Michael Pitt
Encyclopedia
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci
's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.
, New Jersey, the youngest of four children. At age ten, he announced to his parents that he wished to become an actor. He moved to New York City when he was 16 years old, where he took a job as a bike messenger.
debut in the play The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at the New York Theatre Workshop
. A casting agent, whom Pitt mistook as a police officer attempting to arrest him, noticed him and recommended him for a guest role on the television series Dawson's Creek
(he played Henry Parker in 15 episodes between 1999 and 2000). His breakout role as the lover of a transgender
ed rock star in Hedwig and the Angry Inch
in 2001 led to supporting roles in Bully
and in mainstream Hollywood fare such as Murder by Numbers
and The Village
, as well as the lead in Bernardo Bertolucci
's The Dreamers.
He next appeared in Asia Argento
's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
, and headlined Gus Van Sant
's Last Days
, playing a rock star based on Nirvana
frontman Kurt Cobain
. He performed all of the songs, which closely resembled Cobain's guitar and singing styles. On set, he met Thurston Moore
of Sonic Youth
, who had been hired by Van Sant to serve as the film's music consultant. The pair formed a close bond, with Moore writing, "[Gus] wanted me to hang out with Michael and talk about his character, and let him be in character. We ended up spending a lot of time together. My daughter Coco still relates to Michael as Blake from Last Days."
In 2007, he starred opposite Keira Knightley
in Silk, adapted from the novel by Alessandro Baricco
. He played the lead role of Hervé Joncour, a French silkworm smuggler who falls in love with a baron's concubine while in Japan. The same year, he starred in the romantic comedy Delirious
as a young homeless man who befriends a celebrity photographer played by Steve Buscemi
and falls in love with a pop singer (Alison Lohman
). The movie appeared at the Sundance Film Festival
. His more recent films include Funny Games, Michael Haneke
's remake of his own 1997 film, alongside Tim Roth
and Naomi Watts
. Pitt also stars in the crime drama Pericle il Nero, released in 2009.
Pitt sings and plays guitar in his band Pagoda
, whose self-titled debut album has been released by Universal
/Fontana/Ecstatic Peace. With the Twins of Evil, he performed "Hey Joe
," which can be heard in The Dreamers.
He co-stars in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire with his Delirious
co-star Steve Buscemi
, about the rise of Atlantic City during the Prohibition era.
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.
Personal life
Pitt was born in West OrangeWest Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a township in central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 46,207...
, New Jersey, the youngest of four children. At age ten, he announced to his parents that he wished to become an actor. He moved to New York City when he was 16 years old, where he took a job as a bike messenger.
Career
In 1999, Pitt made his off-BroadwayOff-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
debut in the play The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at the New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
. A casting agent, whom Pitt mistook as a police officer attempting to arrest him, noticed him and recommended him for a guest role on the television series Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
(he played Henry Parker in 15 episodes between 1999 and 2000). His breakout role as the lover of a transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
ed rock star in Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a 2001 American musical comedy-drama film based on the stage musical of the same title about a fictional rock band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The film was adapted and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, who also portrayed the title role...
in 2001 led to supporting roles in Bully
Bully (film)
Bully is a 2001 independent American drama film, based on actual events, starring Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner, Michael Pitt, Leo Fitzpatrick and Nick Stahl. The story concerns the plot to murder a mutual friend of several young adults in Southern Florida, in revenge for his continual...
and in mainstream Hollywood fare such as Murder by Numbers
Murder by Numbers
Murder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It stars Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case....
and The Village
The Village (2004 film)
The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
, as well as the lead in Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
's The Dreamers.
He next appeared in Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a 2004 film directed by and starring Asia Argento. It is based on JT LeRoy's novel of the same name...
, and headlined Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
's Last Days
Last Days (film)
Last Days is a 2005 American film directed, produced, and written by Gus Van Sant, and is a fictionalized account of the last days of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. It was released to theaters in the United States on July 22, 2005, and was produced by HBO. The film stars Michael Pitt as the...
, playing a rock star based on Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
frontman Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
. He performed all of the songs, which closely resembled Cobain's guitar and singing styles. On set, he met Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, who had been hired by Van Sant to serve as the film's music consultant. The pair formed a close bond, with Moore writing, "[Gus] wanted me to hang out with Michael and talk about his character, and let him be in character. We ended up spending a lot of time together. My daughter Coco still relates to Michael as Blake from Last Days."
In 2007, he starred opposite Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
in Silk, adapted from the novel by Alessandro Baricco
Alessandro Baricco
Alessandro Baricco is a popular Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages...
. He played the lead role of Hervé Joncour, a French silkworm smuggler who falls in love with a baron's concubine while in Japan. The same year, he starred in the romantic comedy Delirious
Delirious (2006 film)
Delirious is a 2006 film released directed by Tom DiCillo. It stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman.It is the story of twenty-year old Toby Grace who progresses from a homeless scavenger in New York City to the assistant of a self-absorbed, obsessive-compulsive, familial-complexed...
as a young homeless man who befriends a celebrity photographer played by Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
and falls in love with a pop singer (Alison Lohman
Alison Lohman
Alison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
). The movie appeared at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. His more recent films include Funny Games, Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke is a German born Austrian filmmaker and writer best known for his bleak and disturbing style. His films often document problems and failures in modern society. Haneke has worked in television‚ theatre and cinema. He is also known for raising social issues in his work...
