--- name: "Josh Charles" canonical: "https://film.one/person/josh-charles" fi1m_id: "josh-charles" imdb_id: "nm0001038" tmdb_id: 2694 wikidata_id: "Q472282" roles: ["Actor","Director"] born: "15 September 1971" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-24T00:42:17.301553+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." --- # Josh Charles ## Identity Josh Charles - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/josh-charles - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** josh-charles - **IMDb ID:** nm0001038 - **TMDB ID:** 2694 - **Wikidata ID:** Q472282 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Charles, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q472282, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001038/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2694 Actor and director. Born 15 September 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor, Director - **Born:** 15 September 1971, Baltimore, Maryland, USA - **Active:** 1989–present - **Also known as:** Joshua Aaron Charles - **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 acting, 1 directing - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 80 (1), 1990s 82 (1), 2000s 84 (1), 2020s 75 (1) - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 1 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 1, Crime 1 - **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $236m across 1 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Charles, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q472282, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001038/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2694 ## Streaming the US now - **Paramount+:** [*The Good Wife*](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md) (84) - **HBO Max:** [*We Own This City*](https://film.one/tv/we-own-this-city.md) (75) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Josh Charles > Josh Charles makes articulate, competitive men worth watching by leaving some doubt about how decent they are. We rate him most highly when he trusts the part enough to forgo charm, as his bluntly unpleasant work in *We Own This City* shows. Daniel Hersl hits people because he can, and Josh Charles plays him as though the habit barely merits his attention. In David Simon and George Pelecanos’s *We Own This City* (2022), Charles refuses to make the man interesting, which is the right decision. We were repelled by Hersl because the violence seems so routine to the man committing it. Charles does not soften him with charm or ask us to search for hidden depths. It is a disciplined, unshowy performance. The earlier work offers a less abrasive introduction. Charles plays Knox Overstreet in Peter Weir’s *Dead Poets Society* (1989), whose young cast helps earn the sentiment even when the moral lessons are too tidy. Television then gave him Dan Rydell, a lead role in Aaron Sorkin’s *Sports Night* (1998–2000). That role points towards the articulate, competitive professionals who recur in his work, men accustomed to having something to say and expecting to be heard. Robert and Michelle King’s *The Good Wife* (2009) makes better use of his charm. As Will Gardner, Charles is Alicia’s law-school friend, who hires her and would like their connection to become something more. His combination of boyish appeal and underlying intensity suits a man whose professional generosity has a personal complication. We can see why Alicia might welcome him without needing to mistake him for someone free of self-interest. It is a good use of Charles’s ability to make a capable, pleasant man slightly harder to take at face value. Our enthusiasm for *The Good Wife* rests first on Margulies, and the last two seasons wobble; Charles is part of a well-cast firm rather than its sole attraction. He also directed three episodes of the series. Hersl offers the harsher test of the same interest in men with authority, and Charles’s plainness helps *We Own This City* even when its timelines tangle and its dialogue becomes speeches. He need not be given a sympathetic role to be worth following. Start with Will Gardner; Daniel Hersl is less suitable company for a restful evening. ## Biography Joshua Aaron Charles (born 15 September 1971) is an American actor. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he began performing comedy at the age of nine and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts. As a teenager he spent several summers at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in New York. Charles made his screen debut in John Waters' *Hairspray* (1988). The following year he played Knox Overstreet in *Dead Poets Society* (1989). He is known for his role as Dan Rydell in the series *Sports Night* (1998–2000) and as Will Gardner in *The Good Wife* (2009–2016), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) ### Performed in (3) — the average rests on these - *We Own This City* (2022), Fi1m 75, as Daniel Hersl — [page](https://film.one/tv/we-own-this-city.md) - *Sports Night* (1998), Fi1m 82, as Dan Rydell — [page](https://film.one/tv/sports-night.md) - *Dead Poets Society* (1989), Fi1m 80, as Knox Overstreet — [page](https://film.one/film/dead-poets-society.md) ### Directed (1) - *The Good Wife* (2009), Fi1m 84, as Will Gardner — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md) ## Complete filmography (62) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Best Medicine* (2026), series, as Dr. Martin Best · Producer - *The American Revolution* (2025), series, as Joseph Warren / John Peters / David Ramsey (voice) - *The Veil* (2024), series, as Max Peterson - *Mothers' Instinct* (2024), as Damian - *Memory* (2023), as Isaac - *The