Christopher Abbott

Christopher Jacob Abbott (born February 10, 1986) is an American actor known for his work in independent films.

He moved to New York City in 2006 to be closer to school.

After moving to New York, Abbott began going to large open calls for plays while in school, which is how Abbott got his two first acting jobs off-Broadway.

The first play, Good Boys and True, opened in the spring of 2008 and was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by Scott Ellis.

It followed a scandal at a prep school.

Abbott played the lead character's (Brian J. Smith) gay best friend, Justin.

The second play, Mouth to Mouth, opened in the fall of 2008.

The play depicted the limits of friendship and family, and was written by Kevin Elyot and directed by Mark Brokaw.

Abbott played the sympathetic 15-year-old son of Laura (Lisa Emery).

Abbott received positive reviews for both productions.

He followed this with guest-starring roles in the comedy series Nurse Jackie and the police procedural series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

In 2010, Abbott co-starred opposite Cristin Milioti and Laila Robins in the play That Face at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

In 2011, Abbott made his feature film debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene and his Broadway debut in the revival of the play The House of Blue Leaves.

Abbott made his feature film debut in the 2011 drama thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene opposite Elizabeth Olsen.

Written and directed by Sean Durkin, the film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January, and had a limited release in the United States on October 21, 2011.

It was met with positive reviews.

The same year, Abbott made his Broadway debut in the revival of the play The House of Blue Leaves opposite Ben Stiller and Edie Falco.

Directed by David Cromer, the play opened in April 2011.

Abbott played the part of the sullen, recently drafted son, Ronnie Shaughnessy, for which Abbott received positive reviews.

He also acted in the HBO series, Girls (2012-2016); the USA Network series, The Sinner (2017); and the Apple TV+ series, The Crowded Room (2023).

Abbott was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Anna (née Servidio) and Orville Abbott.

He has an older sister, Christina.

Abbott's maternal grandmother Angelina was born in Rosà, a town in the province of Vicenza in Italy.

He has described himself as being a "Euro-mutt", with distant Portuguese and Eastern European ancestry.

He spent his early years in Chickahominy, a working-class, heavily Italian-American neighborhood in Greenwich, and grew up in Stamford.

Abbott worked at a local video store and at his friend's wine store.

He attended Norwalk Community College shortly before he began studying acting at HB Studio.

In 2012, Abbott co-starred opposite Melanie Lynskey in the comedy-drama film Hello I Must Be Going.

The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States on September 7, 2012.

Critic Roger Ebert praised the film and Abbott's performance.

Abbott gained public recognition for his role as the docile boyfriend of Marnie (Allison Williams), Charlie Dattolo in the HBO comedy-drama series Girls.

Created by Lena Dunham, the series premiered on April 15, 2012.

Abbott quit the series after the show’s season-two finale, stating that the reason why he left was because he couldn't relate to the character.

He returned to the series for the season 5 episode "The Panic in Central Park".

Before leaving Girls in 2013, Abbott starred in a series of short films opposite model-actress Sheila Márquez for Free People and guest-starred in an episode of the comedy-drama series Enlightened opposite Luke Wilson.

After leaving the series, Abbott returned to the theatre in the fall of 2013 in the play Where We're Born by Lucy Thurber at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

Abbott took supporting roles in a plethora of films, such as A Most Violent Year (2014), It Comes at Night (2017), Piercing (2018), Possessor (2020), Black Bear (2020), On the Count of Three (2021), Sanctuary (2022), and Poor Things (2023).

Abbott received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for the drama film James White (2015).

He portrayed astronaut David Scott in the biographical drama film First Man (2018).

Abbott portrayed John Yossarian in the Hulu miniseries Catch-22 (2019) for which he earned a Golden Globe Award nomination.