Adam Scott

Adam Paul Scott (born April 3, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Ben Wyatt in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2010–2015), for which he was twice nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award, as well as Mark Scout in the Apple TV sci-fi thriller series Severance, for which he was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards (two for acting and two for producing) and two Golden Globes, among others.

Scott has also appeared in films, including The Aviator (2004), Step Brothers (2008) and Hokum (2026), as well as the Starz sitcom Party Down (2009–2010; 2023), the HBO drama series Big Little Lies (2017–present), and the NBC comedy series The Good Place (2016–2018).

Early life and education Adam Paul Scott was born in Santa Cruz, California, on April3, 1973, son of Dougald Scott. His parents, who were both teachers, divorced when he was a child. in Santa Cruz and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.

Career 1994–2007: Early film and television work

Scott appeared in several feature films, starting with Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996). On being cast in that film, Scott said: "I remember just being excited because it was a real movie, and I didn’t care if it was shitty. And it did end up being very, very shitty, but I was just happy to have a job." Other films he went on to appear in included Star Trek: First Contact (1996), The Lesser Evil (1998), High Crimes (2002), The Aviator (2004), Torque (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005), The Matador (2005), and Knocked Up (2007). Scott's early television roles include Griff Hawkins in Boy Meets World, Josh on Party of Five, a law intern on Murder One, as well as David's love interest, Ben Cooper, on Six Feet Under. His first series regular role was on the controversial and sexually-explicit HBO drama Tell Me You Love Me (2007) as Palek, a husband struggling to conceive with his wife. In the first two seasons of the HBO baseball comedy series Eastbound & Down, Scott played a cocaine-addicted baseball front office representative. He also appeared on CSI: Miami and Law & Order.

2008–2015: Parks and Recreation and comedy films From 2009 to 2010, Scott starred as Henry Pollard in the Starz network show Party Down. For this performance, he earned an Entertainment Weekly Ewwy nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2010, Scott joined the cast of NBC's acclaimed comedy series Parks and Recreation, in which he played Ben Wyatt, a state auditor who arrives in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, to evaluate the town's funds and eventually becomes the love interest of Leslie Knope. He appeared as a guest star in the second season before becoming a main character for the remainder of the series, which ended in 2015.

During this period Scott appeared in the films Step Brothers (2008), The Vicious Kind (2009), Piranha 3D (2010), Friends with Kids (2012), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), and Krampus (2015). Scott attributes his pivot from dramatic to comedic roles to landing the part of Derek Huff in Step Brothers, as he learned comedic improvisation from his co-stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Kathryn Hahn.

Scott has appeared in and produced numerous independent films. He starred as Caleb Sinclaire in the 2010 film The Vicious Kind, for which Scott was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor. The film itself received positive reviews, and he won two individual awards at two separate film festivals. He starred in two films by Matt Bissonette, Who Loves the Sun (2006) and Passenger Side (2009), released on DVD on October 26, 2010. He appeared in the films Our Idiot Brother (2011) with Paul Rudd and Leslye Headland's Bachelorette (2012). He had lead roles in Friends with Kids (2012) and A.C.O.D. (2013).

He played antagonist Ted Hendricks, Walter Mitty's boss, in the 2013 Ben Stiller remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. His other major studio comedies include Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and the Christmas comedy-horror film Krampus, both in 2015. That same year, he executive produced and starred in the comedy film The Overnight. Scott and his wife created and produced four Adult Swim mockumentary specials, The Greatest Event in Television History, about remaking opening credits sequences of 1980s television shows. Scott continued his streak of comedic roles in several episodes of Ken Marino's The Bachelor parody Burning Love, as well as making guest appearances in the Adult Swim comedies Childrens Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV:: and the Comedy Central television show Nick Swardson's Pretend Time as a newscaster in the episode "Relapse into Refreshment". He also appeared in a series of commercials for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

2016–present: Career expansion and Severance

From 2016 to 2018, Scott appeared in five episodes of the acclaimed Michael Schur show The Good Place as Trevor, a demon. In 2017, he appeared in David Wain's Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later and made a guest appearance on HBO's Veep. In 2017 and 2019, Scott took a turn to dramatic work by appearing in HBO's Big Little Lies as Ed Mackenzie, husband of main character Madeline Mackenzie, played by Reese Witherspoon.

