Hamish Linklater starred for five seasons on the CBS comedy “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” playing the brother of Julia-Louis Dreyfus’s title character. On the big screen, he recently co-starred with Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgård in Peter Berg’s 2012 action adventure “Battleship.”
An accomplished stage actor, Linklater most recently starred opposite Alan Rickman in the Broadway play “Seminar,” marking his Broadway debut. In 2011, he won an Obie Award for his performance off-Broadway in “The School for Lies.” He earned a Drama Desk Award nomination in 2010 for his work in the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park production of “Twelfth Night.” Earlier this year, he made his playwriting debut with “Vandal,” which just premiered off-Broadway.
Born in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, Linklater began acting at the age of eight as part of an acting troupe called Shakespeare & Company, founded by his mother, Columbia University drama professor and noted vocal coach Kristin Linklater. After attending Amherst College, he left school to pursue his career.
His early New York stage work includes the Public Theatre’s world premiere of “Love’s Fire: Fresh Numbers by Seven American Playwrights”; “The Chemistry of Change”; and “Hamlet,” also for the Public Theatre. His subsequent New York theatre credits include the off-Broadway plays “Good Thing,” “Recent Tragic Events,” “The Busy World is Hushed,” and the Shakespeare in the Park presentations of “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Winter’s Tale.” Regionally, his list of credits include the world premiere of “The Violet Hour,” at the South Coast Rep; “The Singing Forest,” at the Long Wharf; and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Measure for Measure,” directed by Sir Peter Hall, at the Ahmanson.
Television audiences most recently saw Linklater in recurring roles on “The Good Wife” and “The Big C,” as well as guest roles on “The Newsroom” and “Law & Order: SVU.” His previous credits include the HBO movie “Live from Baghdad,” a recurring role on “American Dreams” and a regular role on “Gideon’s Crossing.” Among Linklater’s feature film credits are “Fantastic Four,” and the independent features “Lola Versus,” “The Future” and “The Groove.”
This biography/filmography of Hamish Linklater is courtesy of Warner Brothers and the film, 42.
