Nick Stahl

Nicolas Kent Stahl (born (1979-12-05)December 5, 1979)^[1] is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face, in which he was directed by and starred alongside Mel Gibson.

Nick Stahl
Stahl at the 2023 WonderCon
Born	Nicolas Kent Stahl (1979-12-05) December 5, 1979 (age 45) Harlingen, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Rose Murphy ​ ​ (m. 2009; div. 2019)​
Children	1

Stahl later transitioned into adult roles in the films Disturbing Behavior, The Thin Red Line, In the Bedroom, Bully, Sin City, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in the role of John Connor, as well as on the HBO series Carnivàle in the role of Ben Hawkins. He also starred as Jason Riley on the AMC television series Fear the Walking Dead. In April 2023, he starred as Lucas on the Hulu television series Tiny Beautiful Things.

Early life

Stahl was born in Harlingen, Texas,^[2] the son of Donna Lynn (née Reed), a brokerage assistant,^[3][4] and William Kent Stahl, a businessman who abandoned his family before Nick was born. Stahl stated in a 2021 interview, "I don’t know my dad. I never met him."^[3] He was raised in Dallas along with his two sisters by his divorced mother, who struggled to make ends meet.^[3][4]

Career

Stahl's first professional castings were small roles in Stranger at My Door (1991) and Woman With a Past (1992), although he had been acting in children's plays since he was four years old. The 1993 film The Man Without a Face, directed by and co-starring Mel Gibson, helped boost Stahl's career at the age of 13. The following year, he had a supporting role in the ensemble film Safe Passage. In 1996, he played the role of Puck in Benjamin Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1998, he played a doomed young soldier during the World War II Pacific War in The Thin Red Line. He scored critical and box office success again with his role in the 2001 movie In the Bedroom, which starred Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson as his parents. Stahl achieved box office success again in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) as John Connor (replacing Edward Furlong from Terminator 2: Judgment Day), co-starring with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Claire Danes. In 2003, he starred in the HBO series Carnivàle, which drew a loyal audience as well as rave reviews. The show lasted two seasons, ending in 2005.

Stahl has played two villains to good reviews: Bobby Kent in the film Bully (2001) and Roark Jr./Yellow Bastard in Sin City (2005). Stahl did not reprise his role as John Connor in Terminator Salvation, with Christian Bale taking over instead. Stahl noted the film's concept as "a jump to the future, so [John Connor] will be quite a bit older."^[5] Other roles included How to Rob a Bank (2007), Sleepwalking (2008), and Quid Pro Quo (2008).

In 2010, Stahl starred as Max Matheson in Mirrors 2, the sequel to Mirrors, directed by Victor Garcia^[6] and penned by Matt Venne.^[7] Among his more recent films are On the Inside (2010) and Afghan Luke (2011), and Away from Here (2014).

In 2019, Stahl portrayed serial killer Glen Edward Rogers in The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. Filming commenced over the summer in 2018 and the film was released in the UK on December 9, 2019.

Also in 2019, Stahl appeared in The Lumineers’ short film, III, which is based on their album of the same name. Stahl played the character Jimmy Sparks, who is a father and gambling addict.

In November 2021, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Stahl would star alongside Sean Bean and Famke Janssen in the film Knights of the Zodiac, a live-action adaptation of the Saint Seiya manga series.^[8] The film was released on May 12, 2023.^[9]

In April 2023, he appeared in a recurring role as Lucas on the Hulu television series Tiny Beautiful Things, opposite Kathryn Hahn.

In May 2024, Stahl starred in the suspense horror film What You Wish For, written and directed by Nicholas Tomnay and distributed by Magnolia Pictures.^[10][11]

Personal life

Stahl married actress Rose Murphy in June 2009. They have a daughter, Marlo, born in 2010.^[12][3] The couple separated in 2012^[12] and finalized their divorce in 2019.^[3]

Stahl struggled with alcoholism for decades. He spent time in rehabilitation facilities in 2007 and 2009.^[4] In May 2012, Stahl's wife reported him missing.^[13] It was later reported that Stahl had checked into a rehabilitation facility.^[14] On December 27, 2012, Stahl was arrested at an adult film store in Hollywood, California, on suspicion of committing a lewd act.^[15] No charges were filed due to insufficient evidence.^[16] On June 28, 2013, Stahl was arrested in Hollywood for alleged possession of methamphetamine.^[16]