Scott and Paul Rudd teamed up again to act in and produce the indie comedy Fun Mom Dinner (2017). Scott starred with Craig Robinson in the sitcom Ghosted, which premiered on October 1, 2017, on Fox, lasting just one season. He and his wife executive produced the show. In 2020, Scott hosted the one-season ABC game show Don't, executive produced by Ryan Reynolds.

In 2022, Scott began starring in and executive producing the Apple TV show Severance, which is executive produced and directed by Ben Stiller. His performance was critically acclaimed and has earned him two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 and 2025 respectively, and two more nominations for Outstanding Drama Series in those same years as Executive Producer. The cult hit Party Down was revived in 2023, with Scott reprising the character of Henry Pollard. In Sony's Spider-Man Universe, Scott appeared in Madame Web (2024) as a young Ben Parker.

In 2024, it was announced that Scott would star alongside Danielle Deadwyler in the independent thriller, The Saviors.

Commercials and advertisements

In 2013, Adam Scott appeared in a series of print ads for the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo. From 2013 to 2018, he starred in commercials for Smirnoff Vodka, Volkswagen, and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. In 2019, Scott played a record label accountant alongside rapper 2 Chainz in the "Expensify This" campaign, which aired during Super Bowl LIII. Scott has also appeared in commercials and print ads for J.Crew, Black Box Wines, Verizon’s "One Unlimited" campaign for the iPhone 14 Pro, and Rowing Blazers/Zodiac Watches. In 2024, he became the spokesperson for Philips Norelco OneBlade. For the second season of Severance, Scott and Ben Stiller appeared in a series of State Farm commercials encouraging viewers to "sever" from their parents’ car insurance.

Since 2024, Scott has also done voice-over work for TaxAct, UKG, and ZipRecruiter. In 2025, Scott and Adam Brody starred in the "It’s Time for WhatsApp" campaign, highlighting the drawbacks of traditional group chats compared with WhatsApp. Scott also appeared alongside his daughter, Frankie, in Volvo’s docuseries "The Family Car."

Podcasts With Scott Aukerman, Scott is the co-host and co-creator of the Earwolf podcast U Talkin' U2 To Me, launched in February 2014. The series is introduced at the outset of each episode as "the comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things U2," though it generally uses discussion of the band as a jumping off point for improv and absurdist humor. In February 2018, Scott and Aukerman launched another podcast in the same format, this time covering the career and work of the band R.E.M., titled R U Talkin' R.E.M. Re: Me?. A third podcast, R U Talkin' RHCP Re: Me?, debuted in July 2020, in which Scott and Aukerman discuss the Red Hot Chili Peppers; the podcast's format was almost immediately abandoned in favor of discussing Talking Heads and, as of the second episode, was renamed U Talkin' Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head. In September 2023, the show began to focus on discussing the work of Bruce Springsteen, and was renamed U Springin' Springsteen On My Bean?.

On August 6, 2015, Scott and Aukerman interviewed U2 in New York City at Electric Ladyland Studios and again on July 24, 2018 at Madison Square Garden as part of U2's eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour.

On April 9, 2019, they interviewed R.E.M.’s bassist and composer Mike Mills on Episode 56 of R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE: ME?, titled "Mike Mills Talkin' R.E.M. and guitarist Peter Buck on June 22, 2019, during a live recording of their podcast at the Clusterfest comedy festival in San Francisco.

Scott and Aukerman interviewed R.E.M. on November 5, 2019 for the Monster 25th Anniversary Edition with Michael Stipe and Mike Mills.

Scott and Aukerman interviewed Huey Lewis on February 18, 2020. The interview was released as a special one-off crossover episode of their podcast network titled "Youey Talkin' Huey 2ey Me?"

Scott has been a guest on many podcasts, including Comedy Bang! Bang!, Never Not Funny, How Did This Get Made?, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, Smartless, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend and Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson.

Personal life Scott married producer Naomi Scott in 2005. They have two children.

On April 30, 2013, Scott threw out the first pitch at a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and LA Dodgers.

On May 4, 2017, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Scott revealed he invited actor Mark Hamill to one of his childhood birthday parties. Guest host Kristen Bell surprised Scott with the guest appearance of Hamill wielding a lightsaber in observance of Star Wars Day.

