Alexander Karpovsky (born September 23, 1975) is an American director, actor, screenwriter, producer and film editor. He is best known for playing Ray Ploshansky on the HBO comedy-drama series Girls and Craig Petrosian on the Amazon Prime Video series Homecoming.
Alex Karpovsky | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Alexander Karpovsky September 23, 1975 Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Boston University (BA) University of Oxford (MA) |
| Occupations |
|
Early life and education
editAlex Karpovsky was raised in Newton, Massachusetts.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from Boston University before receiving a master's degree in visual ethnography at the University of Oxford.[1][2]
Career
editHis debut feature, The Hole Story, earned him a slot in Filmmaker magazine's 25 new faces of independent film. His subsequent feature-length films include Woodpecker, Trust Us, This Is All Made Up, Rubberneck, and Red Flag,[3] the latter two of which were released as a double feature at New York City's Film at Lincoln Center.[4] In addition to these features, Karpovsky has directed numerous episodes of TV shows as well as commercials and music videos.
As an actor, he played Ray Ploshansky in the HBO comedy series Girls, and also appeared in the Coen Brothers' films Inside Llewyn Davis and Hail, Caesar!, was a series regular on Amazon's Homecoming, played Dr. Seiderman on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and had a leading role in the Peacock limited series, Angelyne.[5]
As a writer and producer, he has developed projects at Amazon, Comedy Central, FX, TBS, and Hulu.
As a voice performer, Karpovsky's work has appeared in Selected Shorts, The Paris Review, Modern Love, n+1, Grand Theft Auto IV, and This American Life.
Karpovsky also collaborates with graphic designer Teddy Blanks. Together they work as Spielbergs, and created, wrote and directed the 2019 miniseries Oh Jerome, No, starring Mamoudou Athie.[6]
Filmography
editActor
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Cry Funny Happy | Henry | |
| 2005 | The Hole Story | Alex | |
| 2008 | Cubby Knowles | Robert Lincoln | |
| 2009 | Beeswax | Merrill Graf | |
| Harmony and Me | Mean Man Mike | ||
| 2010 | Bass Ackwards | Vlad | |
| Lovers of Hate | Paul Lucas | ||
| Tiny Furniture | Jed | ||
| Incredibly Small | Tom | ||
| 2011 | Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same | Rookie Agent | |
| Wuss | Wally Combs | ||
| Almost in Love | Sasha | ||
| 2012 | Sleepwalk with Me | Ian Gilmore | |
| Gayby | Peter | ||
| Supporting Characters | Nick Berger | ||
| Rubberneck | Paul Harris | ||
| Marvin, Seth and Stanley | Seth Greenstein | ||
| Red Flag | Alex | ||
| 2013 | Good Night | Jake | |
| Inside Llewyn Davis | Marty Green | ||
| 2014 | The Foxy Merkins | Merkin Man | |
| Summer of Blood | Jamie | ||
| 2015 | Tired Moonlight | Mike | |
| Possibilia | Rick | ||
| Bloomin Mud Shuffle | Chuck | ||
| 7 Chinese Brothers | Kaminsky | ||
| 2016 | Hail, Caesar! | Mr. Smitrovich | |
| Folk Hero & Funny Guy | Paul Scott | ||
| My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea | Drake | Voice role | |
| 2017 | The Vanishing of Sidney Hall | David Bauer | |
| Fits and Starts | Charles | ||
| Girlfriend's Day | Styvesan | ||
| 2018 | The Front Runner | Mike Stratton | |
| Being Frank | Ross | ||
| 2019 | The Sound of Silence | Landon | |
| The Return of the Yuletide Kid | Michael | ||
| 2020 | The Ride | Chris | |
| 2021 | Cryptozoo | David | Voice role |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2015 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Stephen Lomatin | 2 episodes |
| 2012–2017 | Girls | Ray Ploshansky | 42 episodes |
| 2014 | Dinner with Friends with Brett Gelman and Friends | Himself | Television Special |
| 2015 | The Show About The Show | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Deadbeat | Jared the Liar | Episode: "Medieval Dead" |
| 2018 | Drunk History | Zvi Aharoni | Episode: "Heists" |
| 2018–2020 | Homecoming | Craig Petrosian | 13 episodes |
| 2020 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Doctor Seiderman | Episode: "The Spite Store" |
| 2022 | Angelyne | Jeff Glaser | 5 episodes |
Music video
edit| Year | Title | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | When You Die | MGMT |
Video game
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | The Crowd of Liberty City (voice) |
Writer/director
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Network/Festival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Oh Jerome, No | Writer/Director | Episodes 101-108 | FXX |
| 2018 | Love | Director | Episode 304 | Netflix |
| 2016 | The New Yorker Presents | Director | Episode 105 | Amazon |
| 2016 | Girls | Director | Episode 509 | HBO |
| 2012 | Red Flag[7] | Writer/Director | feature | LA Film Festival |
| 2012 | Rubberneck[8] | Writer/Director | feature | Tribeca |
| 2009 | Trust Us, This Is All Made Up [9] | Writer/Director | feature | SXSW |
| 2008 | Woodpecker [10] | Writer/Director | feature | SXSW |
| 2006 | The Hole Story[11] | Writer/Director | feature | Harvard Film Archive |
References
edit- ^ a b Laskowski, Amy (April 3, 2014). "Girls Actor Comes to Cinematheque Tomorrow". BU Today. Boston University. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- ^ "Alex Karpovsky". alexkarpovsky.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ^ Neil Genzlinger, Film Festival Blooms With Ripe Perversity, The New York Times, April 22, 2012
- ^ Red Flag + Rubberneck, TimeOut, February 19, 2013
- ^ Rick Porter, Martin Freeman, Alex Karpovsky Join 'Angelyne' Limited Series at Peacock, The Hollywood Reporter, February 12, 2020
- ^ Greene, Steve (November 13, 2019). "'Oh Jerome, No': How a Comedy About Failed Relationships Still Ends Up Relatably Funny". Indiewire. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ "RED FLAG - A GRAVE COMEDY FROM ALEX KARPOVSKY". redflagfilm.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ^ "RUBBERNECK — A Film By Alex Karpovsky & Garth Donovan". rubberneckfilm.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ^ "Trust Us, This Is All Made Up". trustusfilm.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ^ "Woodpecker: a film by alex karpovsky". woodpeckerfilm.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ^ "Alex Karpovsky". theholestoryfilm.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015.