Zach Woods

Zach Woods
Woods at SXSW 2016
Born	(1984-09-25) September 25, 1984 (age 40) Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	New York University (BA)
Occupations	Actor writer producer director
Years active	2004–present

Zach Woods (born September 25, 1984) ^[1] is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as a series regular for three seasons as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom The Office , as Jared Dunn on the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley , as Zach Harper on the USA Network sitcom Playing House , and as Matt Spencer on the HBO comedy show Avenue 5 . He also recurred on the HBO series Veep as Ed Webster, and starred as billionaire Edgar D. Minnows in the Apple TV+ murder mystery series The Afterparty .

Early life

Woods was born in Trenton, New Jersey. ^[2] He is Jewish. ^[3] The family surname had originally been Widensky. ^[4] His father, Jonathan, is a psychiatrist who specializes in clinical therapy, and his mother, Lisa, is a nurse practitioner. ^{[5] [3]} Woods is a middle child; he has an older brother and younger sister. ^[3] In 1997 and 1998, he attended summer camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts. ^[6] He grew up in Yardley, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Pennsbury High School in 2003. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. ^{[7] [8]}

Career

Woods with Bobby Moynihan in 2015

Woods started performing improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at age 16 and was a part of the improvisational sketch troupe "The Stepfathers", whose members included Bobby Moynihan and Chris Gethard. ^[9] He has taught improv at Columbia University, Duke University and Lincoln Center. ^[10] He has appeared in such films as In the Loop and The Other Guys , and appeared in the CollegeHumor skits "Adam and Eve in the Friend Zone" and "The Infinisphereb".

He is known for starring as Awkward Boy, the protagonist in the YouTube video series The Most Awkward Boy in the World. ^[11] In 2010, he appeared as a zombie in a Starburst candy commercial. ^[12]

Starting in 2010, he portrayed Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom The Office . He was promoted to series regular beginning in season 7. ^[13]

From 2014 to 2019, he co-starred as Jared on HBO's Silicon Valley . He also appeared on HBO's Veep as Ed Webster.

Beginning in January 2020, he had a role as Matt Spencer, Head of Customer Relations for Avenue 5 , a science-fiction comedy TV series created by Armando Iannucci that premiered on HBO in the United States.

Woods had a role in the action comedy Spy (2015), directed by Paul Feig, ^[14] and appeared in Feig's film Ghostbusters in 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Terrorists	Drugstore Cashier
2009	Strangers	Man	Short film
	In the Loop	Chad
	The Honkys	O.G	Short film
2010	The Other Guys	Douglas
2011	High Road	Tommy
	Andy and Zach	Zach	Short film
	Damsels in Distress	Rick DeWolfe
2012	Rich Girl Problems	Duncan	Short film
2013	The Heat	Paramedic
2015	Spy	Man in Purple Tie
2016	Other People	Paul
	Ghostbusters	Garrett
	Mascots	Mike Murray
2017	The Lego Ninjago Movie	Zane	Voice
	Zane's Stand Up Promo		Voice Short film
	The Post	Anthony Essaye
2019	The Angry Birds Movie 2	Carl	Voice
2020	Downhill	Zach
	David	—	Short film Director, writer and producer
2021	Bud	—	Short film Director, writer and producer
2022	Spin Me Round	Dana
TBA	Huntington		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	My Wife, the Ghost	Geets Wilson	Episode #1.05
2006	Sexual Intercourse: American Style	Ted	Episode: "Incense and Candles"
2009	Washingtonienne	Mark	TV film
2010–13	The Office	Gabe Lewis	Main role, 51 episodes Nominated – SAG Award for Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2011–12)
2011	Funny or Die Presents	Stuart	Episode #2.09
	Bored to Death	Super Ray fan	Episode: "Nothing I Can't Handle by Running Away"
2012–15	The League	Lane	3 episodes
2013	Arrested Development	Trippler	Episode: "Off the Hook"
	Comedy Bang! Bang!	The Remarkable Greg	Episode: "Cobie Smulders Wears a Black & White Strapless Dress"
2013–14	Veep	Ed Webster	3 episodes
2013–16	The Good Wife	Jeff Dellinger	4 episodes
2014	Kroll Show	Cal Culvers	Episode: "Krolling Around with Nick Klown"
2014–17	Playing House	Zach Harper	Main role, 8 episodes
2014–19	Silicon Valley	Donald "Jared" Dunn	Main role, 53 episodes
2015	Drunk History	Lee Duncan	Episode: "Los Angeles"
2016	Animals.	Brian (voice)	Episode: "Pigeons"
	Better Things	Zach	Episode: "Woman Is the Something of the Something"
2017–23	Big Mouth	Various voices	3 episodes
2020	The Simpsons	Zane Furlong (voice)	Episode: "The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson"
2020–22	Avenue 5	Matt Spencer	Main role; 17 episodes
2023	The Afterparty	Edgar D. Minnows	Main role; 10 episodes
2024	In the Know	Lauren Caspian (voice)	Main role; also co-creator, writer, director, and executive producer
2024	What We Do in the Shadows	Joel	Episode: "P.I. Undercover: New York"

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	The Podcast	Gabe Lewis	3 episodes

References

1. Mike Rose, cleveland com (September 25, 2023). "Famous birthdays list for September 25, 2023 includes celebrities Donald Glover, Mark Hamill". cleveland. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
2. "Meet Zach Woods, the Anxious Heart of "Silicon Valley" – Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. May 29, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
3. "Episode 597 – Zach Woods". April 27, 2015.
4. "Zach Woods". Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend . March 13, 2024.
5. Myers, Marc (October 11, 2022). "Zach Woods, 'a Gangly Chicken Little,' Discovered His Acting Wings". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved December 9, 2024.
6. "And the nominee is ... Interlochen at the Grammys, Golden Globes and Academy Awards". Interlochen Center for the Arts. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
7. "Episode 597 - Zach Woods". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. April 27, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
8. Ivie, Devon (April 15, 2015). "Zach Woods and Human Comedy". Interview Magazine. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
9. "The Stepfathers". Newyork.ucbtheatre.com. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
10. "UCB Theatre – Zach Woods".
11. "Zach Woods • UCB Comedy". Ucbcomedy.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
12. Tim Nudd (December 1, 2010). "Starburst "Zombie" Commercial". The 30 Freakiest Ads of 2010. AdFreak.com. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
13. "Exclusive: 'The Office' promotes 'Gabe' to series regular". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. June 16, 2010. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
14. "Adrian Lester Joins 'Grey Lady'; Zach Woods Cast In 'Spy'". Deadline. May 2, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

External links

• Zach Woods at IMDb