Reeve Carney

Reeve Jefferson Carney (born April 18, 1983) is an American actor, musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for originating the role of Orpheus in the original Broadway cast of the Tony Award–winning musical Hadestown. He also played Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Dorian Gray in the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, and Riff Raff in the Fox musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again. In 2025, he returned to the stage as the Emcee in the West End revival of Cabaret.

Early life Reeve Carney was born and raised in the West Village area of Manhattan with his brother Zane and sister Paris. He grew up in a family of musicians and actors: his father, John, was a songwriter for commercials, his mother, Marti, was a singer, actress and a jewelry designer and his grand-uncle was Academy Award-winning actor Art Carney. He learned how to play the piano at a young age, and began singing for radio and television commercials. At the age of 8, he was chosen to sing in a live performance and video at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with Peter, Paul and Mary. Two years later, he recorded "Childhood", a song with the New York City Children's Choir on Michael Jackson's 1995 album HIStory.

To get a music education, Carney attended the Academy of Music at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles with his brother, Zane, and future bandmates Aiden Moore and Jon Epcar. He went on to study at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, majoring in studio jazz guitar. When living in California, Carney released his first EP Looking Glass in 2004 and promoted it by performing with other musicians, including Jonny Lang. At age 22 he signed with Interscope and formed his jazz-infused rock namesake band, Carney, consisting of Carney (songwriter, vocals and guitar), his brother Zane (guitar), Aiden Moore (bass) and Jon Epcar (drums). The band's vision led the manager David Sonenberg to work with them.

When acting on Broadway, Carney was invited to be part of the album Broadway's Carols for a Cure in 2011 ("St. Nicholas Sky" featuring T.V. Carpio) and 2013 ("A Savior is Born"). Carney also recorded the single "Rise Above 1" with Bono and The Edge in 2011, an adapted song from the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Apart from making his own music, Carney also wrote songs for soundtracks for films such as The Tempest (2010) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (2012). In October 2016 Carney released his debut solo album, Youth Is Wasted, which he wrote and produced himself. Since then Carney was on tour two times (Reeve Carney Fall Tour 2016 and Youth Is Wasted Tour 2017). Three songs from his album as well as the album itself were nominated in six categories on the 16th Annual Independent Music Awards (The IMAs). "Think of You" won Best Song – Acoustic, "Resurrection" won Best Song – Rock or Hard Rock and the album won Best Album – Adult Contemporary.

Acting Carney made his first appearance on the big screen in the film The Saint of Fort Washington (1993) with a small role. In 1999, Carney got the role of the young Ishmael Chambers in the film Snow Falling on Cedars. His performance received favorable reviews and subsequently earned him the Best Performance in a Feature Film at the 21st Young Artist Awards in 2000. Carney was part of the cast of a few films as a child actor before he decided to focus totally on music. In 2010, he was hand-picked by the director Julie Taymor to play Ferdinand in a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Taymor also suggested Carney for the lead role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway. During the auditions, Bono and The Edge, the show's musical composers, were surprised by Carney's vocals and he ended up being chosen for the role. He starred for 3 years as Spider-Man which began previews in November 2010. The rest of his bandmates performed as part of the pit orchestra for Turn Off the Dark. He played his final performance on Sunday, September 15, 2013. Meanwhile, in 2012, Carney played Taylor Swift's love interest in her "I Knew You Were Trouble" music video. Swift was a fan of Carney's band and came up with the idea.

In 2014, Carney was cast as Dorian Gray in the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. The show had three seasons (2014–2016). During the filming of the last season of Penny Dreadful, Carney was on Kenny Ortega's radar to play Riff Raff, the handyman, on Fox's remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He got the role on the two-hour musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again and recorded three of the songs on the film's soundtrack. The film premiered on the Fox network on October 20, 2016.

In 2017, Carney joined the cast of the Citadel Theatre production of Hadestown as Orpheus. The production reunited Carney with his Spider-Man co-stars Patrick Page and T.V. Carpio. Carney continued with the musical for its run at the Royal National Theatre in 2018 and reprised the role in the Broadway production, which began previews on March 22 and opened on April 17, 2019. He departed the role on November 19, 2023, after 6 years. He reprised the role for his West End debut from February to March 2025 for a limited engagement opposite his original Broadway cast co-stars Eva Noblezada, Page, Amber Gray and André de Shields. The film has support from Buckley's family; his mother Mary Guibert, the film's co-producer, said "this will be the only official dramatisation of Jeff's story".

He portrayed The Emcee in Cabaret in the West End opposite his wife and former Hadestown co-star Eva Noblezada as Sally Bowles, who recently finished playing the role on Broadway. He joined the production on September 22, 2025 for a limited engagement until January 24th, 2026.

Carney began starring alongside his wife Eva Noblezada (who plays Daisy Buchanan) in The Great Gatsby on Broadway on March 30th, 2026, as the titular character Jay Gatsby.

Personal life From 2008 to 2011, Carney was in a relationship with Australian musician Lisa Origliasso of the Veronicas. From 2011 to 2012, he had dated actress Ashley Greene. In 2016, Carney began a relationship with actress Victoria Justice, which lasted for a couple years. The two had first met as co-stars while working on The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.

In 2019, Carney entered a relationship with his Hadestown co-star Eva Noblezada. They announced their engagement on March 14, 2025, and were married seven months later in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Discography

As solo artist Studio albums + List of albums, with selected information Title Album detailsYouth Is WastedReleased: October 14, 2016 Label: Scissorhand Records Formats: CD, digital download

Extended plays + List of albums, with selected information Title Album detailsLooking Glass (as Reeve Carney & the Revolving Band)Released: 2004 Label: Self-released Formats: CD

Live albums + List of albums, with selected information Title Album detailsLive at Molly Malone's (as Reeve Carney & the Revolving Band)Released: January 1, 2007 Label: Interscope Records Formats: CD/DVD, digital download

Soundtracks and cast albums + List of albums, with selected information Title Album details Peak chart positions US USCast USSoundtrack USRock USIndieSpider-Man: Turn Off the DarkReleased: June 13, 2011 Label: Interscope Records, Mercury Records Formats: CD, digital download86 2 — 24 —The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp AgainReleased: October 21, 2016 Label: 20th Century Fox Formats: CD, digital download107 — 2 22 —Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording) Released: July 26, 2019 Label: Sing It Again Formats: CD, LP, digital download49 1 — — 4

Singles + List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Year Title Peak chart positions Album US US Rock US Heat US Adult CAN 2008 "Nothing Without You"(with Carney) — — — — — Nothing Without You & Mr. Green Vol. 1 2011 "Rise Above 1"(with Bono & The Edge) 74 48 5 34 71 Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark 2016 "Up Above the Weather" — — — — — Youth Is Wasted 2018 "Never Gonna Give You Up"(with Scary Pockets) — — — — — Star Funk

As part of Carney Studio albums + List of albums, with selected information Title Album detailsMr. Green Vol. 1Released: January 1, 2010 Label: Interscope Records Formats: CD, digital download

Extended plays + List of albums, with selected information Title Album detailsNothing Without YouReleased: May 6, 2008 Label: Interscope Records Formats: CD

Other appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Music video appearances +YearTitleRoleArtist(s)2012"I Knew You Were Trouble"Ex-BoyfriendTaylor Swift

Awards and nominations