---
name: "Jay Roach"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jay-roach"
fi1m_id: "jay-roach"
imdb_id: "nm0005366"
tmdb_id: 6737
wikidata_id: "Q524278"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "14 June 1957"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 63
average_as: "director"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-19T04:29:51.111967+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jay Roach

## Identity

Jay Roach

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jay-roach
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jay-roach
- **IMDb ID:** nm0005366
- **TMDB ID:** 6737
- **Wikidata ID:** Q524278
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Roach, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524278, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005366/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6737

Director and producer. Born 14 June 1957 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 14 June 1957, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
- **Active:** 1999–present
- **Also known as:** Matthew Jay Roach
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 9: 7 directing, 2 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Ben Stiller](https://film.one/person/ben-stiller.md), [Jane Rosenthal](https://film.one/person/jane-rosenthal.md), [John Hamburg](https://film.one/person/john-hamburg.md), [Robert De Niro](https://film.one/person/robert-de-niro.md), [Anthony Hines](https://film.one/person/anthony-hines.md), [Blythe Danner](https://film.one/person/blythe-danner.md), [Dan Mazer](https://film.one/person/dan-mazer.md), [Jim Herzfeld](https://film.one/person/jim-herzfeld.md)
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 2 Emmys (2 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 63, as director, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 73 (1), 2000s 65 (5), 2010s 60 (2), 2020s 61 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 63 to 61 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 3 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 5, Drama 3, Romance 3, Crime 2, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 13 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,578m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Roach, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524278, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005366/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6737

## Coming up

- *Focker-in-Law* (2026-11-25), Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/focker-in-law.md)
- *Untitled Ocean's Prequel* (2027-06-23), Producer

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan*](https://film.one/film/borat-cultural-learnings-of-america-for-make-benefit-glorious-nation-of-kazakhstan.md) (81), [*Brüno*](https://film.one/film/bruno.md) (58)
- **Disney+:** [*The Roses*](https://film.one/film/the-roses.md) (61)
- **Tubi:** [*Trumbo*](https://film.one/film/trumbo.md) (58)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jay Roach

> Jay Roach makes embarrassment funny by letting actors take it seriously. We like his comedies most when he trusts that approach; the elaborate mishaps can be less persuasive than two people struggling through a polite conversation.

Robert De Niro gives Ben Stiller so little encouragement in *Meet the Parents* (2000) that ordinary politeness starts to feel hazardous. Jay Roach understands that the wish to be liked can keep a comedy going without much assistance. He lets De Niro's Jack Byrnes regard his own suspicions as reasonable, rather than signal that he is being funny. We laughed and winced because Stiller's efforts to impress met such controlled resistance. Roach is good at this: giving both actors a reason to take an absurdly uncomfortable encounter seriously.

His early recognition came with *Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery* (1997) and its sequels. He followed *Meet the Parents* with *Meet the Fockers* (2004). Mike Myers, Stiller and De Niro are recurring collaborators, as is editor Jon Poll, who has worked with him on six films. That reliance on actors fits his preference for shooting comedy with the seriousness of drama, however broad the predicament they have been asked to believe in.

*Recount* (2008) marked the substantial turn towards fact-based television drama, with *Game Change* (2012) continuing that work. *Trumbo* (2015) and *Bombshell* (2019) brought biographical subjects into his feature directing. He kept returning to people put under pressure in groups. Family encounters and tense newsrooms give him different reasons to watch characters measure one another. Across these films, his attention goes to performances and the choices people make when an institution bears down on them, rather than to developing a recognisable photographic style.

The limitation is already there in *Meet the Parents*: the accumulating mishaps become harder to believe, while the exchanges between Stiller and De Niro remain painfully funny. A familiar premise still needs more than competent escalation, and this film becomes less persuasive as the accidents multiply. Roach's surer judgement is in allowing De Niro to set the pace, trusting us to recognise the joke without having it pointed out. The wish to impress supplies enough trouble before the plot adds more. Start with *Meet the Parents*, preferably with someone who remembers trying too hard to be liked.

## Biography

Jay Roach, also credited as Matthew Jay Roach or M. Jay Roach, is an American film director and producer. Born on 14 June 1957 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he graduated from Stanford University with a BA in economics and earned an MFA in film production from the University of Southern California.

Roach directed the *Austin Powers* film series (1997–2002), *Meet the Parents* (2000), *Meet the Fockers* (2004), *Dinner for Schmucks* (2010), *The Campaign* (2012), *Trumbo* (2015) and *Bombshell* (2019). He produced *Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan* (2006) through his Everyman Pictures banner, along with other films. He has also directed the television films *Recount* (2008), *Game Change* (2012) and *All the Way* (2016), receiving four Primetime Emmy Awards.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, variety.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

### Directed (7) — the average rests on these

- *The Roses* (2025), Fi1m 61, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-roses.md)
- *Bombshell* (2019), Fi1m 63, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/bombshell.md)
- *Trumbo* (2015), Fi1m 58, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/trumbo.md)
- *Meet the Fockers* (2004), Fi1m 52, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/meet-the-fockers.md)
- *Austin Powers in Goldmember* (2002), Fi1m 58, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/austin-powers-in-goldmember.md)
- *Meet the Parents* (2000), Fi1m 78, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/meet-the-parents.md)
- *Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me* (1999), Fi1m 73, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/austin-powers-the-spy-who-shagged-me.md)