Acting credits

Film Year Title RoleNotes 1994 Cityscrapes: Los Angeles Joe 1996 Hellraiser: Bloodline Jacques The Last Days of Frankie the Fly Race Track Valet Star Trek: First Contact Conn Officer of the USS Defiant 1997 Dinner and Driving Larry 1998 Girl Scott The Lesser Evil Young George Hairshirt Fan At Bar AKA Too Smooth 1999 Winding Roads Brian Calhoun 2001 Date Squad Fred Short film Seven and a Match Peter 2002 Ronnie Ronnie Schwann High Crimes Lieutenant Terrence Embry Bleach Fulton Short film 2003 Something More Saul Short film Two Days Stu 2004 Torque FBI Agent Jay McPherson Off the Lip David The Aviator Johnny Meyer 2005 The Matador Phil Garrison Monster-in-Law Remy 2006 Art School Confidential Marvin Bushmiller First Snow Tom Morelane When the Nines Roll Over Record Label Executive Short film Who Loves the Sun Daniel Bloom The Return Kurt 2007 Superbad: Cop Car Confessions Adam Bonus feature on the Superbad DVD Knocked Up Nurse Samuel 2008 The Great Buck Howard Alan Berkman August Joshua Sterling Corporate Affairs Jack Hightower Step Brothers Derek Huff Lovely, Still Mike Malone 2009 The Vicious Kind Caleb Sinclaire Passenger Side Michael Brown Also executive producer 2010 Operation: Endgame The Magician Funny or Die Presents: AIDS: We Did It! Man Short film Leap Year Jeremy Sloane Piranha 3D Novak Radzinsky 2011 Fight for Your Right Revisited Cab Driver Short film When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal and Helen Mirren Movie Executive Short film Funny or Die Presents: The First A.D. Writer and director Our Idiot Brother Jeremy Horne Friends with Kids Jason Fryman 2012 Bachelorette Clyde Goddard HJ Gloves Man #2 Short film All Star Bowling Trick Shots Himself Short film See Girl Run Jason The Guilt Trip Andrew Margolis Jr. 2013 A.C.O.D. Carter Also executive producer The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Ted Hendricks 2014 They Came Together Sound Engineer Cameo 2015 The Overnight Alex Also executive producer Sleeping with Other People Dr. Matthew Sobvechik Hot Tub Time Machine 2 Adam Yates Jr. Black Mass Robert Fitzpatrick Krampus Tom Engel 2016 Other People Producer My Blind Brother Robbie 2017 Fun Mom Dinner Tom Also executive producer The Disaster Artist Himself Cameo The Most Hated Woman in America Jack Ferguson Flower Will Jordan Little Evil Gary Bloom 2019 Between Two Ferns: The Movie Himself 2020 Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics After School Special Host 2023 First Time Female Director Acting Coach Uncredited cameo 2024 Madame Web Ben Parker 2025 The Monkey Capt. Petey Shelburn 2026 The Saviors Sean Harrison Also producer Hokum Ohm Bauman The Whisper Man Tom Kennedy