's remake of his own 1997 film, alongside Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
and Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
. Pitt also stars in the crime drama Pericle il Nero, released in 2009.
Pitt sings and plays guitar in his band Pagoda
Pagoda (band)
Pagoda was a indie band from Brooklyn, New York. It's last line-up before break-up in 2011 consists of Michael Pitt as vocalist and guitarist, along with Reece Carr on drums, Willie Paredes on bass, and Chris Hoffman on cello. Their first self-titled album was released February 27, 2007 through...
, whose self-titled debut album has been released by Universal
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
/Fontana/Ecstatic Peace. With the Twins of Evil, he performed "Hey Joe
Hey Joe
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico...
," which can be heard in The Dreamers.
He co-stars in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire with his Delirious
Delirious (2006 film)
Delirious is a 2006 film released directed by Tom DiCillo. It stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman.It is the story of twenty-year old Toby Grace who progresses from a homeless scavenger in New York City to the assistant of a self-absorbed, obsessive-compulsive, familial-complexed...
co-star Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
, about the rise of Atlantic City during the Prohibition era.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Hi-Life | Boy Teen | |
| 1998 | 54 54 (film) 54 is a 1998 drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher, starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, and Neve Campbell... |
Dance Student | (uncredited) |
| 1999 | Even Housewives in Minnesota Have Those Daydreams | Petey | |
| 2000 | Finding Forrester Finding Forrester EnglishFinding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. A black American teenager, Jamal Wallace , is invited into a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester , through whom he refines his... |
John Coleridge | |
| 2001 | Bully Bully (film) Bully is a 2001 independent American drama film, based on actual events, starring Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner, Michael Pitt, Leo Fitzpatrick and Nick Stahl. The story concerns the plot to murder a mutual friend of several young adults in Southern Florida, in revenge for his continual... |
Donny Semenec | |
| 2001 | The Yellow Bird The Yellow Bird The Yellow Bird is a 2001 film written by Faye Dunaway and Tennessee Williams, and directed by Faye Dunaway.... |
Stuff | |
| 2001 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film) Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a 2001 American musical comedy-drama film based on the stage musical of the same title about a fictional rock band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The film was adapted and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, who also portrayed the title role... |
Tommy Gnosis | |
| 2002 | Murder by Numbers Murder by Numbers Murder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It stars Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case.... |
Justin Pendleton | |
| 2003 | Wonderland Wonderland (film) Wonderland is a 2003 American crime and drama film co-written and directed by James Cox, and based on the real-life Wonderland Murders that occurred in 1981. The film stars Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, Dylan McDermott, Josh Lucas, Christina Applegate, and Tim Blake Nelson... |
Gopher | (scenes deleted) |
| 2003 | Rhinoceros Eyes | Chep | |
| 2003 | Law and Order: SVU | Harry Baker | episode 3.13 "Prodigy" |
| 2003 | The Dreamers | Matthew | |
| 2004 | The Village The Village (2004 film) The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,... |
Finton Coin | |
| 2004 | The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a 2004 film directed by and starring Asia Argento. It is based on JT LeRoy's novel of the same name... |
Buddy | |
| 2004 | Jailbait Jailbait (film) Jailbait is a 2004 psychodrama film written and directed by Brett C. Leonard. It stars Stephen Adly Guirgis and Michael Pitt and is set in an unnamed prison in California... |
Randy | |
| 2005 | Last Days Last Days (film) Last Days is a 2005 American film directed, produced, and written by Gus Van Sant, and is a fictionalized account of the last days of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. It was released to theaters in the United States on July 22, 2005, and was produced by HBO. The film stars Michael Pitt as the... |
Blake | |
| 2006 | Delirious Delirious (2006 film) Delirious is a 2006 film released directed by Tom DiCillo. It stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman.It is the story of twenty-year old Toby Grace who progresses from a homeless scavenger in New York City to the assistant of a self-absorbed, obsessive-compulsive, familial-complexed... |
Toby Grace | |
| 2006 | The Hawk Is Dying The Hawk is Dying The Hawk Is Dying is a 2006 film based on the book by Harry Crews. It was accepted to the 2006 Director's Fortnight Competition at the Cannes Film Festival... |
Fred | |
| 2007 | Silk | Hervé Joncour | |
| 2008 | T Takes T Takes T Takes is a 2008 Internet-exclusive 12-part series of two- to three-minutes episodic film series, each episode starring a different actor improvising for the camera... |
The Guest in Room 113 | Web series |
| 2008 | Pericle il Nero | Frank White | |
| 2008 | Funny Games | Paul (aka, Jerry and Butthead) | |
| 2010-present | Boardwalk Empire | James 'Jimmy' Darmody | Award Winning Drama Series |
| 2011 | Pinkville | Lt. William Calley | (pre-production) |