Cory Michael Smith
- Edward Nygma (Gotham)[1]
- Georgie (May December)
- Varian Fry (Transatlantic)
- David R. Smith
- Theresa Smith (Fagan)
Cory Michael Smith (born November 14, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his main role as Edward Nygma/The Riddler[1] in the Fox television drama series Gotham. He appeared in 2013 in Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway, which starred Emilia Clarke. He has also appeared in several of Todd Haynes's films, including Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017), and May December (2023).
Early life
Smith grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Hilliard Darby High School in 2005.[2][3] He had aspirations ranging from becoming a concert pianist to a lawyer.[4] While at Otterbein University, he was cast in such plays as The Scene, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Tartuffe.[5] He majored in art musical theater and minored in jazz piano, although he considered dropping out of art musical theater for philosophy or pre-law.
Career
In 2011, Smith was seen in the New York City premiere of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World at Playwrights Horizons and in 2009 to early 2012 could be seen in various regional theatre productions for the likes of New York Stage and Film. He starred in The Fantasticks at both Barrington Stage Company and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. He was also seen in Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them.[6][7]
Smith made his Broadway debut in Breakfast at Tiffany's in 2013. In the same theatre season, he also starred Off-Broadway in both the U.S. premiere of Cock a.k.a. The Cockfight Play by Mike Bartlett and The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter, which had its world premiere at Denver Center for the Performing Arts with the New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons.[8] His first feature film was Camp X-Ray, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in January. He appeared in a short horror movie, Dog Food, co-starring Amanda Seyfried and premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest in March. Smith also appeared in the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge and the film Carol.[9] In 2018, he starred in his first leading role in the independent drama 1985. Smith also appeared as Georgie in the 2023 drama May December.
Smith has also narrated an episode of The New York Times Modern Love Podcast, for which he read Kalle Oskari Mattila's essay about catfishing.[10]
Gotham
"What I love about [the character's history] is how diverse it is in terms of how the character is portrayed, in terms of his appearance, the different costumes and hair color," Smith says. "Sometimes it's incredibly ostentatious, other times it's almost professional, or regal. Sometimes, he's a showman, sometimes he's a nerd."[11]
—Smith, on playing Edward Nygma (2015)
He appears in Gotham as Edward Nygma.[1] Of playing the character, Smith said in an interview: "What I'm really excited about is the bottom of that curve. Going from this quite innocent, well-intentioned, joyful person to starting to find this other part of him that he didn't know he had [...] realizing that when you start taking control of situations like that, you can gain power that way."[11][12] His journey, Smith says, will be to "claim his identity and claim his power and perhaps finally become someone that is a player in the field and not just this irritating, flimsy young lad."[13]
Personal life
In a March 2018 interview, Smith stated that he is queer.[14]
Acting credits
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Camp X-Ray | Pvt. Bergen | |
2014 | Dog Food | Declan Moore | Short film |
2015 | Carol | Tommy Tucker | |
2017 | Wonderstruck | Walter | |
2018 | 1985 | Adrian Lester | |
2018 | First Man | Roger B. Chaffee | |
2021 | The Same Storm | Jeremy Salt | |
2022 | Call Jane | Dean | |
2023 | May December | Georgie Atherton | |
2023 | Incomplete | Narrator | Short film |
2024 | Saturday Night | Chevy Chase | Filming |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Olive Kitteridge | Dr. Kevin Coulson | Episode: "Incoming Tide" Nominated — Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries |
2014–2019 | Gotham | Edward Nygma / Riddler | Main role; 100 episodes Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Villain |
2020 | Utopia | Thomas Christie | Main role; 8 episodes |
2023 | Transatlantic | Varian Fry | Main role; Miniseries; 7 episodes |
2024 | Law & Order | George Shavers | Small role; 1 episode |
The Nightbeast | Nightbeast | In pre-production |
Theater
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Bright Star | Billy Cane | Powerhouse Theater |
2013 | Cock a.k.a. The Cockfight Play | John | Duke |
2013 | The Whale | Elder Thomas | Playwrights Horizons |
2013 | The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World | Kyle | Playwrights Horizons |
2013 | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Fred / Narrator | Cort Theatre |
2017 | Assassins | Lee Harvey Oswald | New York City Center |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries | Olive Kitteridge | Nominated | [15] |
2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Villain | Gotham | Nominated | [16] |
2018 | Queen Palm International Film Festival | Best Actor in a Feature Film | 1985 | Won | [17] |
References
- ^ a b c Yamato, Jen (April 1, 2014). "Cory Michael Smith joins Fox's Batman series Gotham as The Riddler". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ Grossberg, Michael (March 26, 2013). "Actor a gem in "'Tiffany's"". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ Corvo, Kevin (August 27, 2013). "Convocation celebrates legacy of educators". Hilliard Northwest News. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ Ferri, Josh (August 2, 2012). "Otterbein Alum Hits Broadway in Breakfast at Tiffany's". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ Ulmer, Meredith (February 6, 2014). "Alum Hits Broadway in Breakfast at Tiffany's". Otterbein University. Archived from the original on February 15, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ "Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them". actorstheatre.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ "CORY MICHAEL SMITH". playwrightshorizons.org. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ^ "Cory Michael Smith". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ "Cory Michael Smith". IMDb. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ "Listen: Cory Michael Smith Reads 'Catfishing Strangers to Find Myself'". The New York Times. July 11, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ a b McMillan, Graeme (January 26, 2015). "'Gotham's' Cory Michael Smith Unlocks the Mystery of the Riddler". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
- ^ Barr, Merrill (January 26, 2015). "'Gotham' Casts Dollmaker; Cory Michael Smith Talks Riddler Transformation". screenrant.com. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
- ^ Chan, Robert (January 18, 2015). "'Gotham' Star Cory Michael Smith Explains How the Riddler Will Find His 'Evil Nature'". Yahoo. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
- ^ "The Stirring AIDS Drama Being Told in Black and White". The Daily Beast. March 13, 2018.
- ^ "Justified, Broad City, Empire, Mom, 24, Jane The Virgin, Transparent Lead the 2015 Critics Choice Nominations". tvline.com. May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
- ^ "2017 Teen Choice Nominees". teenchoice.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ "August's gold awards winners". Queen Palm International Film Festival. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Cory Michael Smith at IMDb
- Cory Michael Smith on X