Television Year Title RoleNotes 1994 Dead at 21 Dan Bird Episode: "Dead at 21" 1994–1995 Boy Meets World Senior / Griff Hawkins 4 episodes 1995 ER David Kerstetter Episode: "Full Moon, Saturday Night" Out of Order Paul Episode: "Strange Habit" Murder One Sydney Schneider 6 episodes Crosstown Traffic Montana TV Pilot 1996 NYPD Blue Gordon Puterbaugh Episode: "The Nutty Confessor" High Incident Walter Gonning Jr. Episode: "Change Partners" 1997 Payback Adam Stanfill Television Movie 1998–1999 Party of Five Josh Macon 7 episodes 1999 Wasteland Phillip "The Coffee Boy" 7 episodes Sagamore Alex TV Pilot 2002 Glory Days Howard Dichotsky Episode: "Everybody Loves Rudy" Six Feet Under Ben Cooper 2 episodes 2004 CSI: Miami Danny Cato Episode: "Stalkerazzi" 2005 Veronica Mars Chuck Rooks Episode: "Mars vs. Mars" 2006 Law & Order Robbie Howell Episode: "America, Inc." 2007 Tell Me You Love Me Palek 10 episodes 2009 Trust Me Josh Burkett 2 episodes 2009–2010 Eastbound & Down Pat Anderson 2 episodes 2009–2010, 2023 Party Down Henry Pollard 26 episodes; also executive producer 2010 The Sarah Silverman Program Agent Schroeder Episode: "Just Breve" Childrens Hospital Lieutenant D'Ghor Koru Episode: "Joke Overload" Nick Swardson's Pretend Time News Anchor Episode: "Mudslide Junction" The Wonderful Maladys Alice's Ex-Boyfriend TV Pilot American Dad! Marshall Voice; Episode: "The People vs. Martin Sugar" 2010–2015, 2020 Parks and Recreation Ben Wyatt 98 episodesDirected episode: "Farmers Market" 2011 Funny or Die Presents: "The Terrys" Narrator Episode #2.10 NTSF:SD:SUV:: Van Damm Episode: "The Risky Business of Being Alone in Your Home" 2012–2013 Burning Love Damien Assante 6 episodes 2012–2014 The Greatest Event in Television History AJ Simon / Monroe Fiscus / Jonathan Hart / Henry Desmond (Hildegard) 4 episodes; also creator, director and executive producer 2013 Robot Chicken Care Bear / Father Voice; Episode: "Botched Jewel Heist" Maron Himself Episode: "Mexican Angel" Drunk History John Wilkes Booth Episode: "Washington D.C." Timms Valley US Marshal Lonny Voice; TV Pilot 2014 Next Time on Lonny Richard Chicken Episode #2.10 "The End of Lonny" 2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Plumber Pierre Episode: "Jack Black Wears an Embroidered Cowboy Shirt and Ox Blood Sneakers" Sesame Street Himself Episode: "Oscar's Trash Savings Plan" 2016 Angie Tribeca Surgeon Episode: "The Wedding Planner Did It" Animals. Shane Voice; Episode: "Cats." Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Johnny Dunne Episode: "Meet Platinum" The Adult Swim Golf Classic Golfer Adam Scott TV special 2016–2018 The Good Place Trevor 5 episodes 2017, 2019 Big Little Lies Ed MacKenzie 14 episodes 2017 Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special Himself Variety special Veep Tonight Show Host Episode: "A Woman First" Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later Ben 7 episodes Do You Want to See a Dead Body? Himself Episode: "A Body and a Puddle" 2017–2018 Ghosted Max Jennifer 16 episodes; also executive producer 2018 I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman George Washington Episode: "Hall of Presidents" 2019 I'm Sorry Dr. Steve Goldberg Episode: "These Are My Fingers" The Twilight Zone Justin Sanderson Episode: "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" 2020 Nailed It! Himself (guest judge) Episode: "Howdy, Failure!" Celebrity Escape Room Himself TV special Don't Host 8 episodes; also executive producer 2021 Ghostwriter James Voice; 1 episode; also executive producer Duncanville Nick Voice; Episode: "Das Banana Boot" Big Mouth Mr. Keating Voice; Episode: "Green-Eyed Monster" 2022–present Severance Mark Scout / Mark S. Main role; also executive producer 2022–2025 Loot John Novak 9 episodes 2022 Inside Job Ron Staedtler Voice; 5 episodes2024 Dinner Time Live with David Chang Himself Episode: "United Plates of America"2025 The Studio HimselfEpisode: "The Golden Globes"2026 Strip LawLincoln GumbVoice; 10 episodes The ComebackMatt WrightEpisode: "Valerie Cherish"

Theater Year Title Role PlaywrightVenue 1993 Bloody Poetry Dr. William Polidori Howard Brenton Globe Theatre, Los Angeles 1995 Water and Wine Enrico Stuart Spencer Met Theatre, Los Angeles 1996 Uncle Bob Josh Austin Pendleton SoHo Playhouse - Off Broadway, Asylum Theater, Los Angeles and Edinburgh Scotland 1998 Dealer's Choice Carl Patrick Marber Mark Taper Forum 2000 Everett Beekin Jimmy/Ev Richard Greenberg South Coast Repertory 2001 Romeo and Juliet Romeo William Shakespeare California Shakespeare Festival, Bruns Memorial Amphitheater 2010 Friends with Kids Jason Fryman Jennifer Westfeldt Susan Stein Shiva Theater, New York

Awards and nominations