Tom McCarthy
Thomas Joseph McCarthy (born June 7, 1966)[2] is an American filmmaker and actor who has appeared in several films, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television series such as The Wire, Boston Public, and Law & Order.[1] McCarthy has received critical acclaim for his writing and directing work for the independent films The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), and Spotlight (2015), the last of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, won McCarthy the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[12] McCarthy also directed Stillwater (2021), based on a script he co-wrote. McCarthy also co-wrote the film Up (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.[15] He also wrote Million Dollar Arm (2014), and directed and executive-produced the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017).
Also recorded as Thomas Joseph McCarthy
Tom McCarthy

diginmag · 38th Mill Valley Film Festival: Opening Night | Tom Hooper and Tom McCarthy | Photos: Andrea Salles/Dig In Magazine · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Tom McCarthy
- Birth Name
- Thomas Joseph McCarthy
- Born
- 7 June 1966
- Birthplace
- New Providence, New Jersey, U.S.
- Occupation
- * Actor
- Education
- Boston College (BA) Yale University (MFA)
- Nationality
- United States
- Honours
- Academy Award for Best Writing and Original Screenplay
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Thomas Joseph McCarthy (born June 7, 1966)[2] is an American filmmaker and actor who has appeared in several films, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television series such as The Wire, Boston Public, and Law & Order.[1] McCarthy has received critical acclaim for his writing and directing work for the independent films The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), and Spotlight (2015), the last of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, won McCarthy the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[12] McCarthy also directed Stillwater (2021), based on a script he co-wrote. McCarthy also co-wrote the film Up (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.[15] He also wrote Million Dollar Arm (2014), and directed and executive-produced the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017).
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- resolved
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Authority files
wikidata · Q514527
In this article
Biography
Biography
McCarthy worked across screenwriter, film producer, television actor, film actor and film director and 2 further recorded occupations. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, flanked by Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun, stands with honorary degree recipients - Screenwriter Tom McCarthy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Charles Bolden, and former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Susan Hockfield - before the Secretary delivers the commencement address for Northeastern'
U.S. Department of State from United States · Secretary Kerry Stands With Northeastern University President Aoun and Honorary Degree Recipients McCarthy, Bolden, and Hockfield Before Delivering the Commencement Address for Northeastern's Class of
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Tom McCarthy • Birth Name — Thomas Joseph McCarthy • Born — 7 June 1966 • Birthplace — New Providence, New Jersey, U.S. • Years Active — 1992–present • Occupation — * Actor • director • screenwriter • producer • Education — Boston College (BA) Yale University (MFA)
Early life
Early life
McCarthy was raised in New Providence, New Jersey, one of five children of Carol and Eugene F. "Gene" McCarthy;[3][4] His father worked in the textile industry.[5] McCarthy was raised Catholic in a family of Irish descent.[6] He is a graduate of New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey and Boston College (1988), where he was a member of the improv comedy troupe My Mother's Fleabag; and the Yale School of Drama,[7][8] where he studied under Earle R. Gister.
