Stephen Michael Kunken (born c. 1971) is an American actor. He is known for the roles of Ari Spyros on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's '' Billions'' and Commander Putnam on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

's ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which h ...

''. His film work includes work with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Paul Greengrass, Ang Lee, Barry Levinson, Ron Howard and others. Graduating with top honors from The Juilliard School Kunken has an extensive and celebrated theater career appearing on Broadway in 7 different Productions and countless off-Broadway and Regional productions. He is most readily known for playing Andy Fastow in the Broadway play ''

Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

'', for which he received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nomination for Featured Actor in a Play. Other Broadway credits include '' Frost/Nixon'' and ''

Rock 'n' Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

Early life and education

Kunken was raised on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

Upper Brookville, New York Upper Brookville is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 1,698 at the 2010 census. History The village is named for the brook which ...

. His father is a dentist and his mother is a former grade school teacher. Kunken received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 1993. He is a graduate of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

's Graduate Acting program, where as a member of the Drama Division's ''Group 26'' (1993–1997) he was awarded both The John Houseman Prize and the Pearl and Rolands Grant. His classmates included

David Denman David Denman (born July 25, 1973) is an American actor. He made his film debut in '' The Replacements''. His other feature credits include ''Big Fish'', '' Fair Game'', ''The Nines'', '' Shutter'', ''Smart People'', '' Fanboys'', '' Let Go'', '' ...

and

Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ;; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' with Sandra Bullock (2000), ''A Knight's Tale'' with Heath Ledger (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' with Vince Vaughn (2004) ...

. He is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Career

Kunken has appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and later ...

David Auburn David Auburn (born 30 November 1969) is an American playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. He is best known for his 2000 play '' Proof'', which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also wrote the screen ...

's ''

The Columnist ''The Columnist'' is a play by American playwright David Auburn. It opened on Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, under the direction of Daniel J. Sullivan. The play opened on April 25, 2012 and closed July 8, 2012 with John Lithgow starring ...

'' (2012); opposite

Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and two Tony Awards. Turner became widely k ...

in ''

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

'' (2011);

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

’s ''

'' (2007); '' Frost/Nixon'' (2007) (for which he received

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

(Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play) and

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

nominations),; ''

Festen ''The Celebration'' ( da, Festen) is a 1998 Danish dark comedy-drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and produced by Nimbus Film. The film tells the story of a family gathering to celebrate their father's 60th birthday, juggling subjects of ...

'' (2006); and ''Proof (play), Proof'' (replacement, 2002). For his role as CFO Andrew Fastow in Lucy Prebble's ''

'', he received a 2010

nomination for Featured Actor in a Play. Off-Broadway, he played Tim Andrews in the award-winning Richard Nelson (playwright), Richard Nelson cycle of Apple Plays, which includes ''That Hopey Changey Thing'', ''Sweet and Sad'', and ''Regular Singing'' in 2013 at The Public. He played the title role as Nikolai Nabakov in Lincoln Center Theater's production of Richard Nelson's ''Nikolai and the Others'' in 2013. He has appeared as Dr. Phil in the critically acclaimed production of Kate Fodor's romantic comedy ''RX'' (2012, Primary Stages production); as the Stage Manager in the 2009 David Cromer-directed revival of Thornton Wilder's ''Our Town'' (replacement as of January 5, 2010, Barrow Street Theatre); Theresa Rebeck's ''Our House'' (2009, Playwrights Horizons); ''Fabulation'' at Playwrights Horizons (2004); ''A Very Common Procedure'' by Courtney Baron at Manhattan Class Company (2007) (for which he received a

nomination); ''Journals of Mihail Sebastian'' by

with the Keen Company in 2004 and ''Misalliance'' at the Roundabout Theatre Company (1997). He performed in ''The Story'' (2003), ''Henry VIII (play), Henry VIII'' (1997) and ''A Dybbuk'' (1997) at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theater. Regionally, Kunken has appeared in ''Quartermaine’s Terms'' (2009), ''True West (play), True West'' (2009), ''Three Sisters (play), Three Sisters'' as Solyony (2008) all at the Williamstown Theatre Festival; and ''Mister Roberts (play), Mister Roberts'' as Doc at the Kennedy Center in 2005, among many other credits. His television credits include: ''Unforgettable (U.S. TV series), Unforgettable'', ''Blue Bloods (TV series), Blue Bloods'', ''The Good Wife (TV series), The Good Wife'', ''Gossip Girl (TV series), Gossip Girl'', ''The Unusuals'', ''New Amsterdam (2008 TV series), New Amsterdam'', ''Law & Order'', ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', ''Law & Order: SVU'', ''The Sopranos'', ''Spin City'', ''Far East (play), Far East'' (2001, TV movie), ''Mary and Rhoda'' (2000, TV movie) and ''The Affair (TV series), The Affair''."Stephen Kunken Film and TV"
hollywood.com, retrieved October 30, 2017 In film, Kunken's work includes ''The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 film), The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), ''Still Alice'' (2014), ''Café Society (2016 film), Café Society'' (2016), ''A Birder's Guide to Everything'' (2013), ''The Bay (film), The Bay'' (2012), ''Price Check'' (2012), ''Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (film), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'' (2011), ''All Good Things (film), All Good Things'' (2010), ''Taking Woodstock'' (2009), ''The Girl in the Park'' (2008), ''Wait 'til This Year'', ''Light and the Sufferer'' (2014), and ''Bamboozled'' (2000).

Personal life

Kunken is married to stage director Jenn Thompson since September 2005. The couple reside in Brooklyn with their daughter, Naomi, whom they adopted from Ethiopia.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunken, Stephen 1970s births American male television actors Male actors from New York (state) Living people Juilliard School alumni People from Long Island Tufts University alumni 21st-century American male actors American male stage actors American male film actors 20th-century American male actors Jewish American male actors People from Upper Brookville, New York 21st-century American Jews