### Produced (2)

- *Brüno* (2009), Fi1m 58, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/bruno.md)
- *Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan* (2006), Fi1m 81, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/borat-cultural-learnings-of-america-for-make-benefit-glorious-nation-of-kazakhstan.md)

## Complete filmography (41)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Untitled Ocean's Prequel* (2027), Producer
- *Focker-in-Law* (2026), Producer — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/focker-in-law.md)
- *The Roses* (2025), Director, Producer — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/the-roses.md)
- *High Desert* (2023), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Coastal Elites* (2020), Director, Executive Producer
- *Bombshell* (2019), Director, Producer — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/bombshell.md)
- *Barry* (2018), series, as Jay Roach — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/barry.md)
- *Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House* (2017), Producer
- *All the Way* (2016), Director, Executive Producer
- *Grimsby* (2016), Thanks
- *Sisters* (2015), Producer
- *Trumbo* (2015), Producer, Director — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/trumbo.md)
- *The Brink* (2015), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *The Campaign* (2012), Director, Producer
- *The Dictator* (2012), Thanks
- *Game Change* (2012), Director, Executive Producer
- *Little Fockers* (2010), Producer
- *Dinner for Schmucks* (2010), Director, Producer
- *Brüno* (2009), Producer — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/bruno.md)
- *Smother* (2008), Producer
- *Recount* (2008), Director, Executive Producer
- *Charlie Bartlett* (2008), Producer
- *Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan* (2006), Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/borat-cultural-learnings-of-america-for-make-benefit-glorious-nation-of-kazakhstan.md)
- *Earth to America* (2005), Director
- *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* (2005), Producer
- *Meet the Fockers* (2004), Director, Producer — Fi1m 52, [page](https://film.one/film/meet-the-fockers.md)
- *American Candidate* (2004), series, Producer
- *50 First Dates* (2004), Executive Producer
- *Austin Powers in Goldmember* (2002), Director — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/austin-powers-in-goldmember.md)
- *Meet the Parents* (2000), Director, Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/meet-the-parents.md)
- *Behind the Scenes of 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'* (1999), Director
- *Mystery, Alaska* (1999), Director
- *Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me* (1999), Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/austin-powers-the-spy-who-shagged-me.md)
- *Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery* (1997), Director
- *Sound of Peace* (1997), Cinematography
- *Blown Away* (1994), Story, Associate Producer
- *Lifepod* (1993), Writer
- *Space Rangers* (1993), series, Producer, Writer
- *Zoo Radio* (1991), Director
- *Tales of the Unknown* (1990), Director of Photography
- *Odyssey* (1986), Cinematography

## Gallery

- ![Jay Roach](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-0d9a89c9387b.jpg) Jay Roach — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Jay_Roach_%282013%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Eddie Garrett, Jay Roach and Danny Strong, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 20, 2013](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-84a4350426f5.jpg) Eddie Garrett, Jay Roach and Danny Strong, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 20, 2013 — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Eddie_Garrett%2C_Jay_Roach_and_Danny_Strong%2C_May_2013.jpg/1280px-Eddie_Garrett%2C_Jay_Roach_and_Danny_Strong%2C_May_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS Janet Murray, Danny Strong, and Jay Roach, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 20, 201 (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-9a26c76a8840.jpg) PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS Janet Murray, Danny Strong, and Jay Roach, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 20, 201 (2013) — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Janet_Murray%2C_Danny_Strong%2C_and_Jay_Roach%2C_May_2013_%281%29.jpg/1280px-Janet_Murray%2C_Danny_Strong%2C_and_Jay_Roach%2C_May_2013_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS Janet Murray, Danny Strong, and Jay Roach, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 20, 201 (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-a1d6a1342adb.jpg) PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS Janet Murray, Danny Strong, and Jay Roach, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, May 20, 201 (2013) — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Janet_Murray%2C_Danny_Strong%2C_and_Jay_Roach%2C_May_2013_%282%29.jpg/1280px-Janet_Murray%2C_Danny_Strong%2C_and_Jay_Roach%2C_May_2013_%282%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jay Roach](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-a039a7694d6e.jpg) Jay Roach — Image via TMDB
- ![Jay Roach](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-0aaabcd3e72b.jpg) Jay Roach — Image via TMDB
- ![PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS Jay Roach, Danny Strong, and Horace Newcomb, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel May 20, 20 (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-4af4e2f0a154.jpg) PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS Jay Roach, Danny Strong, and Horace Newcomb, 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel May 20, 20 (2013) — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Jay_Roach%2C_Danny_Strong%2C_and_Horace_Newcomb%2C_May_2013.jpg/1280px-Jay_Roach%2C_Danny_Strong%2C_and_Horace_Newcomb%2C_May_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jay Roach won the DGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series Movies for Television and Mini-Series (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/99370/gallery-299c48ae3ed5.jpg) Jay Roach won the DGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series Movies for Television and Mini-Series (2013) — VOA 美国之音国符摄影, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Jay_Roach.jpg/1280px-Jay_Roach.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 2 won

- 2012: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (won), for *Game Change*
- 2008: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (won), for *Recount*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jay-roach