich married actress and producer Mary Regency Boies (daughter of the lawyers David and Mary Boies) at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York. He lives in Greenwich Village in New York City.
He is not related to director Roland Emmerich.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Last Action Hero | Rookie | |
1994 | Laura Sobers | Dale | Short film |
1996 | Beautiful Girls | Michael “Mo” Morris | |
1997 | Cop Land | Deputy Sheriff Bill Geisler | |
1998 | The Truman Show | Louis Coltrane / Marlon | |
1999 | Life | Stan Blocker | |
1999 | Crazy in Alabama | Sheriff Raymond | |
1999 | Tumbleweeds | Vertis Dewey | |
2000 | Love & Sex | Eric | |
2000 | Frequency | Gordo Hersch | |
2001 | Julie Johnson | Rick Johnson | |
2002 | Windtalkers | Private Chick | |
2003 | Beyond Borders | Elliot Hauser | |
2004 | Miracle | Craig Patrick | |
2004 | Cellular | Jack Tanner | |
2006 | Little Children | Larry Hedges | |
2007 | Joulutarina | Nikolas | English dub |
2008 | Pride and Glory | Francis Tierney, Jr. | |
2010 | Sympathy for Delicious | Rene Faubacher | |
2010 | Trust | Al Hart | |
2010 | Fair Game | Bill Johnson | |
2011 | Super 8 | Colonel Nelec | |
2011 | Warrior | Dan Taylor | |
2012 | The Fitzgerald Family Christmas | Francis “FX” Xavier | |
2013 | Blood Ties | Lt. Connellan | |
2016 | Jane Got a Gun | Bill Hammond | |
2017 | The Wilde Wedding | Jimmy Darling | |
TBA | The Good Nurse | Filming |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Flying Blind | Ronald | Episode: “The Long Goodbye” |
1993 | Precious Victims | Patrolman | Television film |
1994 | NYPD Blue | Eddie | Episode: “Serge the Concierge” |
1994 | Jack Reed: A Search for Justice | Cop #1 | Television film |
1995 | Melrose Place | Sam Bennett | Episode: “Love and Death 101” |
1995 | If Someone Had Known | Officer Ed Hurt | Television film |
1996 | Smoke Jumpers | Rhino | Television film |
2000 | The West Wing | Bobby Zane | Episode: “Take This Sabbath Day” |
2000 | Wonderland | Johnny | Episode: “Spell Check” |
2005 | Sometimes in April | Lionel Quaid | Television film |
2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Officer Pete Breslin | Episode: “Ripped” |
2009 | Monk | Roderick Brody | Episode: “Mr. Monk and the Bully” |
2009–2010 | White Collar | Garrett Fowler | 5 episodes |
2010 | The Walking Dead | Dr. Edwin Jenner | Episodes: “Wildfire” and “TS-19” |
2010–2011 | Backwash | Sgt. Benjamin Belter | 5 episodes |
2013–2018 | The Americans | Stan Beeman | 75 episodes |
2015 | Master of None | Mark | Episode: “The Other Man” |
2016–2019 | Billions | Freddy Aquafino | 3 episodes |
2019 | The Hot Zone | Lt. Col. Jerry Jaax | 6 episodes |
2019 | The Spy | Dan Peleg | 6 episodes |
2020 | Space Force | Kick Grabaston | Recurring role |
Director
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2015–2017 | The Americans | 3 episodes |
2017–2018 | Billions | 2 episodes |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Saturn Awards | Best Guest Starring Role on Television | The Walking Dead | Nominated | |
2013 | Critics’ Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |
2019 | Won | ||||
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Nominated |