Cast & creator
Peter Sarsgaard
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers
John Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is an American actor. His first feature role was in Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), playing Raoul, the ill-fated son of Athos. Sarsgaard later achieved critical recognition when he was cast in Boys Don't Cry (1999) as John Lotter. He landed his first leading role in the 2001 film The Center of the World. The following year, he played supporting roles in Empire, The Salton Sea, and K-19: The Widowmaker. For his portrayal of Charles Lane in Shattered Glass, Sarsgaard won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the 2004 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sarsgaard has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including the 2004 comedy-drama Garden State, the biographical film Kinsey (2004), the drama The Dying Gaul (2005), and big-budget films such as Flightplan (2005), Jarhead (2005), The Skeleton Key (2005), Orphan (2009), An Education (2009), Knight and Day (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Lovelace (2013), Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves (2013), Blue Jasmine (2013), Black Mass (2015), and The Magnificent Seven (2016). Sarsgaard also appeared in the American TV series The Killing (2013) as a man on death row perhaps wrongfully convicted for the brutal murder of his wife—a performance which he says included "some of the best acting I have ever done in my life." In 2021, he had a recurring role on the Hulu miniseries Dopesick. Sarsgaard has appeared in Off-Broadway productions including Kingdom of Earth, Laura Dennis, Burn This, and Uncle Vanya. In September 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin in The Seagull. He is married to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Also known as: John Peter Sarsgaard
74
film credits
24
television credits
95
1975–2027 · acting roles
6.4
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (98)
Showing 98 of 98 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self
2015
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014
Law & Order
Josh Strand
1990
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Conan
Self
2010
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975Saturday Night Live
Boogerman (uncredited)
1975
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
The Batman
District Attorney Gil Colson
2022
The Killing
Ray Seward
2011
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
Self
2009
The Bride!
Jake Wiles
2026
Presumed Innocent
Tommasino 'Tommy' Molto
2024
Green Lantern
Hector Hammond
2011
DTF St. Louis
'Modern Love' / Christopher Spurce
2026
The Magnificent Seven
Bartholomew Bogue
2016
Knight and Day
Fitzgerald
2010
Orphan
John
2009
Black Mass
Brian Halloran
2015
Dopesick
Rick Mountcastle
2021
This Week
1981
Interrogation
David Russell
2020
The Skeleton Key
Luke Marshall
2005
The Man in the Iron Mask
Raoul
1998
The Lost Daughter
Professor Hardy
2021
Homemade
Frank
2020
The Guilty
Henry Fisher (voice)
2021
Cracker
1997
Neuromancer
John Ashpool
2027
The Slap
Hector
2015
Loving Pablo
Shepard
2017
Boys Don't Cry
John Lotter
1999
The Looming Tower
Martin Schmidt
2018
Indie Sex
Self
2007
September 5
Roone Arledge
2024
Dead Man Walking
Walter Delacroix
1995
The Cell
Julia Hickson's Fiancee (uncredited)
2000
Jarhead
Alan Troy
2005
Pawn Sacrifice
Father Bill Lombardy
2015
Blue Jasmine
Dwight
2013
K-19: The Widowmaker
Vadim Radtchinko
2002
An Education
David Goldman
2009
The Salton Sea
Jimmy the Finn
2002
Shattered Glass
Charles 'Chuck' Lane
2003
Flightplan
Carson
2005
The Survivor
Emory Anderson
2022
Lovelace
Chuck Traynor
2013Lovelace
Executive Producer
2013
Garden State
Mark
2004
In the Electric Mist
Elrod Sykes
2009
Wormwood
Frank Olson
2017
Night Moves
Harmon
2014
Jackie
Robert Kennedy
2016
Human Capital
Quint Manning
2020
Rendition
Alan Smith
2007
America Divided
Self
2016
Mr. Jones
Walter Duranty
2019
Robot & Frank
Robot (voice)
2012
The Sound of Silence
Peter Lucian
2019
Kinsey
Clyde Martin
2004
Flesh Impact
Director
2026
Very Good Girls
Fitzsimmons
2013
Elegy
Kenneth Kepesh
2008
Experimenter
Stanley Milgram
2015
Memory
Saul
2023
The Lie
Jay Logan
2018
Another Day in Paradise
Ty
1998
Unconditional Love
Window Washer
2002
Year of the Dog
Newt
2007Zero K
Coup!
Floyd Monk
2024Coup!
Executive Producer
2024
Pet Shop Days
2025
Subway Stories
Boy No. 1 (segment "Underground")
1997
The Center of the World
Richard Longman
2001
"Jarhead" Diaries
Self
2006
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Cleveland Arning
2008
Empire
Jack
2002
Desert Blue
Billy Baxter
1999
Valley Uprising
Self - Narrator (voice)
2014
Death of a Dynasty
Brendon III
2003
The Dying Gaul
Robert Sandrich
2005
Indie Sex: Teens
2008
Jake Gyllenhaal Challenges the Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Alan Troy (archive footage)
2010
Ladygrey
Samuel
2015
Best Summer Ever
Camera Man
2020Best Summer Ever
Executive Producer
2020
Starring Austin Pendleton
Self
2016
Wormwood
Frank Olson
2017Road House 2
Mama's Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Children
Self
2009
The Damning of a Country Merchant
Freak City
Cal Jackson
1999
Jarhead: Background
Self
2006Erosion
Christian Andersen
Housebound
Mignon
2000
High Falls
Pedro
2007