Michael Shannon Biography

Michael Shannon has earned two Oscar nominations for playing off-kilter menaces — in 2008’s Revolutionary Road and 2016’s Nocturnal Animals.

He grew up in Kentucky and got his start in acting in Chicago theater. Working mostly stage, Shannon began getting movie parts in the early 1990s — his first appearance in a feature film was as an excited Wrestlemania fan in 1993’s Groundhog Day (starring Bill Murray).

In smaller parts in a variety of films, Shannon stood out, including in Tigerland (2000, starring Colin Farrell), Vanilla Sky (2001, starring Tom Cruise) and 8 Mile (2002, starring Eminem).

Tall and lanky, and with a prominent brow and onscreen intensity, he has mostly played villains and weirdos, from an obsessive FBI agent in the cable series Boardwalk Empire (2010-14) to the dad with apocalyptic visions in the film Take Shelter (2011, co-starring Jessica Chastain).

His other films include The Iceman (2012), Man of Steel (2013, as General Zod) and Loving (2016).