Adam Paul Scott (born April 3, 1973) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Ben Wyatt in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Scott has also appeared as Derek in the movie Step Brothers, Henry Pollard in the Starz sitcom Party Down, and as FBI Agent Jay McPherson in Torque. He co-starred in the 2015 comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine 2.
Early life
Scott was born on April 3, 1973 in Santa Cruz, California, the son of Anne (née Quartara) and Douglas Scott. He has two older siblings, Shannon and David. Scott has said that his brother David "looks like me but is far more cerebral and inherited the intellect of our parents," both of whom are retired teachers. He graduated from Harbor High School. He is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California.
Film
One of his earliest roles was in Hellraiser: Bloodline. He has appeared in several feature films, including Who Loves the Sun (2006), Monster-in-Law (2005), The Aviator (2004), Torque (2004), High Crimes (2002), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and The Lesser Evil (1998). In 2007-08, he had a cameo as a nurse in Knocked Up, and played Will Ferrell's character's biological brother Derek in Step Brothers, as well as Josh in the dot-com drama August. Scott played a supporting role in Alexandre Aja's remake Piranha 3-D, playing a character similar to Bradford Dillman's character from the original. He also played Jeremy in Leap Year. Scott's name appears next to Jon Hamm's in the movie Anchorman in one of the broadcast's credits. In an appearance on G4's Attack of the Show program on April 21, 2011, Scott confirmed that this was due to his and Hamm's friendship with producer Shauna Robertson, who put their names in the credits as an Easter egg. He played Ted Hendricks, Walter Mitty's boss, in the 2013 remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
He appeared in the films Our Idiot Brother (2011) as Jeremy and Bachelorette. He also starred as Jason Fryman in Friends with Kids (2012) alongside real-life friends Jennifer Westfeldt and Hamm.
Alongside recurring Party Down guest star J.K. Simmons, Scott starred as Caleb Sinclaire in the 2009 film The Vicious Kind in a more dramatic role than his previous comedic endeavours. The film itself received positive reviews, with Scott's own performance held in high regard. For his efforts, Scott won two individual awards at two separate film festivals, with writer and director Lee Toland Krieger winning one as well. Scott starred in the film Passenger Side, released on DVD on October 26, 2010. Who Loves The Sun, the film was his second collaboration with writer-director Matt Bissonnette.
Scott's film A.C.O.D., which co-stars Amy Poehler, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Scott was quoted saying that Poehler "is one of my favorite people in the world. She's the best" about his television and now, movie co-star. 2015 worked as executive producer and portrayed Alex, in a supporting role, in the comedy film The Overnight. He also co-starred Toni Collette, Stefania Owen and David Koechner, in Michael Dougherty's Christmas comedy slasher film Krampus.
Television
On television, he appeared as Griff Hawkins in the series Boy Meets World and Josh on Party of Five, as well as David's love interest, Ben Cooper, on Six Feet Under. He played Palek on the HBO drama Tell Me You Love Me (2007). Scott played a cocaine-addicted, delirious baseball front office representative in the first and second seasons of the HBO series, Eastbound & Down. From 2009 to 2010 he appeared on the Starz network show Party Down, created by Rob Thomas. His role as Henry Pollard in Party Down earned him an Entertainment Weekly Ewwy nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2009. In 2010 he left Party Down and joined the cast of NBC's Parks and Recreation.
He has appeared in the Adult Swim comedy Childrens Hospital. He was also on the show NTSF:SD:SUV::, in the episode "The Risky Business of Being Alone in Your Home", and the annual Adult Swim special The Greatest Event in Television History. Scott has also appeared in the Comedy Central television show Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, as a newscaster in the episode "Relapse into Refreshment". He has appeared in a series of commercials for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
Podcasting
Scott is the co-host and co-creator of the podcast U Talkin' U2 To Me? with Scott Aukerman. Though the series is introduced at the outset of each episode as "the comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things U2," it is in fact largely devoted to conversations and anecdotes that have nothing to do with the Irish rock band. While Scott and Aukerman's quite intentional avoidance of performing the sole task they have set for themselves forms the comedic backbone of U Talkin' U2 To Me, most episodes do in fact contain some portion where the hosts actually discuss their mutual love of U2, band member names, and each individual record in the band's discography.
Scott has been a guest on numerous podcasts, including Comedy Bang! Bang!, How Did This Get Made?, and Who Charted.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
- Adam Scott at the Internet Movie Database
- Adam Scott on Twitter