Robert Patrick Benedict (born September 21, 1970) is an American stage, film and television actor and writer. His 25 year career includes more than 70 television and movie credits. He is best known for his work on the

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series '' Supernatural'', '' Threshold'', '' Felicity'' and the

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

'' Waiting...''. He is also the lead singer/songwriter of the Los Angeles based band Louden Swain.

Early life

Benedict was born in Columbia, Missouri. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Performance Studies Performance studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses performance as a lens and a tool to study the world. The term ''performance'' is broad, and can include artistic and aesthetic performances like concerts, theatrical events, ...

Career

Acting

In the critically acclaimed WB series ''Felicity'' he appeared as Felicity Porter's dorm mate, Richard Coad. In

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 ...

's ''Threshold'' Benedict played physicist Lucas Pegg, member of a secret government team investigating the first contact with an extraterrestrial species. In seasons 4, 5, 10, 11, 14 and 15 of '' Supernatural'' he plays a writer,

Chuck Shurley '' Supernatural'' is an American television drama series created by writer and producer Eric Kripke. It was initially broadcast by The WB network from September 13, 2005, but after the first season, the WB and UPN networks merged to form The CW n ...

, previously thought to be a prophet of the lord but later revealed to be God, who eventually becomes the series main antagonist. On '' Alias'' Benedict was

Sydney Bristow Sydney Anne Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the television series ''Alias''. She is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background who works as a spy for the CIA. Sydney is dep ...

's short-term

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

partner, Brodien. Additional early television series credits include ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

'' and '' Come to Papa'', with guest appearances on '' NCIS'', ''CSI'', ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'', ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'', '' Chicago Hope'', '' NYPD Blue'', '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', '' Snoops'', '' Burn Notice'', and ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ...

''. Other television credits include a recurring roles in ''Lucifer'', ''Bosch'', '' NCIS: New Orleans'', ''

Masters of Sex ''Masters of Sex'' is an American period drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2013, on Showtime. It was developed by Michelle Ashford and loosely based on Thomas Maier's biography '' Masters of Sex''. Set in the 1950s through ...

'', Fox's ''

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

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 r ...

,'' and the digital series ''Susanna'' with Anna Paquin. He also appeared as the irreverent power agent Jeremy Berger in the Starz Original comedy series ''

Head Case ''Head Case'' is an American sitcom starring Alexandra Wentworth as Dr. Elizabeth Goode, a therapist who treats Hollywood stars. Celebrities appear on the show as themselves. The show ran for three seasons, airing on the Starz TV Network, Wednes ...

''. Other recent guest star appearances are ''Documentary: Now!'', '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'', '' Shameless'', '' Psych'', '' Law and Order: Los Angeles.'', and '' NCIS: Hawaii'' His feature film credits include '' A Little Help'', with

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

, '' State of Play'' with Russell Crowe. In 2005 he starred as Calvin in the cult comedy '' Waiting...'' with

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

, and later revised the role in the sequel '' Still Waiting...'' Other films include '' Kicking & Screaming'', with

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

, '' Group Sex'', ''Say Goodnight'' with

Aaron Paul Aaron Paul (born Aaron Paul Sturtevant; August 27, 1979) is an American actor best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television ...

, '' Two Days'', with

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...

, ''

The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest ''The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest'' is a 2002 film based on the novel of the same name by technology-culture writer Po Bronson. The film stars Adam Garcia and Rosario Dawson. The screenplay was written by Jon Favreau and Gary Tieche. ...

'', starring

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...

, and ''

Not Another Teen Movie ''Not Another Teen Movie'' is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features an ensemble cast including Chyler Leigh, Chris E ...

''. In 2018, he had a starring role in the horror film '' 30 Miles from Nowhere'', with

Carrie Preston Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American actress known for her work on the television series ''True Blood'', ''Person of Interest (TV series), Person of Interest'', ''Crowded (TV series), Crowded'', ''The Good Wife'', ''The Good Fight ...

. Benedict has also done some

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

work, most notably voicing the character Vin, in the video games ''

Jak II ''Jak II'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is the second game of the ''Jak and Daxter'' series and it is both a sequel and a prequel to ...

'' and ''

Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'', the third game in the series and serves as the conclusion of the ...

''.

Writing and producing

He co-wrote and starred in the independent short film ''Lifetripper'', which made its debut at the LA Short Film Festival. He also co-wrote and played Miles Davis-Davidson in the ''Unauthorized Hangover 2 Documentary'', which was featured on the DVD of ''

The Hangover Part II ''The Hangover Part II'' is a 2011 American comedy film produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2009 film ''The Hangover'' and the second installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. Directed ...

''. In 2013 he wrote, produced and starred in the 30 minute short film ''The Sidekick'', which starred Jordan Peele,

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 ...

Ike Barinholtz Isaac Barinholtz (born February 18, 1977) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. He is best known for his starring roles in the comedy series ''MADtv'' (2002–2007), ''Eastbound & Down'' (2012), '' The Mindy Project'' (20 ...

Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 film ''Office Space'' and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the 2001 miniseries '' Band of Brothers.'' Livingston's other roles include ...

and

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

. In 2017, he wrote, produced and starred in the 10 episode series ''Kings of Con'' with friend and fellow actor

Richard Speight Jr Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

. The series first aired on Comic-ConHQ and currently can be found on CWseed. The comedy series is set behind the scenes at fan conventions, based loosely on their real life experiences at said conventions. Since 2020, he hosts a podcast, together with his friend and colleague

, called "...and my guest is Richard Speight". The podcast later changed name to "Kings of Con" referring to his show with Richard.

Music

Benedict is the frontman and guitar player in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

band Louden Swain, which has released eight albums.

Personal life

Rob has three older siblings; his sister,

Amy Benedict Amy Benedict is an American film and television actress. She is the sister of Rob Benedict. She was born and raised in Columbia, Missouri, and attended Rock Bridge High School. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. She is known for recu ...

, is also an actress. He has two children, a daughter named Audrey and a son named Calvin.

Early life

Career

Acting

Writing and producing

Music

Personal life

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Games

References

External links