Personal details
Born:
- Birthday: 1977-11-11
- Born Place: Dallas, Texas, USA
Scoot McNairy
John Marcus "Scoot" McNairy is an American actor and producer, born on November 11, 1977, in Dallas, Texas, who has become one of Hollywood's most versatile and recognizable character actors, frequently cast in complex, sometimes morally ambiguous roles across both independent cinema and major studio projects. Nicknamed "Scoot" by his father as a child, he overcame challenges with severe dyslexia by developing a strong visual learning style, which initially led him to pursue cinematography before focusing on acting. His career gained significant momentum in the early 2010s, beginning with the acclaimed low-budget sci-fi film Monsters (2010), and truly breaking out in 2012 with key supporting roles in the Oscar-winning spy thriller Argo and Andrew Dominik's crime drama Killing Them Softly. He has since worked with legendary filmmakers in consecutive Best Picture winners, appearing in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and David Fincher’s Gone Girl (2014), and also had a memorable role as Wallace Keefe in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). On television, McNairy is celebrated for his leading role as the complex, troubled genius Gordon Clark in the AMC period drama Halt and Catch Fire (2014–2017), his turn as the distraught father Tom Purcell in the third season of True Detective (2019), and starring as DEA agent Walt Breslin in the final three seasons of the Netflix crime series Narcos: Mexico (2018–2021).
