John Gallagher Jr.

John Howard Gallagher Jr. was born on June 17, 1984, in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was raised alongside two older sisters. His parents, John and June Gallagher, are folk musicians. He attended Brandywine High School and began performing at an early age, playing Tom Sawyer at the Delaware Children's Theatre. He went on to play in multiple bands, among them Not Now Murray, What Now, Annie's Autograph, and Old Springs Pike. Before and during his run in Spring Awakening, he was a member of the folk-rock group Old Springs Pike, which later changed its name to the Spring Standards following his departure from the band in January 2008.

Gallagher made his Broadway debut in Rabbit Hole, one of three plays he appeared in by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. He also originated the role of Jeff in Lindsay-Abaire's Kimberly Akimbo and appeared in a United Kingdom production of Fuddy Meers. An additional early stage credit includes the Manhattan Theatre Club production of Current Events, written by David Marshall Grant. His film debut came in 2003 with Pieces of April.

His Broadway career gained significant momentum when he originated the role of Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening, a rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Gallagher had performed the role in workshops at Lincoln Center and in the Off-Broadway run at the Atlantic Theatre Company, which opened on May 19, 2006. The production transferred to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Broadway, opening on December 10, 2006. For his performance, Gallagher received the 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He remained with the production until December 16, 2007, when he was succeeded by Blake Bashoff.

Following Spring Awakening, Gallagher appeared in two Atlantic Theater Company productions: Port Authority, written by Conor McPherson, and Farragut North, written by Beau Willimon. He then took on the role of Johnny, also known as the Jesus of Suburbia, in American Idiot, a musical based on the Green Day album of the same name. The production premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in Berkeley, California, on September 4, 2009, before beginning Broadway previews at the St. James Theatre on March 24, 2010, and officially opening on April 20, 2010. American Idiot received three 2010 Tony Award nominations and won two. Gallagher departed the production on February 27, 2011, and was succeeded by Van Hughes. He was joined in the cast by fellow Spring Awakening alumni Brian Charles Johnson and Gerard Canonico.

Shortly after leaving American Idiot, Gallagher appeared in the Broadway transfer of The Royal Court Theatre's Jerusalem, directed by Ian Rickson, which opened at the Music Box Theatre on April 21, 2011. He played the role of Lee until July 17, 2011. In 2016, he returned to Broadway as Edmund Tyrone in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, directed by Jonathan Kent and featuring Jessica Lange and Gabriel Byrne. The production opened on April 19, 2016, at the American Airlines Theatre. In 2024, Gallagher appeared on Broadway in Swept Away, playing the role of Mate. The musical, based on the music of the Avett Brothers, had its world premiere at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2022 and reunited Gallagher with Spring Awakening director Michael Mayer.

On television, Gallagher portrayed Jim Harper in Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama series The Newsroom and appeared in the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, in the role of Christopher Kitteridge. Earlier television appearances include The West Wing, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NYPD Blue, Ed, Love Monkey, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame film The Flamingo Rising. In 2020, he played Liam Dempsey Jr. in the third season of Westworld.

His film credits include Woody Allen's Whatever Works, Jonah Hex, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret, The Heart Machine, and Short Term 12, in which he starred opposite Brie Larson. In 2016, he appeared in the thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane as Emmett DeWitt and starred in the horror-thriller Hush. He filmed The Belko Experiment, directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, in 2015, and in 2018 appeared in The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

As a musician, Gallagher plays guitar, bass, drums, and harmonica and has performed regularly at Rockwood Music Hall in New York. On January 15, 2016, he released his debut album, Six Day Hurricane, on Rockwood Music Hall Recordings under the name Johnny Gallagher. The album was recorded in Brooklyn in 2012 over six days during Hurricane Sandy and was produced by Thad DeBrock. It includes nine tracks, among them the singles Two Fists Full, Dangerous Strangers, and Sarasota Someone.