Pablo Schreiber

Schreiber was born to parents Tell Carroll Schreiber (1941–2021), an American actor, and Lorraine Reaveley, a Canadian body-based psychotherapist.

He was born in a hippie commune in Ymir, British Columbia and he and his family moved to the unincorporated rural community of Winlaw, British Columbia when he was six months old.

His older half-brother is actor Liev Schreiber with whom he shares a father.

Schreiber's father, having a strong interest in literature, named Pablo after Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

His parents separated when he was 12 and Schreiber moved to Seattle with his father.

After high school Schreiber enrolled at the University of San Francisco hoping to win a spot on its basketball team.

Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor.

He later transferred to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and graduated in 2000 with a degree in theatre.

His film roles include minor roles in Bubble Boy (2001), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Allegiance (2012), and Preservation (2014).

He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on The Wire (2003), William Lewis on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2013–2014), Mad Sweeney on the Starz series American Gods (2017–2020), and as George "Pornstache" Mendez on Orange Is the New Black (2013–2017), for which he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

He stars as Master Chief in the Paramount+ live-action series Halo (2022–present) which is based on the franchise of the same name.

Schreiber's first television appearance was as Nick Sobotka in season 2 of the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire (2003).

After his final appearance in the last episode of season 2, he also made a cameo appearance in the season 5 episode "The Dickensian Aspect".

He went on to play minor roles in the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order before playing the recurring guest role of serial rapist William Lewis on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

He appeared in an eight episode arc playing the antagonist to Olivia Benson's (Mariska Hargitay) character.

He is also known for his dramatic stage work including his performance in Awake and Sing! (2006) on Broadway which earned him a nomination for a Tony Award.

In 2008, he starred in reasons to be pretty where he won the 2009 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play.

He narrated the audiobook version of Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.

From 2008 to 2009, he appeared in multiple series including Dirt, Army Wives, The Beast, Numbers, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In 2011, he was cast as Johnny Leary in the FX series Lights Out which only aired for one season.

From 2011 to 2012, he played both Demetri Ravitch in the Showtime series Weeds and Anton Little Creek on the show A Gifted Man.

BuddyTV ranked him #77 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011".

In October 2012, Schreiber was cast in the recurring role of George "Pornstache" Mendez on the Netflix original drama series Orange Is the New Black.

He played the role from 2013 to 2017 and had a guest appearance in a 2019 episode.

In February 2013, he co-starred as Virgil in NBC's drama pilot Ironside, a reboot of the 1967 series of the same name.

However ratings and reviews were unfavorable and it was canceled after only four episodes had aired.

For his role on the show, he won the "We Love to Hate You Award" at the 2014 Young Hollywood Awards and received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2015.

He co-starred in the 2016 war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi directed by Michael Bay.

Schreiber was cast as Mad Sweeney in the 2017 Starz's series American Gods, based on the novel of the same name written by Neil Gaiman.

His character is a self-described leprechaun unwillingly endebted to Mr. Wednesday, played by Ian McShane.

By the end of season 2, Sweeney remembers that he is Buile Shuibhne, the king of the Dál nAraidi driven insane by the curse of Saint Rónán Finn.

Schreiber appears in seasons 1 and 2 with flashback appearances in the third and final season.

His character became a favourite of viewers during the series.

In 2018, he starred in the action heist film Den of Thieves opposite Gerard Butler and in Skyscraper with Dwayne Johnson.

In April 2019, he was cast as Master Chief / John-117 in the Halo live-action series, based on the video game franchise of the same name.

The series was released on March 24, 2022, by Paramount+ and has received mostly positive reviews with 71% on Rotten Tomatoes.

To prepare for his role in the series, Schreiber worked with a trainer and a chef to bulk up adding muscle to play the supersoldier.

Paramount confirmed that the series was renewed for season 2 with Schreiber reprising the main role of Master Chief.

Schreiber co-starred in the biographical crime drama streaming television miniseries Candy as Allan Gore, opposite Jessica Biel's character, Candy Montgomery.

In 2020, he starred in the drama film Lorelei with Jena Malone.