Career
Career
McCarthy spent several years doing stand-up comedy and theater in Minneapolis and Chicago before going into television and film.[9] He starred in Flags of Our Fathers as James Bradley, and in the final season of The Wire as the morally challenged reporter Scott Templeton. He made his Broadway debut in the 2001 revival of Noises Off.[10] McCarthy's directorial debut, The Station Agent, which he also wrote, won the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and awards at film festivals ranging from San Sebastian to Stockholm, Mexico City, and Aspen.[11] McCarthy's second feature film was The Visitor, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and for which McCarthy won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director. He appeared in the 2009 dramas The Lovely Bones and 2012.[13][14] In 2010, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the Pixar animated film Up, which he co-wrote. In 2010, McCarthy directed the unaired pilot for the HBO series Game of Thrones, but the final cut of the episode was poorly received by showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.[16] McCarthy was replaced by Tim Van Patten, who directed the final version of the pilot that aired in 2011.[17] The experience discouraged McCarthy from returning to television directing for several years.[18] He also co-wrote and directed 2011's Win Win, based on his experiences as a wrestler at New Providence High School.[19] McCarthy's independent drama film Spotlight (2015) was widely acclaimed. It received six Academy Awards nominations, three Golden Globe Awards nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and eight Critics' Choice Movie Awards nominations. McCarthy directed the first two episodes of 13 Reasons Why, from Anonymous Content and Paramount Television. It is based on the 2007 The New York Times bestselling YA book by Jay Asher.[20] In 2019, he signed a first-look TV deal with Fox 21 Television Studios (now 20th Television).[21] In 2026, Sony Pictures Classics acquired worldwide rights to McCarthy’s next film The Statement, an adaptation of Losing Earth, with production scheduled to begin at the end of February.[22]
Acting credits
Acting credits
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1992 — Crossing the Bridge — Chris • 1993 — Rift — Bartender #1 • 1997 — Conspiracy Theory — Helicopter Spotter • 1999 — In My Sister's Shadow — Michael Butler • 30 Days — Brad Drazin • 2000 — Certain Guys — Mitch • Meet the Parents — Dr. Robert "Bob" Banks • 2002 — The Guru — Lars • 2004 — The Last Shot — Agent Pike • 2005 — Good Night, and Good Luck — Palmer Williams • Syriana — Fred Franks • The Great New Wonderful — David Burbage • 2006 — All the King's Men — Editor • The Situation — Major Hanks • Beautiful Ohio — Older William Messerman • Flags of Our Fathers — James Bradley • 2007 — Year of the Dog — Pier Spade • Michael Clayton — Walter — Voice only • 2008 — Baby Mama — Kate's Date • 2009 — Mammoth — Bob • Duplicity — Jeff Bauer • The Lovely Bones — Principal Caden • 2012 — Gordon Silberman • 2010 — Jack Goes Boating — Dr. Bob • Fair Game — Jeff • Little Fockers — Dr. Bob • 2015 — Pixels — Michael the Robot • 2024 — The Friend — Dr. Warren • 2026 — Anima — Pete • Evil Genius
Television
Television
• Year — Title — Credit — Notes • Director — Writer — Producer • 2010 — Game of Thrones — Unaired pilot • 2011 — Consulting — Episode: "Winter Is Coming" • 2014 — Kim Philby: His Most Intimate Betrayal — BBC docudrama, episode 2 • 2017–2020 — 13 Reasons Why — Executive — Episodes "Tape 1, Side A" and "Tape 1, Side B" • 2019 — The Loudest Voice — Executive — Also creator • 2022–2023 — Alaska Daily — Executive — Also creator
Acting credits
Acting credits
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1996 — Mary & Tim — Tim Melville — Television film • New York Undercover — Gus Farina — Episode "Toy Soldiers" • 1998 — Saint Maybe — Ian Bedloe — Television film • Spin City — Priest — Episode "Bye, Bye, Birdie" • 2000 — D.C. — Joseph Scott — Episode "Truth" • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Nick Ganzer — Episode "Contact" • Ally McBeal — Peter Hanks — Episode "Do You Wanna Dance?" • 2000–2001 — Boston Public — Kevin Riley — 14 episodes • 2001 — The Practice — Episode "The Day After" • 2002–2008 — Law & Order — Various characters — 3 episodes • 2008 — The Wire — Scott Templeton — 10 episodes • 2020 — Little America — Professor Robbins — Episode "The Cowboy" • 2022 — The Last Movie Stars — Sidney Lumet (voice) — Documentary series • 2025 — The Lowdown — Trip Keating — 4 episodes
Life and work
Life and work
Tom McCarthy was born on 7 June 1966 in Union County. McCarthy held the nationality of United States. McCarthy was educated at Yale School of Drama, Boston College, New Providence High School and Yale University. McCarthy worked as screenwriter, film producer, television actor and film actor, and the authority record catalogues a further 3 occupations under the same name, among them film director, stage actor and actor. McCarthy was active from 1992. McCarthy worked in English.
