Rise to Fame
He auditioned for Parks and Recreation during its first season and didn't get the part. That rejection sent him to Party Down, a Starz comedy about failed Hollywood actors working catering gigs, which lasted two seasons and got cancelled. Then Parks brought him in as Ben Wyatt partway through Season 2. He stayed through the series finale in 2015, and the character, a state auditor who falls for Leslie Knope, became the show's emotional anchor in its later years. The show that rejected him ended up needing him.
In the Spotlight
Season 2 of Severance in early 2025 became the most-watched series in Apple TV+ history. The show earned him two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Party Down came back with a third season in 2023. He went from the lead of a cult comedy that got cancelled after two seasons to headlining the biggest show on one of the most competitive streaming platforms going. The cancelled Starz comedy wasn't a stumble. It was the whole first chapter.
Side Notes
He's a committed music obsessive, which manifests in podcast form. He and Scott Aukerman co-hosted U Talkin' U2 to Me? and R U Talkin' R.E.M. Re: Me?, both essentially hours-long dissections of band discographies. Early in acting school, he briefly performed under a truncated version of his mother's Sicilian maiden name, Quartararo, going by Adam Quardero before deciding it was more trouble than it was worth. Santa Cruz in the 1980s does something specific to a person's taste in music.