Greg Grunberg | |
|---|---|
 Grunberg at the 2018 Phoenix Comic Fest | |
| Born | Gregory Phillip Grunberg (1966-07-11)July 11, 1966 (age 58) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Gregory Phillip Grunberg (born July 11, 1966) is an American film and television actor known for starring asEric Weiss in theABC seriesAlias,Matt Parkman in theNBC seriesHeroes,Temmin "Snap" Wexley inStar Wars: The Force Awakens andStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Phil inA Star Is Born. He has often appeared in works produced and directed by his childhood friendJ. J. Abrams, such asFelicity as Sean Blumberg. He was a recurring cast member in the first two seasons of theShowtime American television drama seriesMasters of Sex.
Grunberg was born inLos Angeles, California, the son of Sandy (née Klein) and Gerry Grunberg[1][2] and had aJewish upbringing.[3] He attendedUniversity High School in West Los Angeles, class of 1984.[4]
Grunberg got his first credited role inMatt Stone andTrey Parker's 1998 filmBASEketball. From 1998 to 2002, he appeared as Sean Blumberg onFelicity. He appeared from 2001 to 2006 as Eric Weiss onAlias. He left that series as a regular to star on the NBC sitcom,Grand Union. Since 2003, Abrams had planned a series calledThe Catch about abounty hunter, starring Grunberg in the lead role.[5] Suggested for both the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons, the series was never produced; however, a pilot episode was shot.
Abrams also cast Grunberg in a brief role as a pilot for the 2004 seriesLost. Grunberg returned for the first-season finale, but his scenes were cut for time and were instead included on the season 1 DVD set. He also appeared in a small role inMission: Impossible III, which Abrams directed.
Grunberg had a major role in the NBC TV showHeroes as telepathic police officer Matt Parkman. He was offered a part inStar Trek, which Abrams directed, but was unable to do so because of scheduling conflicts. In the final film, he voicesKirk's stepfather in the opening sequence.[6] Grunberg voices FBI agent Ethan Thomas in the video gameCondemned: Criminal Origins.
Outside of acting, Grunberg is known as one of the creators of the Yowza!! Android and iPhone application, a GPS-aware coupon-referring program.[7] The company was acquired in 2014 by Spindle, a mobile commerce solutions firm.[8]
He also voicesAnt-Man in theanimated seriesThe Super Hero Squad Show. Grunberg was featured on the May/June 2009 cover ofMaking Music magazine.[9] On May 17, 2010, Grunberg announced that he would be joining the cast ofLove Bites.[10][non-primary source needed]
He took up a minor role in the 2011 neo-noir detective videogameL.A. Noire, in which he provided both voice and facial motion capture as murder suspect Hugo Moller. On November 7, 2011, he appeared as a guest star on an episode of the TV seriesHawaii Five-0 with formerHeroes co-starMasi Oka. He also appeared as a special guest star on the March 14, 2012, episode of the TV seriesPsych.[11]
In 2013, Grunberg appeared in one episode during the first season of the TV seriesMasters of Sex as the character Gene Moretti, a rich business man. The part was expanded in 2014 to 4 episodes during thesecond season.[12]
In February 2016, Grunberg co-hosted a late night talk show withKevin Smith titledGeeking Out onAMC.[13]
Since 2019, Grunberg has been a recurring guest star on the syndicated game show25 Words or Less.[14]
In 2021, he appeared as a guest star on an episode of9-1-1: Lone Star in the role of a father fighting for the life of his son, who suffers fromepilepsy.[15] This echoes Grunberg's real life activism due to his own son's epilepsy.
