Martin James Pflieger Schienle (born July 30, 1982), professionally known as Martin Starr, is an American
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
and
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
. He is known for the television roles of
Bill Haverchuck on the short-lived
comedy drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...
''
Freaks and Geeks
''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...
'' (1999–2000), Roman DeBeers on the comedy series ''
Party Down
''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The series follows a group of c ...
'' (2009–2010), Bertram Gilfoyle on the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series
''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), for his film roles in ''
Knocked Up
''Knocked Up'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a sl ...
'' (2007) and
''Adventureland'' (2009), and as
Roger Harrington in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
films
''The Incredible Hulk'' (2008), ''
Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017), ''
Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019), and ''
Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021).
Personal life
Starr was born in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, the son of actress Jean St. James (née Pflieger). He is of German, British, and Eastern European descent. He is a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
.
In an interview with
''Wired'', Starr said that he felt "frustrated and depressed" at 22 due to lack of offers in the years after ''Freaks and Geeks'' was cancelled. He had fired his agent and decided to quit acting altogether; however, a few years later he was offered ''Knocked Up'', and other offers then started to come his way.
Career
Starr was cast as Bill Haverchuck in the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
sitcom ''
Freaks and Geeks
''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...
''. The series received positive reviews from critics, but it suffered from low ratings and was canceled after only one season. It gained a strong cult following. Starr then had a number of guest appearances and one-time roles on shows such as ''
Ed'', ''
Mysterious Ways Mysterious Ways may refer to:
* "Mysterious Ways" (song), a song by U2 from the 1991 album ''Achtung Baby''
* ''Mysterious Ways'' (TV series), science-fiction television series which ran from 2000 to 2002
*''Mysterious Ways'', a 1990 album by Steve ...
'', ''
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
'', ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'', and ''
Normal, Ohio
''Normal, Ohio'' is an American television sitcom aired on Fox in 2000. The show stars John Goodman as William "Butch" Gamble, a gay man returning to his Midwestern home town. The cast also includes Joely Fisher, Anita Gillette, Orson Bean, Mo G ...
''. He had a small recurring role during the third season of ''
Roswell'' as the character Monk. In 2002, Starr appeared in the films ''
Stealing Harvard
''Stealing Harvard'' is a 2002 American crime comedy film directed by Bruce McCulloch and written by Martin Hynes and Peter Tolan, about a man who resorts to crime to pay for his niece's Harvard tuition. The film stars Jason Lee and Tom Green w ...
'' and ''
Cheats
Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...
''. He reunited with both ''Freaks and Geeks'' producer
Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films '' ...
and ''Freaks and Geeks'' co-star
Seth Rogen
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series ''Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part on ...
when he made a guest appearance on Apatow's situational comedy ''
Undeclared
''Undeclared'' is an American sitcom created by Judd Apatow, which aired on Fox during the 2001–02 season. The show has developed a cult following, and in 2012, ''Entertainment Weekly'' listed it at #16 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the ...
'' in the episode "The Perfect Date". In 2005, he appeared in the
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
''
Revelations'' and the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
sitcom ''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...
''.
Starr co-starred in the 2007 comedy film ''
Knocked Up
''Knocked Up'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a sl ...
'', which was directed by Judd Apatow. The same year, he had small appearances in ''
Superbad'' and ''
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'', both of which were produced by Apatow. ''Knocked Up'' was critically praised and was a smash at the box office. The success of ''Knocked Up'' led to Starr having larger roles in films, such as ''
Good Dick
''Good Dick'' is a 2008 film written and directed by Marianna Palka. Palka also stars in the film, opposite Jason Ritter. ''Good Dick'' premiered in the Dramatic Competition of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Plot
A video store clerk stalks, s ...
'' and ''
Adventureland''. Starr also appears in many well-received
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s that premiere at film festivals, such as the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
.
In 2008, Starr played
Roger Harrington in ''
The Incredible Hulk
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...
''. He reprised the role in ''
Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017), ''
Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019) and ''
Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021).
From 2009 to 2010, Starr was a series regular portraying Roman DeBeers on the
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...
sitcom ''
Party Down
''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The series follows a group of c ...
''. The series was cancelled after two seasons and there were discussions of adapting the series into film, but this never came to fruition.
From 2011 to 2013, he co-starred on the
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
television series ''
NTSF:SD:SUV::'', in which he played Sam Stern. In 2011, Starr had a major role in the film ''
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
''A Good Old Fashioned Orgy'' is a 2011 American comedy film written and directed by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck. It stars Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Bibb, Lake Bell, Michelle Borth, Nick Kroll, Tyler Labine, Angela Sarafyan, Lindsay Sloane, Martin ...
'' and also had guest appearances on television series such as ''
Mad Love'', ''
Community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
'', and ''
Childrens Hospital
''Childrens Hospital'' (originally titled ''Children's Hospital'' as webisodes) is an American black comedy television show, television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Cord ...
''. In the latter he reprised his role of Roman DeBeers from ''Party Down''. Starr reunited with ''Freaks and Geeks'' and ''Party Down'' cast member
Lizzy Caplan
Elizabeth Anne Caplan (born June 30, 1982) is an American actress. Her first acting role was on the television series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000). She received wider recognition with roles in the films ''Mean Girls'' (2004) and ''Cloverfi ...
in the 2012 film ''
Save the Date
''Save the Date'' is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Mohan. It stars Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie. It won the Achievement Award at the 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at t ...
'', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
The same year he had a supporting role in the
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
''
Deep Dark Canyon'', as well as guest-starring on sitcoms ''
Parks and Recreation
''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...
'' and ''
New Girl
''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day ( Zoo ...
''.
In 2013, he had a small role playing himself in ''
This Is the End
''This Is the End'' is a 2013 American apocalyptic
stoner action fantasy black comedy film written, directed and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, in their directorial debuts. It is a feature-length film adaptation of the short film ...
'', which was directed by Seth Rogen and
Evan Goldberg
Evan D. Goldberg (born September 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American filmmaker and comedian. He has collaborated with his childhood friend Seth Rogen on the films '' Superbad'', ''Pineapple Express'', ''This Is the End'', ''The Interview'', and ''Go ...
. He had a starring role in the
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
film ''
The Lifeguard
''The Lifeguard'' is a 2013 American drama produced, written, and directed by Liz W. Garcia, and starring Kristen Bell and David Lambert. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and was released via video on demand on July 30, ...
'', later working with her again in the film ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
''. He has guest-starred on ''
The Aquabats! Super Show!
''The Aquabats! Super Show!'' is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created ...
'', ''
Franklin & Bash
''Franklin & Bash'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Kevin Falls and Bill Chais. The series starred Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as unconventional lawyers and longtime friends. A Turner Broadcasting executive refe ...
'', and ''
Drunk History
''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. They and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's exec ...
''. In 2014, he was cast to play Bertram Gilfoyle in the ''
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
'' comedy ''
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
''.
In 2019, ''
Party Down
''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The series follows a group of c ...
''
's co-creator and producer Dan Etheridge announced plans for a reunion with the original cast (including Starr) during a discussion at Vulture Festival.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Martin
1982 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American Buddhists
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American people of German descent
Living people
Male actors from Santa Monica, California