Holt McCallany

Holt McCallany (born Holt Quinn McAloney; September 3, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for portraying FBI Special Agent Bill Tench on the series Mindhunter (2017–19) and has had leading and supporting roles in various television series and films, including Lights Out, Fight Club, Three Kings, Shot Caller, Wrath of Man, Nightmare Alley, and The Iron Claw.

Early life McCallany was born September 3, 1963, in New York City, to theatrical parents. His mother, Julie Wilson (1924–2015), was an American singer and actress, "widely regarded as the queen of cabaret." His father, Michael McAloney (1924–2000), was an Irish actor and producer best known for his Tony Award-winning production of Brendan Behan's Borstal Boy, an autobiographical play about a young member of the Irish Republican Army, which was the first Irish production to win top honors on Broadway.

Because his father wanted a classical education for his two sons, McCallany and his younger brother were sent to live with another family in Dublin, while his parents stayed in New York City, working. In Ireland, he attended a state elementary school in Howth. However, following his parents' divorce the children moved back to the United States. He attended school first in New Jersey and was later sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Omaha, Nebraska, where he had a troubled childhood and was expelled from Creighton Preparatory School. At the age of 14, he ran away from home and took a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, but ended up with a job in a factory unloading trucks. His parents eventually tracked him down and sent him back to Ireland to a boarding school in County Kildare that his father had attended forty years earlier, Newbridge College.

He soon left Ireland and eventually was allowed to return to Creighton Preparatory School, and graduated in 1981. After high school, he went to France to continue his education, first to study French at the Sorbonne and art at the Paris American Academy, and later theater at L'École Marcel Marceau and L'École Jacques Lecoq. McCallany spent a summer studying Shakespeare at Oxford University and went with a production of Twelfth Night to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before moving to New York City to begin his professional acting career.

Career His first job in the professional theater was as an apprentice actor at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, in the same apprenticeship once served by Tom Hanks, among others. Subsequently, he returned to New York City and was cast as an understudy in the Broadway production of Biloxi Blues.

McCallany landed a series of supporting parts in such films as Casualties of War, Alien 3, Creepshow 2, The Search for One-eye Jimmy and Jade, as well as the TV miniseries Rough Riders. After playing the legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas in the HBO telefilm Tyson, he became a supporter of the Atlas Foundation Charity, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children and families with medical and financial hardships.

He continued working in films and television throughout the nineties and 2000s with roles in films such as Fight Club, Three Kings, Men of Honor and Below, among others. He played a detective with psychological problems in CSI: Miami and a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder on Criminal Minds.

He appeared in the 2010 Warner Bros. film, The Losers, based on the graphic novel from DC Comics. McCallany also was the star of the 2011 FX television series, Lights Out, playing an aging boxer ("Patrick 'Lights' Leary") forced out of retirement and into a comeback bid to regain the heavyweight title, despite having pugilistic dementia.

He followed this with roles in films like Sully, Shot Caller and Blackhat, among many others.

From 2017 to 2019, McCallany co-starred in the Netflix series Mindhunter for director David Fincher. He played Bill Tench, an FBI agent researching serial killers in the late 1970s. His first French-language film, an adaptation of the Georges Feydeau comedy Le Dindon, was released in September 2019.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1987 Creepshow 2 Sam Whitemoon 1988 After School Jay Shakedown Roadblock Officer 1989 Casualties of War Lieutenant Kramer 1992 Alien 3 Junior 1994 Amateur Usher The Search for One-eye Jimmy Les 1995 Flirt The Bartender Jade Bill Barrett 1997 The Peacemaker Mark Appleton 1999 Mumford Newcomer Uncredited Fight Club The Mechanic Three Kings Captain Doug Van Meter 2000 Men of Honor MM1 Dylan Rourke 2001 Out of Line Henri Brulé 2002 Below Lieutenant Paul Loomis 2004 Against the Ropes Doug Doherty 2005 The Kingdom of Ultimate Power Boss #2 Short film 2006 Alpha Dog Detective Tom Finnegan 2007 Rise: Blood Hunter Rourke 2008 Vantage Point Secret Service Agent Ron Matthews Toxic Van 2009 A Perfect Getaway Police Lieutenant Stolen "Swede" 2010 The Losers Wade 2012 Hijacked Rostow Bullet to the Head Hank Greely 2013 Gangster Squad Karl Lennox Crush Mike Norris Direct-to-DVD 2015 Run All Night Frank Blackhat Deputy United States Marshal Jessup The Perfect Guy Detective Hansen Concussion Angry Neurologist 2016 The Ganzfeld Haunting Detective Murphy Sully Mike Cleary Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Colonel Sam Morgan Monster Trucks Burke 2017 Shot Caller Jerry "The Beast" Manning Justice League Burglar Uncredited 2018 Beyond White Space Richard Bentley 2019 Sgt. Will Gardner Officer Callahan Le Dindon Mr. Wayne 2020 Greenland Pilot #1 2021 Wrath of Man Haiden "Bullet" Blaire The Ice Road Rene Lampard Nightmare Alley Anderson 2022 Wolves Westview Country Supply Manager Voice 2023 The Iron Claw Fritz Von Erich 2025 The Amateur CIA Deputy Director Alex Moore Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Secretary of Defense Bernstein Safe House Halton Guru Peter Conrad 2026 Clean Hands David Trone The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1986 All My Children Bruce Emory 1 episode 1993 Zelda Television film 1994 Law & Order Marc Kenner Episode: "Doubles" 1995 Tyson Teddy Atlas Television film 1995 Tecumseh: The Last Warrior Blue Jacket Television film 1997 The Advocate's Devil Joe Campbell Television film 1997 Rough Riders Sergeant Hamilton Fish 2 episodes 1999 Law & Order Officer Steve Felton Episode: "Shield" 2000 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Minnow Television film 2000 L.A. County 187 Deputy John Gustodas Pilot 2000–2001 Freedom Owen Decker 12 episodes 2003, 2005 CSI: Miami Detective John Hagen 11 episodes 2004 Monk Pat Van Ranken Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies" 2006 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Walter Inman Episode: "Manipulated" 2006 Underfunded Alex Breech Television film 2007 Medium Nick Lewin Episode: "Better Off Dead" 2007 Heroes Ricky McKenna 4 episodes 2007 Criminal Minds Roy Woodridge Episode: "Distress" 2007–2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Detective Patrick Copa 2 episodes 2008 CSI Mr. Westerman Episode: Young Man with a Horn 2009 Bound by a Secret Jimmy Television film 2009 Burn Notice Santora Episode: "Question and Answer" 2010 Night and Day Bobby Kohl Pilot 2011 Lights Out Patrick "Lights" Leary 14 episodes 2012 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Donald O'Keefe Episode: "Official Story" 2013 Golden Boy Detective Joe Diaco 13 episodes 2014–2015 Blue Bloods District Attorney Robert McCoy 5 episodes 2015 Warrior Andriv Vorobin Pilot 2017–2019 Mindhunter Bill Tench 19 episodes 2022 61st Street Lieutenant Brannigan 8 episodes 2023 Foundation Warden Jaegger Fount 2 episodes 2024 The Lincoln Lawyer Neil Bishop 3rd season 2025 The Waterfront Harlan Buckley Main role 2026 Percy Jackson and the Olympians Atlas 3rd season

Video games Year Title Voice role 2000 Star Wars: Demolition Wade Vox 2004 Fight Club The Mechanic