Work for the screen
Work for the screen
McCarthy worked for the screen, as screenwriter, film producer and film director. 10 films survive in the institutional catalogues, spanning 2003 to 2021. Among them are The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), The Cobbler (2014), Spotlight (2015) and Tape 1, Side A (2017). The whole run is set out in the catalogue below.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1966–2016
The full dated record · 3 entries
1966
Born at Union County.
2015
"What Does It Mean To Be Catholic Today?" by Fr. Tom McCarthy, O.S.A (2015) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2016
Receives Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
Catalogued output
Films and moving-image works, 2003–2021
These entries are catalogued as moving-image works. The 2010s are the densest part of the run, with 5 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself. They belong to a run of 10 titles in all, from 2003 to 2021.
9 films carry dates between 2003 and 2021
The run opens with The Station Agent and closes with Stillwater
The Station Agent
2003
The Visitor
2007
Win Win
2011
The Cobbler
2014
Spotlight
2015
Tape 1, Side A
2017
Tape 1, Side B
2017
Mistakes Were Made
2020
Stillwater
2021
Catalogued output
Books and published writings
These are catalogued publications carrying the name — editions and printings, distinct from the works they contain and from writing about the subject. The 2000s are the densest part of the run, with 8 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself.
15 editions carry dates between 2001 and 2023
The run opens with Remainder and closes with The Making of Incarnation
The entries follow Open Library
Remainder
2001
Navigation was always a difficult art
2002
Calling all agents
2003
Tintin and the Secret of Literature
2006
Remainder Signed Edition
2006
Men in space
2007
Dat wat overblijft
2009
Offizielle Mitteilungen
2011
Satin Island (Vintage Contemporaries)
2016
Film
Film
• Year — Title — Credit — Notes • Director — Writer — Producer • 2003 — The Station Agent — BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay • 2007 — The Visitor • 2009 — Up — Story — Nominated – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay • 2011 — Win Win • 2014 — Million Dollar Arm • The Cobbler • 2015 — Spotlight — Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Academy Award for Best Director Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay • 2018 — Christopher Robin • The Nutcracker and the Four Realms — Uncredited — Rewrites on reshoots • 2020 — Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made • 2021 — Stillwater • 2026 — The Gallerist — Post-production • A Statement[23]
Films and moving-image works without a settled date
Catalogued output
Films and moving-image works without a settled date
1 further film are catalogued under McCarthy's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly index
- OpenAlex author record A5037967962 for Tom McCarthy.
Unverified · OpenAlex
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q514527: Tom McCarthy
Unverified · Wikidata
Other awards and nominations
• Year — Title — Award • 2003 — The Station Agent — Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay Sundance Film Festival Audience Award (Dramatic) Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay • 2007 — The Visitor — Brisbane International Film Festival Interfaith Award Deauville American Film Festival Grand Special Prize Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award for Best Director Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Director Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay • 2009 — Up — Nominated – Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production Nominated – Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form • 2011 — Win Win — Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Screenplay Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay • 2014 — The Cobbler — Nominated – Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Release • 2015 — Spotlight — AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Director Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Original Screenplay Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Director Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Original Screenplay Boston Online Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Chicago International Film Festival Best Narrative English-Language Feature Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Screenplay Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay London Film Critics' Circle Award for Screenwriter of the Year Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay Satellite Award for Best Director Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director Nominated – Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Nominated – Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Nominated – Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay Directed Academy Award performances Under McCarthy's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations for their performances in their respective roles. • Year — Performer — Film — Result • Academy Award for Best Actor • 2008 — Richard Jenkins — The Visitor • Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor • 2015 — Mark Ruffalo — Spotlight • Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress • 2015 — Rachel McAdams — Spotlight
Literature
Further cited scholarship
9 scholarly and reference publications are cited here, each one identified by title and by the publication, publisher or institution that carried it, with its year where the register states one. The cited literature runs from 2012 to 2024, which is a measure of how long McCarthy has been a subject of scholarship rather than of how much has been written. The publications represented include The Routledge Companion to Literature and Art, KWI-Blog, James Joyce Quarterly, Novel, Open Library of Humanities and CounterText. The Encyclopedia cites this literature and does not summarise the arguments of works it has not read in full.
