Background and career
Hamish Linklater (born July 7, 1976) is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter and director. He is known for his television roles as Matthew Kimble in The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–2010), Andrew Keanelly in The Crazy Ones (2013–2014), Clark Debussy in Legion (2017–2019), and Father Paul Hill and Monsignor John Pruitt in the Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass (2021). His performance in Midnight Mass received critical acclaim and earned him a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination and the Critics' Choice Super Award for Best Actor in a Horror Series. In 2026, Linklater received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination, for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for his performance as Richard Warren in the Apple TV series Widow's Bay. On stage, Linklater has performed extensively in Shakespeare and contemporary theater, including productions for The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park, Playwrights Horizons and Lincoln Center Theater. He made his Broadway debut in Seminar in 2011. As a playwright, he made his professional debut with The Vandal in 2013 and later wrote The Whirligig. He also co-directed the 2023 film Downtown Owl with Lily Rabe and wrote its screenplay. Since 2024, he has voiced Bruce Wayne / Batman in the animated series Batman: Caped Crusader.
Linklater was born in New York City to James Lincoln Cormeny, an actor and stage builder, and Scottish voice teacher, actor, and theater director Kristin Linklater. His maternal grandparents were arts campaigner Marjorie Linklater and Scottish novelist Eric Linklater. His maternal uncles include journalist Magnus Linklater and writer Andro Linklater. Raised primarily by his mother, Linklater spent part of his childhood in the Berkshires, where he was exposed to theater through Shakespeare & Company, a theater company co-founded by his mother. He began performing small Shakespearean roles at around eight years old. Linklater graduated from Commonwealth School in Boston in 1994 and later attended Amherst College, where he initially intended to pursue writing.
Linklater began his professional career primarily in theater before moving into television and film. His early stage credits included productions of Hamlet, Love's Fire and The Chemistry of Change. He made his film debut in the independent film Groove (2000). His early television work included a regular role as Dr. Bruce Cherry in the ABC medical drama Gideon's Crossing (2000–2001), followed by appearances in American Dreams and the HBO television film Live from Baghdad, in which he portrayed CNN correspondent Richard Roth. Linklater continued to work extensively on stage. He portrayed the title role in Hamlet at both Long Wharf Theatre and South Coast Repertory and appeared in Keith Bunin's The Busy World Is Hushed at Playwrights Horizons in 2006. In 2009, he played Sir Andrew Aguecheek opposite Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald and Raúl Esparza in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night.
From 2006 to 2010, Linklater played Matthew Kimble, the brother of Julia Louis-Dreyfus' title character, on the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine. He appeared in 88 episodes during the show's five-season run. In 2011, he made his Broadway debut as Martin in Theresa Rebeck's Seminar, appearing alongside Alan Rickman, Lily Rabe, Jerry O'Connell and Hettienne Park. Linklater's film roles during this period included The Future (2011), Battleship (2012), and the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 (2013), in which he portrayed Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca. In 2013, he joined the HBO drama The Newsroom as producer Jerry Dantana before becoming a series regular on the CBS sitcom The Crazy Ones, playing Andrew Keanelly opposite Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Linklater made his professional debut as a playwright with The Vandal, which premiered at The Flea Theater in New York in 2013. The play, involving three strangers meeting near a hospital in Kingston, New York, developed from Linklater's interest in grief and mortality. The Associated Press described The Vandal as Linklater's transition from established stage and television actor to playwright. Linklater later wrote The Whirligig, a play set in the Berkshires dealing with a group of people brought together by the impending death of a young woman. In a 2017 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Linklater said that deaths within his family helped shape the play's development.
From 2017 to 2019, Linklater portrayed Clark Debussy in the FX superhero drama Legion, created by Noah Hawley. Initially a recurring character, Clark became part of the main cast during the second season. Linklater also appeared in Hawley's Fargo in 2017. In 2021, he played convicted rapist John Tyler in the Amazon Prime Video thriller Tell Me Your Secrets. Later that year, Linklater starred in Mike Flanagan's Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass. He portrayed Father Paul Hill, whose identity as the rejuvenated Monsignor John Pruitt becomes central to the story. The role received considerable critical attention. Entertainment Weekly later argued that his performance merited Emmy recognition, describing it as one of the standout performances of the series. Linklater was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries and won the Critics' Choice Super Award for Best Actor in a Horror Series.
