Tom McCarthy (director)

Early life

McCarthy was raised in New Providence, New Jersey, one of five children of Carol and Eugene F. "Gene" McCarthy; His father worked in the textile industry. McCarthy was raised Catholic in a family of Irish descent. He is a graduate of New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey and Boston College (1988), where he was a member of the improv comedy troupe My Mother's Fleabag; and the Yale School of Drama, where he studied under Earle R. Gister.

Career

McCarthy spent several years doing stand-up comedy and theater in Minneapolis and Chicago before going into television and film. He starred in Flags of Our Fathers as James Bradley, and in the final season of The Wire as the morally challenged reporter Scott Templeton. He made his Broadway debut in the 2001 revival of Noises Off.{{cite news |access-date=September 3, 2007

McCarthy's directorial debut, The Station Agent, which he also wrote, won the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and awards at film festivals ranging from San Sebastian to Stockholm, Mexico City, and Aspen.{{cite web |access-date=March 14, 2008

McCarthy's second feature film was The Visitor, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and for which McCarthy won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director. He appeared in the 2009 dramas The Lovely Bones and 2012. In 2010, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the Pixar animated film Up, which he co-wrote.

In 2010, McCarthy directed the unaired pilot for the HBO series Game of Thrones, but the final cut of the episode was poorly received by showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. McCarthy was replaced by Tim Van Patten, who directed the final version of the pilot that aired in 2011. The experience discouraged McCarthy from returning to television directing for several years.

He also co-wrote and directed 2011's Win Win, based on his experiences as a wrestler at New Providence High School.

McCarthy's independent drama film Spotlight (2015) was widely acclaimed. It received six Academy Awards nominations, three Golden Globe Awards nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and eight Critics' Choice Movie Awards nominations.

McCarthy directed the first two episodes of 13 Reasons Why, from Anonymous Content and Paramount Television. It is based on the 2007 The New York Times bestselling YA book by Jay Asher. In 2019, he signed a first-look TV deal with Fox 21 Television Studios (now 20th Television).

Filmography

Film

Acting credits

Television

Acting credits

Other awards and nominations

Directed Academy Award performances Under McCarthy's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations for their performances in their respective roles.

References

References

1. "Thomas McCarthy Biography ((?)-)".
2. Jessica Iredale. (June 23, 2011). "Boys' Night Out With Tom McCarthy". WWD.
3. (March 18, 2015). "Thomas McCarthy on His First Cast". [[Wall Street Journal]].
4. (March 25, 2013). "Obituary: Eugene F. McCarthy of New Providence". [[NJ.com]].
5. Hoby, Hermione. (May 20, 2011). "The 'man strength' behind Win Win's Thomas McCarthy". [[The Guardian]].
6. (September 3, 2015). "Tom McCarthy Speaks About Opening 'Spotlight' In Catholic Italy, How He Cast Michael Keaton, And How Journalism Is Deteriorating". [[Variety (magazine).
7. "The Heights 4 November 2003 — Boston College".
8. (March 2, 2016). "Five Yalies nominated for Academy Awards; two take home the prize". [[Yale University.
9. (November 10, 2015). "'Spotlight' writer-director Tom McCarthy on his time as a Chicago theater actor". [[Chicago Tribune]].
10. Siegel, Tatiana. (February 23, 2009). "'The Wrestler' tops Spirit Awards". Variety.
11. "HBO: The Wire: Inside". HBO.
12. "Tom McCarthy to helm HBO's "Game of Thrones" starring Peter Dinklage".
13. "The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
14. Hough, Q.V.. (February 14, 2019). "Game of Thrones' Original Pilot Would Have Killed the Show Before It Began".
15. Oller, Jacob. (September 14, 2020). "Game of Thrones' Disastrous Unaired Pilot Included Cersei as 'Medieval Dolly Parton,' Totally Different Daenerys Wedding".
16. Robinson, Joanna. (February 3, 2016). "Game of Thrones Show-Runners Get Extremely Candid About Their Original "Piece of Sh—t" Pilot".
17. Angelo, Megan. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/movies/win-win-arises-from-tom-mccarthys-wrestling-days.html?pagewanted=all "Just Like the Good Old Days in the Ring"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 18, 2011. Accessed July 25, 2012. ""I just called Joe and said, 'Let's develop a movie based on New Providence wrestling,' " Mr. McCarthy said.... Because of tax credits, they shot on Long Island rather than in New Providence. But they scouted locations tirelessly, most notably the office and home that Mr. Giamatti's character shuttles between.... Though the locations might have been fudged, the filmmakers kept New Providence High School in the film by using its banners, uniforms and wrestling mats, an effort facilitated by one of their former classmates, who's now the school's principal."
18. Andreeva, Nellie. [https://deadline.com/2016/02/spotlight-tom-mccarthy-direct-selena-gomez-13-reasons-why-netflix-1201708767/], "[[Deadline Hollywood. Deadline]]", February 25, 2016. Accessed July 16, 2016.
19. Otterson, Joe. (December 10, 2019). "Tom McCarthy Signs Overall Deal With Fox 21 Television Studios".
20. Kit, Borys. (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.