Adam Scott

Adam Scott, born April 3, 1973, is an American actor associated with television comedy, dramatic work, and supporting film roles. He was born in Santa Cruz, California, and raised in Ben Lomond. After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, he started obtaining screen credits in the 1990s. Early appearances included episodes of Boy Meets World, Party of Five, and Wasteland, plus parts in Hellraiser: Bloodline and The Lesser Evil. His profile rose through the Starz comedy Party Down, where he played Henry Pollard, a former actor reduced to working as a caterer after a humiliating commercial. Scott played Ben Wyatt on NBC's Parks and Recreation, joining the series at the end of its second season. Ben and Rob Lowe's Chris Traeger arrive in Pawnee as state officials assigned to confront the town's financial emergency. The initially stern auditor becomes a major figure in the ensemble, and his relationship with Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope becomes central to the show. Ben and Leslie marry in the fifth-season episode “Ben and Leslie.” Scott remained a regular until the comedy's 2015 series finale. Scott portrayed Ben through the finale, including a flash-forward episode set in Pawnee in 2017 and 2022. In 2015, Scott starred opposite Taylor Schilling in The Overnight, a comedy directed by Patrick Brice. He played Alex, whose apparently welcoming dinner invitation produces increasingly uncomfortable revelations. The following year, he appeared in The Disaster Artist, portraying himself in a scene with James Franco and Dave Franco. In Big Little Lies, HBO's adaptation of Liane Moriarty's novel, Scott portrayed Ed Mackenzie, husband of Reese Witherspoon's Madeline. He returned for the drama's second season in 2019. In 2022, he led Apple TV+'s Severance as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries whose work memories are surgically separated from his outside life. For Severance, Scott received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, including for the show's first season. He also earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role. The series was created by Dan Erickson and directed largely by Ben Stiller, who had previously worked with Scott on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Scott has continued comic work as well: in the Adult Swim series The Greatest Event in Television History, he helped recreate famously unsuccessful television pilots. He has also worked as a producer, including on Party Down and the comedy series Loot.