Conceptual and Performative Art in Tom McCarthy, Michel Houellebecq, and Don DeLillo, The Routledge Companion to Literature and Art, 2024
I Want to be on the Side of the Messy Orange: Interview with Tom McCarthy, KWI-Blog, 2023
Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish: Essays by Tom McCarthy, James Joyce Quarterly, 2019
An Interview with Tom McCarthy, Novel, 2018
Tom McCarthy, Karl Marx, and the Money on the Books, Open Library of Humanities, 2017
Tom McCarthy, CounterText, 2015
An Interview with Tom McCarthy, Contemporary Literature, 2013
Tom McCarthy and the Afterlife of Modernism, MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 2012
Authority records
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Thomas McCarthy Biography ((?)-).
- 2.Jessica Iredale. Boys' Night Out With Tom McCarthy. WWD. June 23, 2011.
- 3.Thomas McCarthy on His First Cast. Wall Street Journal. March 18, 2015.
- 4.NJ.com. Obituary: Eugene F. McCarthy of New Providence. Independent Press. March 25, 2013.
- 5.Hoby, Hermione. The 'man strength' behind Win Win's Thomas McCarthy. The Guardian. May 20, 2011.
- 6.Tom McCarthy Speaks About Opening 'Spotlight' In Catholic Italy, How He Cast Michael Keaton, And How Journalism Is Deteriorating. Variety. September 3, 2015.
- 7.The Heights 4 November 2003 — Boston College. newspapers.bc.edu.
- 8.yale.edu. Five Yalies nominated for Academy Awards; two take home the prize. March 2, 2016.
- 9.'Spotlight' writer-director Tom McCarthy on his time as a Chicago theater actor. Chicago Tribune. November 10, 2015.
- 10.Wiltz, Teresa. Down to "The Wire": It's a Wrap for Gritty TV Series. The Washington Post. September 3, 2001.
- 11.The Station Agent – Awards.
- 12.Siegel, Tatiana. 'The Wrestler' tops Spirit Awards. Variety. February 23, 2009.
- 13.HBO: The Wire: Inside. HBO.
- 14.Tom McCarthy to helm HBO's "Game of Thrones" starring Peter Dinklage. www.moviejungle.com.
- 15.Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners.
- 16.Hough, Q.V. Game of Thrones' Original Pilot Would Have Killed the Show Before It Began. Screen Rant. February 14, 2019.
- 17.Oller, Jacob. Game of Thrones' Disastrous Unaired Pilot Included Cersei as 'Medieval Dolly Parton,' Totally Different Daenerys Wedding. SyFy. September 14, 2020.
- 18.Robinson, Joanna. Game of Thrones Show-Runners Get Extremely Candid About Their Original "Piece of Sh—t" Pilot. Vanity Fair. February 3, 2016.
- 19.Angelo, Megan. "Just Like the Good Old Days in the Ring", The New York Times, March 18, 2011. Accessed July 25, 2012. ""I just called Joe and said, 'Let's develop a movie based on New Providence wrestling,' " Mr. McCarthy said.... Because of tax credits, they shot on Long Island rather than in New Providence. But they scouted locations tirelessly, most notably the office and home that Mr. Giamatti's character shuttles between.... Though the locations might have been fudged, the filmmakers kept New Providence High School in the film by using its banners, uniforms and wrestling mats, an effort facilitated by one of their former classmates, who's now the school's principal."
- 20.Andreeva, Nellie. https://deadline.com/2016/02/spotlight-tom-mccarthy-direct-selena-gomez-13-reasons-why-netflix-1201708767/, "Deadline", February 25, 2016. Accessed July 16, 2016.
- 21.Otterson, Joe. Tom McCarthy Signs Overall Deal With Fox 21 Television Studios. Variety. December 10, 2019.
- 22.Jackson, Angelique. Oscar Winner Tom McCarthy Sets Next Film at Sony Pictures Classics. Variety. 2026-01-16.
- 23.Kit, Borys. Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter. December 12, 2017.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly index
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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