Eric Thal

Eric Thal is an American film, television, and stage actor born in Niskayuna, New York, to Joan, a homemaker, and Herbert L. Thal, Jr., an electrical engineer. The youngest of five children, he was raised on the Main Line of Philadelphia. He began performing as a magician and took up acting studies at age 14 under Richard Brewer, a former member of the Hedgerow Theatre. After graduating from The Haverford School, he attended Lafayette College for one year, where he studied engineering and education, before relocating to New York City to pursue an acting career. During that period he held a range of jobs, including telemarketer, waiter, construction worker, janitor, and massage therapist, before landing his first film role in 1991.

Thal's screen career began in earnest with the 1992 thriller A Stranger Among Us, directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by Robert J. Avarech. Having originally auditioned for a smaller part, he was cast in the lead role of Ariel, the son of The Rebbe, opposite Melanie Griffith, in a story centered on a murder within a Hasidic community. He followed that with the role of Alex Perkins opposite Penelope Ann Miller in The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, and played Rick alongside Will Smith and Heather Graham in Six Degrees of Separation. Although he shared no scenes with Donald Sutherland in that film, he was subsequently cast as Sutherland's son, Sam Nivens, in The Puppet Masters, directed by Stuart Orme. Additional film credits include Wishful Thinking, alongside Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Beals, James LeGros, and Jon Stewart; Joe's So Mean to Josephine, opposite Sarah Polley and directed by Peter Wellington; Mixing Nia, co-starring Karyn Parsons and Isaiah Washington; Snow Falling on Cedars, directed by Scott Hicks, in which he played Carl Heine, Jr.; and Mouth to Mouth, in which he played Harry opposite Elliot Page. He also appeared in The Good Guy, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

On television, Thal starred opposite Elizabeth Hurley in the TV movie Samson and Delilah, which also featured Dennis Hopper, Diana Rigg, and Michael Gambon, with Thal in the title role of Samson. He played Meade Howell opposite Halle Berry in The Wedding, a TV movie produced by Oprah Winfrey, directed by Charles Burnett, and based on the novel by Dorothy West. On February 16, 1998, Jet Magazine featured Berry, Thal, and Carl Lumbly on its cover in connection with that production. He portrayed Detective John Cahill in the unaired American pilot of Ultraviolet, produced by Howard Gordon and Chip Johannessen. His episodic television work includes appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Tommy Hedges, two separate roles on Law & Order: Criminal Intent — Didier Foucault, also known as Dennis Dupont, and Don Craddock — and a guest appearance in the final episode of Hack alongside David Morse.

On Broadway, Thal originated the role of The Special Witness in Christopher Durang's Sex and Longing at the Cort Theatre in 1996. Outside of performance, he became actively interested in music during the 1990s and plays guitar, drums, and piano. He is the owner and founder of American English Master and works professionally as a dialect coach. Thal lives in New York City.