Cory Michael Smith

Cory Michael Smith

Smith at WonderCon, April 2015
Born November 14, 1986
Columbus, Ohio U.S.
Residence New York, New York U.S.
Nationality American
Education Otterbein University
Occupation Actor
Years active 2009–present
Known for Edward Nygma (Gotham)[1]

Cory Michael Smith (born November 14, 1986) is an American actor. He currently portrays Edward Nygma[1] in FOX's television drama series Gotham. He is set to appear in Camp X-Ray. He appeared in 2013 in Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway, which starred Emilia Clarke.

Early life

Smith, a native of Columbus, Ohio, had had aspirations ranging from becoming a concert pianist to a lawyer.[2] While at Otterbein University Smith was cast in such plays as The Scene, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Tartuffe.[3]

Career

In 2011, Smith was seen in the New York City premiere of ‘The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World’ at Playwrights Horizons and in 2009 to early 2012 could be seen in various regional theatre productions for the likes of New York Stage and Film. He starred in The Fantasticks at both Barrington Stage Company and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. He was also seen in Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them.

Smith made his Broadway debut in Breakfast at Tiffany's in 2013. In the same theatre season, he also starred Off-Broadway in both the U.S. Premiere of Cock aka The Cockfight Play by Mike Bartlett (playwright) and 'The Whale' by Samuel D. Hunter which had its world premier at Denver Center for the Performing Arts with the New York premier at Playwrights Horizons.[4] His first feature film was Camp X-Ray (film) which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in January. He appeared in a short horror movie, Dog Food, co-starring Amanda Seyfried and premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest in March. Smith also appeared in the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge and the film Carol.[5]

Gotham

“What I love about [the character’s history] is how diverse it is in terms of how the character is portrayed, in terms of his appearance, the different costumes and hair color,” Smith says. “Sometimes it’s incredibly ostentatious, other times it’s almost professional, or regal. Sometimes, he’s a showman, sometimes he’s a nerd.”[6]

—Smith, on playing Edward Nygma (2015)

He currently appears in Gotham as Edward Nygma.[1] Smith says in an interview with Merrill Barr about his current character, Edward Nygma,"What I’m really excited about is the bottom of that curve. Going from this quite innocent, well-intentioned, joyful person to starting to find this other part of him that he didn’t know he had — accessing this place where he responds to the unfortunate things that people are doing to him, and starting to realize how cruel people are to him and how they mistreat him, and then doing that back to them. He’s a person who’s constantly abused, and to finally reach a part of himself where he just can’t take it anymore and starts doing it to other people — and it’s out of anger and exhaustion, and then realizing that when you start taking control of situations like that, you can gain power that way — it’ll be something that he can start to enjoy."[6][7] "[The Penguin] and I could not have more different trajectories," Smith tells Yahoo TV. Cobblepot is "a very sadistic bully" from the beginning. Ed, by contrast, is "way, way out in left field," just "hanging out, doing his job, loving his work, loving science, having a good time, getting a little weird, being a little off the wall, a little eccentric." He's not really a bad guy — in fact, he's really more of an overgrown boy. His journey, Smith says, will be to "claim his identity and claim his power and perhaps finally become someone that is a player in the field and not just this irritating, flimsy young lad."[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes Notes
2014 Camp X-Ray Pvt. Bergen Premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival
2014 Dog Food Declan Short Horror Movie, premiered at the 2014 SXSW Festival
2015 Carol Tommy Stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Olive Kitteridge Dr. Kevin Coulson Episode: "Incoming Tide"
2014–present Gotham Edward Nygma Main cast

Theatre

Year Title Role Venue
2013 Cock aka The Cockfight Play John Duke
2013 The Whale Elder Thomas Playwrights Horizons
2013 The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World Kyle Playwrights Horizons
2013 Breakfast at Tiffany's Fred (the narrator) Cort Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2013 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards Favorite Play Breakfast at Tiffany's Won The award was shared with all the other Thespians, staff and all involved.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yamato, Jen (April 1, 2014). "Cory Michael Smith Joins Fox’s Batman Series ‘Gotham’ As The Riddler". Deadine.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ Ferri, Josh (August 2, 2012). "Otterbein Alum Hits Broadway in Breakfast at Tiffany's". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Alum Hits Broadway in Breakfast at Tiffany's". Otterbein University. February 6, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Cory Michael Smith". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Cory Michael Smith". IMDb. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 McMillan, Graeme (January 26, 2015). "'Gotham's' Cory Michael Smith Unlocks the Mystery of the Riddler". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ Barr, Merrill. "‘Gotham’ Casts Dollmaker; Cory Michael Smith Talks Riddler Transformation". screenrant.com. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  8. ↑ Chan, Robert (January 18, 2015). "'Gotham' Star Cory Michael Smith Explains How the Riddler Will Find His 'Evil Nature'". Yahoo. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Breakfast at Tiffany’s Star Cory Michael Smith on the ‘Gusto and Integrity’ Behind the BACA-Winning Favorite Play". Broadway.com. May 6, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cory Michael Smith.
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