Rise to Fame
A stage career spanning fifteen years in New York theater didn't make him famous, but it put him in a room that did. Matthew Weiner caught him in Rabbit Hole on Broadway in 2006 and called him in to audition for Mad Men. Roger Sterling, the silver-haired senior partner with a taste for scotch and other men's wives, fit him so well that four Emmy nominations followed. He never won. Directing five episodes of the show, including 'Signal 30,' added another dimension. The character made him recognizable; the work underneath had been there for twenty years.
In the Spotlight
The white hair that Roger Sterling made famous also landed him Howard Stark in the MCU, appearing across four films, including a father-son conversation in Avengers: Endgame that became one of the most-discussed scenes in the franchise. As a director, he got there slower but landed well: God's Pocket (2014) starred Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances; Maggie Moore(s) (2023) premiered at Tribeca with Jon Hamm and Tina Fey. Spotlight put him in a Best Picture winner as Boston Globe deputy managing editor Ben Bradlee Jr. Most character actors plateau. He keeps adding new lanes.
Side Notes
His wife, Talia Balsam, played Roger Sterling's ex-wife Mona on Mad Men, which is either good casting or a very specific kind of domestic experiment. Balsam was previously married to George Clooney, which makes the overlap of their social worlds something of a tabloid setup that neither seems to have ever encouraged. Their son Harry, born 1999, has performed alongside both parents on stage, including a 2024 production of The Subject Was Roses where the family played a family. He doesn't give many interviews, doesn't do red carpet more than necessary, and grew up as one of six kids in Boston.