Power* (2023), series, as Governor Daniel Dandon - *Facing Suicide* (2022), as Narrator - *We Own This City* (2022), series, as Daniel Hersl — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/we-own-this-city.md) - *Law & Order: Organized Crime* (2021), series, as Vince Baldi - *Away* (2020), series, as Matt Logan - *The Loudest Voice* (2019), series, as Casey Close - *Framing John DeLorean* (2019), as Bill Collins - *Medal of Honor* (2018), series, as Narrator - *Amateur* (2018), as Coach Gaines - *Law & Order True Crime* (2017), series, as Dr. Jerome Oziel - *Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later* (2017), series, as Blake - *The Handmaid's Tale* (2017), series, as Gabriel Wharton — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-handmaids-tale.md) - *The Drowning* (2016), as Tom Seymour - *Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer* (2016), as Taub - *Whiskey Tango Foxtrot* (2016), as Chris - *I Smile Back* (2015), as Bruce Brooks - *Freeheld* (2015), as Bryan Kelder - *Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp* (2015), series, as Blake - *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt* (2015), series, as Duke Snyder — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt.md) - *Adult Beginners* (2014), as Phil - *Bird People* (2014), as Gary Newman - *Masters of Sex* (2013), series, as Dan Logan — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/masters-of-sex.md) - *2012 Baltimore Ravens: Super Bowl XLVII Champions* (2013), as Narrator - *Weakness* (2010), as Bart - *After.Life* (2009), as Tom Peterson - *Brief Interviews with Hideous Men* (2009), as Subject #2 - *The Good Wife* (2009), series, as Will Gardner · Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md) - *Darwin's Secret Notebooks* (2009), as Narrator - *In Treatment* (2008), series, as Jake - *The Hottest State* (2007), Thanks - *The Darwin Awards* (2007), as Paramedic - *The Ex* (2006), as Forrest Mead - *Six Degrees* (2006), series, as Ray Jones - *Four Brothers* (2005), as Detective Fowler - *Seeing Other People* (2004), as Lou - *S.W.A.T.* (2003), as T.J. McCabe - *Our America* (2002), as Dave Isay - *Meeting Daddy* (2000), as Peter Silverblatt - *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Sean Kelley - *Muppets from Space* (1999), as Agent Barker - *Sports Night* (1998), series, as Dan Rydell — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/sports-night.md) - *Little City* (1997), as Adam - *Cyclops, Baby* (1997), as Brush Brody - *Norma Jean & Marilyn* (1996), as Eddie Jordan - *Crossworlds* (1996), as Joe Talbot - *Pie in the Sky* (1996), as Charlie Dunlap - *The Grave* (1996), as Tyn - *Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead* (1995), as Bruce (uncredited) - *Coldblooded* (1995), as Randy - *Threesome* (1994), as Eddy - *Cooperstown* (1993), as Jody - *Crossing the Bridge* (1992), as Mort Golden - *Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead* (1991), as Bryan - *Murder in Mississippi* (1990), as Andrew Goodman - *Dead Poets Society* (1989), as Knox Overstreet — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/dead-poets-society.md) - *Hairspray* (1988), as Iggy - *The 99'ers*, Actor ## Gallery - ![Josh Charles](https://film.one/media/person/104095/gallery-cb96d842b00f.jpg) Josh Charles — Gordon Correll, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Josh_Charles_%2817272036905%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![My man! Star of Sports Night, Crossworlds, Dead Poets' Society, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Crossing the Bridge. Sept '16 NYC (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/104095/gallery-736c4ff9b66c.jpg) My man! Star of Sports Night, Crossworlds, Dead Poets' Society, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Crossing the Bridge. Sept '16 NYC (2016) — Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Josh_Charles_%2829692170402%29.jpg/1280px-Josh_Charles_%2829692170402%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Scooby-Doo" actor Matthew Lillard and "The Good Wife" actor Josh Charles pose with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 Detail Rota Seabees, Equipment Operat (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/104095/gallery-82189584c1bf.jpg) Scooby-Doo" actor Matthew Lillard and "The Good Wife" actor Josh Charles pose with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 Detail Rota Seabees, Equipment Operat (2014) — Cliff Williams, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Josh_Charles_2014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Scooby-Doo" actor Matthew Lillard and "The Good Wife" actor Josh Charles pose with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 Detail Rota Seabees, Equipment Operat (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/104095/gallery-2e6b8345a501.jpg) Scooby-Doo" actor Matthew Lillard and "The Good Wife" actor Josh Charles pose with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 Detail Rota Seabees, Equipment Operat (2014) — Cliff Williams, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Matthew_Lillard_and_Josh_Charles_pose_with_Naval_Mobile_Construction_Battalion_133_Detail_Rota_Seabees_September_2014.jpg/1280px-Matthew_Lillard_and_Josh_Charles_pose_with_Naval_Mobile_Construction_Battalion_133_Detail_Rota_Seabees_September_2014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Josh Charles](https://film.one/media/person/104095/gallery-beedf72fb73f.jpg) Josh Charles — Image via TMDB - ![Josh Charles](https://film.one/media/person/104095/gallery-610852200f47.jpg) Josh Charles — Image via TMDB --- © 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/josh-charles