In 1992, Grunberg married Elizabeth Dawn Wershow. They have three children,[16][17] one of whom hasepilepsy, which has inspired Grunberg to take an active role in raising awareness of the neurological disorder and raising funds for research.[18]
He often organizes charity efforts to raise funds for the Pediatric Epilepsy Project in Los Angeles.[19] In the past, this has included events such as an auction of guitars handpainted by celebrities such asDonald Trump,Pink and Grunberg'sAlias co-starsJennifer Garner andMichael Vartan.[19]
In March 2007, Grunberg served as the chair of the first National Walk for Epilepsy, presented by the Epilepsy Foundation.[20]
In 2009, Grunberg launched Talk About It, a website dedicated to epilepsy education and awareness, featuring many of his co-stars and celebrity friends,[18] including Garner, Larter, Pasdar, Ramamurthy, Ventimiglia, and Panettiere, as well asZachary Quinto,Chris Pine,Drew Pinsky,Ron Rifkin, andJohn Mayer. The site features Grunberg interviewing top epilepsy experts on the need to talk more about epilepsy, and includes a section for people all over the world to talk about it.[21]
Grunberg was a participant in the first-ever national television advertising campaign supporting donations to Jewish federations. The program featured "film and television personalities celebrating their Jewish heritage and promoting charitable giving to the Jewish community" and includedMarlee Matlin,Joshua Malina,Kevin Weisman, andJonathan Silverman.[3] He made a tongue-in-cheek promotional video for Temple Judea Religious School lambasting boring Hebrew Religious schools.[22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Baywatch | Nightclub Host | |
| 1998 | Diagnosis: Murder | Brad Carver | Episode: "The Last Resort" |
| 1998–2002 | Felicity | Sean Blumberg | Recurring (season 1) Main (season 2–4): 66 episodes |
| 1999 | Rescue 77 | Paramedic #2 | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2001 | NYPD Blue | Joey Schulman | Season 8, episodes 18,19,20 |
| 2001–2006 | Alias | Eric Weiss | |
| 2004 | The Dead Zone | Frankie Cantrell | |
| 2004, 2010 | Lost | Seth Norris (pilot) | |
| 2006 | Monk | Jack Leverett | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Actor" |
| 2006 | The Jake Effect | Nick Case | |
| House | Ronald Neuberger | Episode: "Sex Kills" | |
| 2006–2010 | Heroes | Matt Parkman | |
| 2008–2009 | Head Case | Himself | |
| 2009 | The Super Hero Squad Show | Ant-Man | Voice, recurring role |
| Robot Chicken | Odin | Voice, episode: "Dear Consumer" | |
| 2010 | Bond of Silence | Detective Paul Jackson | TV film |
| 2011 | Love Bites | Judd Rousher | |
| ISSUES | The Dark Kodiak | Webseries | |
| Hawaii Five-0 | Agent Jeff Morrison | Guest (season 2), episode 8 | |
| 2012 | Psych | Jay | Guest (season 6), episode 12 |
| Ultimate Spider-Man | Ben Parker | Voice, episode: "Strange"[23] | |
| 2012–2013 | The Client List | Dale | Recurring |
| 2012 | Baby Daddy | Ray Wheeler | |
| 2013 | End of the World | Owen Stokes | Television film[24] |
| 2013–2014 | Masters of Sex | Gene Moretti | |
| 2014 | Hell's Kitchen | Himself | Dining room guest in "18 Chefs Compete" |
| 2015 | The Haunting of... Greg Grunberg | Himself | Documentary TV series (season 5), episode 1 |
| 2015 | Criminal Minds | Chris Callahan | |
| 2015–2016 | Heroes Reborn | Matt Parkman | Miniseries |
| 2016–2017 | Life in Pieces | Mikey | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Geeking Out | Himself | Co-host |
| 2016–2017 | The Flash | Tom Patterson | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Pawn Stars | Himself | Episode: "La La Land" |
| 2018 | Paterno | Scott Paterno | TV film |
| Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure | William | Voice, episode: "Vigor the Visionary"[23] | |
| 2019 | Castle Rock | Boucher | |
| 2020 | The Boys | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2021 | The Simpsons | Bad Robot's Head of Security | Voice, episode: "Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars" |
| 9-1-1: Lone Star | George | Episode: "One Day" | |
| Goliath | Greg Wetzel | Episode: "The Pain Killer" | |
| The Rookie | Larry Macer | Episode: "New Blood" (2021); "Backstabbers" (2022) | |
| 2022 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Detective Mark McDaniels | Episode: "A Better Person" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Condemned: Criminal Origins | Ethan Thomas | [23] |
| 2007 | TimeShift | Commander Mason Cooke | |
| 2010 | Halo: Reach | Trooper 2 | |
| 2011 | L.A. Noire | Hugo Moller | |
| 2016 | Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Temmin "Snap" Wexley | |
| 2022 | Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Have It All | Principal (uncredited) | Song byJason Mraz |