In a 2017 interview at the Dallas Comic Show, Stahl stated he had moved to Texas and was taking a leave of absence from acting to concentrate on family and sobriety.^[17][18] Stahl returned to acting in 2019 when filming of The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson began.^[19] In 2021, Stahl said in an interview that he had been sober for four years.^[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Man Without a Face	Chuck Norstadt	Nominated – Young Artist Award for Best Youth Actor Co-Starring in a Motion Picture Drama
1994	Safe Passage	Simon Singer
1995	Tall Tale	Daniel Hackett
1997	Eye of God	Tom Spencer
1998	Disturbing Behavior	Gavin Strick
1998	Soundman	Tommy Pepin
1998	The Thin Red Line	Pfc. Edward Bead	Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture
2000	Lover's Prayer	Vladimir
2000	Sunset Strip	Zach
2001	In the Bedroom	Frank Fowler	Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2001	The Sleepy Time Gal	Morgan
2001	Bully	Bobby Kent
2002	Taboo	Christian Turner
2002	Wasted	Chris
2003	Bookies	Toby
2003	Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines	John Connor
2003	Twist	Artful Dodger	Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2005	Sin City	Roark Junior / Yellow Bastard	Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2006	The Night of the White Pants	Horace "Raff" Rafferty
2007	How to Rob a Bank	Jason Taylor / Jinx
2008	Quid Pro Quo	Isaac Knott
2008	Sleepwalking	James Reedy
2009	My One and Only	Bud
2010	The Chameleon	Brendan Kerrigan
2010	Burning Palms	Robert Kane
2010	Meskada	Noah Cordin
2010	Dead Awake	Dylan
2010	Kalamity	Billy Klepack
2010	Mirrors 2	Max Matheson
2010	Everything Will Happen Before You Die	Hunter Robinson
2011	The Speed of Thought	Joshua Lazarus
2011	On the Inside	Allen Meneric
2011	Afghan Luke	Luke Benning
2011	388 Arletta Avenue	James Deakin
2012	On the Inside	Allen Meneric
2014	Away from Here	James
2019	III	Jimmy Sparks	Short film
2019	The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson	Glen Edward Rogers
2020	Hunter Hunter	Lou
2021	What Josiah Saw	Eli Graham
2021	American Dream	Yuri
2021	Grace and Grit	Bob Doty
2021	Night Blooms	Wayne
2023	Knights of the Zodiac	Cassios
	Confidential Informant	Mike Thorton
	What You Wish For	Ryan
2024	Keep Quiet	Darius Humphrey
TBA	Devoted	TBA	Post-production[20]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Stranger at My Door	Robert Fortier	Television film
1992	Woman with a Past	Brian	Television film
1994	Incident in a Small Town	John Bell Trenton	Television film
1995	Blue River	Young Edward Sellars	Television film
1996	My Son Is Innocent	Eric Sutter	Television film
1996	Out of Order	Unknown	Episode: "Hey Joey"
1997	Promised Land	Billy Sullivan	Episode: "Cowboy Blues"
1998	Hercules	Castor (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the Trojan War"
1999	Seasons of Love	Grover Linthorne	Television film
2002	Wasted	Chris	Television film Nominated – Prism Award for Performance in TV Movie or Miniseries
2003–2005	Carnivàle	Ben Hawkins	24 episodes Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Peter Harrison	Episode: "Zebras"
2011	Locke & Key	Duncan Locke	Pilot (unaired)
2012	House of Lies	Kurt	Episode: "Mini Mogul"
2012	Body of Proof	Marcel Trevino	2 episodes
2021	Fear the Walking Dead	Jason Riley	5 episodes
2021	Animal Kingdom	Mike	5 episodes
2022	Dead in the Water: A Fear the Walking Dead Story	Jason Riley	Web series; Main role
	Let the Right One In	Matthew	Main role
2023	Tiny Beautiful Things	Lucas	Main role

Music videos

Year	Artist	Role	Notes
2019	The Lumineers	Jimmy Sparks	4 videos

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Results
1994	Young Artist Awards	Best Youth Actor Co-Starring in a Motion Picture Drama	The Man Without a Face	Nominated
1999	Satellite Awards	Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble	The Thin Red Line	Won
2001	Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Cast Ensemble	In the Bedroom	Nominated
2002	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture	In the Bedroom	Nominated
2003	Prism Award	Performance in TV Movie or Miniseries	Wasted	Nominated
2004	Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Series, Drama	Carnivàle	Nominated
2004	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series	Carnivàle	Nominated
2005	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	Twist	Nominated
2006	Gold Derby Awards	Ensemble Cast	Sin City	Nominated
2006	Critics Choice Awards	Best Acting Ensemble	Sin City	Nominated
2021	Brooklyn Horror Film Festival	Best Actor	What Josiah Saw	Won
2021	Mammoth Lakes Film Festival	Best Cast		Won