Jason Butler Harner

Jason Butler Harner is an American actor born on October 9, 1970, in Elmira, New York, who grew up in suburban Northern Virginia. His middle name, Butler, derives from his mother's maiden name. As a teenager in Alexandria, Virginia, he attended performances at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, and while serving as president of his high school drama club at T. C. Williams High School — from which he graduated in 1988 — he focused primarily on building sets rather than performing. At seventeen, following graduation, he took a job as an usher at the Eisenhower Theater within the Kennedy Center complex.

Harner earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1992, then completed an apprenticeship at Actors Theatre of Louisville before relocating to New York City. In 1997 he received a Master of Fine Arts from the Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts, where Ron Van Lieu was among his instructors. He later returned to VCU as a Master Teacher during the 2007–08 Guest Artist program.

His stage career developed extensively off-Broadway and regionally through the 1990s and 2000s. In 1997 he appeared in Tony Kushner's Hydriotaphia, or the Death of Dr. Browne, and that same year played Sir Henry Guildford, Page, Garter, and King of Arms in Henry VIII at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. In 1999 he took on the roles of Donalbain and Murderer in Macbeth at the Public Theater, and simultaneously played Thomas Armstrong and Phil in Shelagh Stephenson's An Experiment with an Air Pump at Manhattan Theatre Club. In January 2000 he portrayed Young Housman opposite James Cromwell in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He played Johnny Boyle in Juno and the Paycock at the Gramercy Theatre in September 2000, and in April 2001 appeared opposite Amy Ryan in Crimes of the Heart at Second Stage Theatre.

In February 2003 Harner played David Craig in Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, and in September 2003 took the title role in Hamlet at Dallas Theater Center. August 2004 brought a notable regional credit when he played Tom Wingfield opposite Sally Field in The Glass Menagerie at the Kennedy Center. That September he played Tesman opposite Elizabeth Marvel in Ivo van Hove's production of Hedda Gabler at New York Theatre Workshop, a performance that earned him an Obie Award. In June 2005 he played Young Anton and Burt Sarris opposite John Glover in The Paris Letter at the Laura Pels Theatre, a role that brought him his first Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. In March 2006 he played Trofimov opposite Annette Bening and Alfred Molina in The Cherry Orchard at the Mark Taper Forum.

Harner made his Broadway debut in November 2006 in Tom Stoppard's trilogy The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center Theater, playing Ivan Turgenev across a span of more than fifty years in Voyage, Shipwreck, and Salvage. The production earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. In April 2009 he played Brian opposite Bobby Cannavale, Sarah Paulson, and Jackie Hoffman in The Gingerbread House at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and in August 2009 took the central role of the Stage Manager in Our Town at Barrow Street Theatre. In May 2011 he played Martin opposite Carey Mulligan and Chris Sarandon in Through a Glass Darkly at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by David Leveaux.

Harner made his London stage debut in February 2010, playing Alex opposite Jason O'Mara in Lanford Wilson's Serenading Louie at the Donmar Warehouse. During that London stay he also read Michael Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs on BBC Book of the Week in April 2010.

He returned to Broadway in the 2016 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, directed by Ivo van Hove, playing Reverend Samuel Parris opposite Ben Whishaw, Saoirse Ronan, and Jenny Jules. That production brought him a second Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. In 2018 he appeared on Broadway opposite Janet McTeer in the world premiere of Bernhardt/Hamlet at the Roundabout Theatre. Harner also participated in The 24 Hour Plays in 2004. He has taught Shakespeare at CalArts University.

His screen work includes the role of FBI Special Agent Roy Petty in Ozark, as well as appearances in The Handmaid's Tale, Scandal, Homeland, Ray Donovan, Rabbit Hole, High Maintenance, Fringe, and Sugar. He played the regular character Silas Hunton on the Showtime series Possible Side Effects before the network cancelled it in April 2008, and portrayed Associate Warden Elijah Bailey Tiller on the Fox series Alcatraz, which debuted in January 2012. In December 2007 he completed filming on Changeling, in which he played Gordon Stewart Northcott, the serial killer responsible for the Wineville Chicken Coop murders.

In 2023 Harner produced and co-starred in the short film The Anne Frank Gift Shop, written and directed by his husband, Mickey Rapkin. The film was shortlisted for Best Live Action Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.