Cory Michael Smith

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Cory Michael Smith
Cory Michael Smith in 2018.jpg
Smith in 2018
Born (1986-11-14) November 14, 1986 (age 37)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Education Otterbein University
OccupationActor
Years active2009–present
Known for Edward Nygma ( Gotham ) [1]

Georgie (May December)

Varian Fry (Transatlantic (TV series))
Parents
  • 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).

Contents

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

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014 Camp X-Ray Pvt. Bergen
2014Dog FoodDeclan MooreShort 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
2023IncompleteNarratorShort film
TBA SNL 1975 Chevy Chase Filming

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014 Olive Kitteridge Dr. Kevin CoulsonEpisode: "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 ChristieMain role; 8 episodes
2023 Transatlantic Varian Fry Main role; Miniseries; 7 episodes
2024 Law & Order George ShaversSmall role; 1 episode

Theater

YearTitleRoleVenue
2013 Bright Star Billy Cane Powerhouse Theater
2013 Cock a.k.a. The Cockfight PlayJohnDuke
2013The WhaleElder Thomas Playwrights Horizons
2013The Shaggs: Philosophy of the WorldKyle Playwrights Horizons
2013 Breakfast at Tiffany's Fred / Narrator Cort Theatre
2017 Assassins Lee Harvey Oswald New York City Center

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultref
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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Gotham</i> (TV series) American crime drama television series

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"Mommy's Little Monster" is the seventh episode of the second season and 29th episode overall from the FOX series Gotham. The episode was written by Robert Hull and directed by Kenneth Fink. It was first broadcast in November 2, 2015 in FOX. In this episode, Penguin and Butch release Penguin's mother, but is killed by Galavans, forcing the Penguin into his vengeful conquest against them. Gordon, Bullock and GCPD are forced to protect Theo Galavan from him, but Gordon learns the truth behind Galavan's machinations.

"A Bitter Pill to Swallow" is the ninth episode of the second season and 31st episode overall from the FOX series Gotham. The episode was written by Megan Mostyn-Brown and directed by Louis Shaw-Milito. It was first broadcast in November 16, 2015 in FOX. In this episode, Tabitha sends a group of hitmen to kill Gordon after Galavan's arrest. Gordon and Barnes investigate Galavan's penthouse for clues until they're ambushed by Tabitha's hitmen.

"Pilot" is the first episode of the television series Gotham. It premiered on FOX on September 22, 2014 and was written by series developer Bruno Heller and directed by Danny Cannon. The episode, and the series as a whole, are based on characters appearing in and published by DC Comics in the Batman franchise, primarily those of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne. FOX gave the pilot a straight-to-series order with an order of 16 episodes.

"Under the Knife" is the twentieth episode of the television series Gotham. It premiered on FOX on April 20, 2015 and was written by John Stephens, and directed by TJ Scott. In this episode, Gordon and Bullock continue to track down The Ogre. Meanwhile, Bruce digs deeper into Wayne Enterprises' corrupt board and Nygma makes an unexpected move.

"Prisoners" is the sixteenth episode of the second season, and 38th episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The episode was written by executive producer Danny Cannon and directed by Scott White. It was first broadcast on March 28, 2016. In the episode, Gordon is sent to prison after being framed by Nygma into the murder of Theo Galavan and Carl Pinkney. Meanwhile, Cobblepot continues to bond with his father while his stepmother and step-siblings plan to kill him. This episode also has the fewest cast members as only Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Robin Lord Taylor and Cory Michael Smith appear.

"Into the Woods" is the seventeenth episode of the second season, and 39th episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The episode was written by producer Rebecca Perry Cutter and directed by Oz Scott. It was first broadcast on April 11, 2016. In the episode, Gordon tries to clear his name after having escaping from Blackgate Penitentiary with help from Nygma, not knowing Nygma is the one who set him up.

"Anything for You" is the fifth episode of the third season, and 49th episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The episode was written by consulting producer Denise Thé and directed by TJ Scott. It was first broadcast on October 17, 2016. In the episode, Oswald Cobblepot's first days as mayor are threatened when the newly emerged Red Hood comes back to spread chaos and challenge his authority. Edward Nygma makes a new discovery while being reinstated at the GCPD as a liaison in the case while Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon set off to find Ivy Pepper, still not aware that she has grown up physically.

"Ghosts" is the twelfth episode and mid-season premiere of the third season, and 56th episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The episode was written by executive producer Danny Cannon and directed by Eagle Egilsson. It was first broadcast on January 16, 2017. In the episode, after Mario's funeral, Falcone places a hit on Gordon for his murder while also complicating Gordon's relationship with Lee, who continues seeing him as a murderer. Meanwhile, a morgue employee is revealed to be conspiring to bring Jerome Valeska back to life as part of his cult. Also, Selina's mom's arrival could shake things up between Bruce and Selina while Cobblepot begins to have strange events occurring to him while on his way to the most important interview he may have.

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"How the Riddler Got His Name" is the fifteenth episode and spring premiere of the third season, and 59th episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The show is itself based on the characters created by DC Comics set in the Batman mythology. It's also the first episode with the subtitle "Heroes Rise". The episode was written by Megan Mostyn-Brown and directed by TJ Scott. It was first broadcast on April 24, 2017.

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Oswald Cobblepot (<i>Gotham</i>) Fictional character on Gotham

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riddler in other media</span> DC Comics villain

The Riddler, a supervillain in DC Comics and an adversary of the superhero Batman, has been adapted into numerous forms of media, including feature films, television series, and video games. The character has been portrayed in live-action by Frank Gorshin and John Astin in the 1960s television series Batman, Jim Carrey in the 1995 film Batman Forever, Cory Michael Smith in the 2014 Fox series Gotham, and Paul Dano in the 2022 film The Batman. Actors who have voiced the Riddler include John Glover in the DC Animated Universe, Robert Englund in The Batman, and Wally Wingert in the Batman: Arkham video games.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Yamato, Jen (April 1, 2014). "Cory Michael Smith joins Fox's Batman series Gotham as The Riddler". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Ferri, Josh (August 2, 2012). "Otterbein Alum Hits Broadway in Breakfast at Tiffany's". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ "Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them". actorstheatre.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  7. ↑ "CORY MICHAEL SMITH". playwrightshorizons.org. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Cory Michael Smith". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Cory Michael Smith". IMDb . Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Listen: Cory Michael Smith Reads 'Catfishing Strangers to Find Myself'". The New York Times . July 11, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  11. 1 2 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.
  12. ↑ Barr, Merrill (January 26, 2015). "'Gotham' Casts Dollmaker; Cory Michael Smith Talks Riddler Transformation". screenrant.com. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  13. ↑ Chan, Robert (January 18, 2015). "'Gotham' Star Cory Michael Smith Explains How the Riddler Will Find His 'Evil Nature'". Yahoo . Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Stirring AIDS Drama Being Told in Black and White". The Daily Beast. March 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "2017 Teen Choice Nominees". teenchoice.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  17. ↑ "August's gold awards winners". Queen Palm International Film Festival. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
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