Paul Schneider

Paul Schneider is an American actor born on March 16, 1976, in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was also raised. He earned his degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts before launching a career that has spanned film, television, and stage.

Schneider entered the film industry in 2000 through David Gordon Green's George Washington, and subsequently co-wrote and starred in the romantic drama All the Real Girls (2003) alongside Green. That performance earned him a nomination for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer. His role as Jesse Baylor in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown (2005) required unconventional preparation: Crowe directed Schneider to spend five days on tour with the band My Morning Jacket, accompanying them to venues including Irving Plaza, the Webster Theater, the Theater of the Living Arts, and Stone Pony Landing. Supporting roles in The Family Stone and Live Free or Die followed before Schneider took on two notable 2007 projects: Gus Lindstrom in Lars and the Real Girl and Dick Liddil in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. That same year, Variety named him one of its Ten Actors to Watch. In 2008, he made his directorial debut with the independent film Pretty Bird and portrayed President William Henry Harrison in an episode of Comedy Central's Drunk History Vol. 4.

Schneider's performance as Charles Armitage Brown in Jane Campion's biographical romantic drama Bright Star (2009) brought him significant critical recognition, earning him the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, an honor he shared with Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. That same year he appeared as Courtney Farlander in Away We Go. His most widely seen television work came through the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, where he co-starred as Mark Brendanawicz across the show's first two seasons from 2009 to 2010. In a 2014 interview with ScreenCrush, Schneider described the experience as disorienting, noting that the character he had originally signed on to play was altered mid-season, leaving him with considerably less to do. He went on to appear in Water for Elephants (2011), The Babymakers (2012), Hello Carter (2013), and Rules Don't Apply (2016), among other films. At the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, he received the Best Actor in a Narrative Feature award for his work in the romantic comedy drama Goodbye to All That. More recent film credits include Brothers by Blood (2020) and American Murderer (2022).

In 2018, Schneider made his Broadway debut in Young Jean Lee's play Straight White Men, performing the role of Matt. The production marked his sole Broadway credit to date.

Outside of his professional work, Schneider married Theresa Avila, an occupational therapist and co-founder of The World Lens Foundation, on April 16, 2016. Schneider serves as a board member of that organization. The couple has two daughters, Lou and Rae. He also serves as an Innocence Project Ambassador.