---
name: "Martin Donovan"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/martin-donovan"
fi1m_id: "martin-donovan"
imdb_id: "nm0233027"
tmdb_id: 42993
wikidata_id: "Q726130"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "19 August 1957"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 9
updated: "2026-10-05T00:28:11.729291+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."
---

# Martin Donovan

## Identity

Martin Donovan

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/martin-donovan
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** martin-donovan
- **IMDb ID:** nm0233027
- **TMDB ID:** 42993
- **Wikidata ID:** Q726130
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Donovan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726130, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0233027/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/42993

Actor. Born 19 August 1957 in Reseda, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 19 August 1957, Reseda, California, USA
- **Active:** 1990–present
- **Also known as:** 마틴 도노반, مارتین داناوان
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as actor, over 9 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 74 (2), 2000s 76 (1), 2010s 72 (2), 2020s 66 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 69 to 70 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 9 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 5 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Comedy 5, Action 2, History 2, Romance 2, Science Fiction 2
- **Screen time:** 15 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $939m across 6 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Donovan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726130, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0233027/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/42993

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*BlackBerry*](https://film.one/film/blackberry.md) (78)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Apprentice*](https://film.one/film/the-apprentice.md) (61)

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

## Fi1m on Martin Donovan

> Martin Donovan does less than almost anyone else in the frame and makes us watch him for it. Thirty years of quiet, exact supporting work, best seen in Hal Hartley's films, where the stillness was the point rather than a pause before somebody louder.

In *The Apprentice* (2024), Martin Donovan's Fred Trump gives his son a hard stare and a lecture and nothing else, and the film needs nothing else from him. It is the reason the Roy Cohn scenes work: a boy who has been looked at like that will follow the first man who says yes. Donovan has been doing this for a long time. He stands still, says the line flatly and lets the other actor do the reacting. In the wrong film it reads as absence. In the right one it reads as a man thinking, and we lean in to find out what about.

The right films, for most of the 1990s, were Hal Hartley's. From *Trust* (1990), where he played Matthew Slaughter, through *The Book of Life* (1998), Donovan made six films with Hartley, whose actors move as if choreographed and are asked for economy rather than naturalism. Donovan has called it "ballet instead of modern jazz", and it suited him: the formality gave his stillness a shape, so that the smallest shift of weight counted. Then Jane Campion cast him as Ralph Touchett in *The Portrait of a Lady* (1996), and a wider audience noticed what the art houses already had, an intelligence that let you see the hurt underneath without anyone pointing at it.

Since then he has been the man in the third scene of a great many bigger pictures. Christopher Nolan used him twice, in *Insomnia* (2002) as Hap Eckhart and in *Tenet* (2020) as Fay, and there has been television: *Weeds*, *Homeland*, *Big Little Lies*. He wrote and directed his own film, *Collaborator*, in 2011. The bigger the picture, the less it tends to ask of him. In *Tenet* he is one more person in a good coat delivering instructions; we did not single him out in our review, and the film did not either.

*The Apprentice* is the exception, and it is where we felt him most. What chilled us was how little the film had to explain. Donovan never raises his voice, and one stare from him told us more about why Sebastian Stan's young Donald would take Roy Cohn for a second father than any of Cohn's speeches did. The film itself runs out of road once the lessons are learnt, but that is not Donovan's doing.

Critics have noted, sometimes as a complaint, that he has had few leading parts in major studio films. We are not sure complaint is the right register. An actor who does this little on purpose needs a director who has built the film around it, and outside Hartley very few have tried. Go back to *Trust* if you want to see what he looks like when someone does.

## Biography

Martin Donovan is an American actor. Born in Reseda, California, he began his career as a stage actor and made his screen debut in the 1984 independent film Hard Choices. He gained prominence through a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in films including Trust (1990), Simple Men (1992), Amateur (1994) and The Book of Life (1998).

Donovan is known for his role as DEA agent Peter Scottson in the series Weeds. He made his writing and directorial debut with the 2011 film Collaborator. His credits also include Detective Hap Eckhart in Insomnia (2002), Mitchell Carson in Ant-Man (2015), Fay in Tenet (2020) and Fred Trump in The Apprentice (2024).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, screenrant.com, deadline.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

- *Little House on the Prairie* (2026), Fi1m 60, as Mr. Ingalls — [page](https://film.one/tv/little-house-on-the-prairie.md)
- *The Apprentice* (2024), Fi1m 61, as Fred Trump — [page](https://film.one/film/the-apprentice.md)
- *BlackBerry* (2023), Fi1m 78, as Rick Brock — [page](https://film.one/film/blackberry.md)
- *Tenet* (2020), Fi1m 65, as Fay — [page](https://film.one/film/tenet.md)
- *Ant-Man* (2015), Fi1m 67, as Mitchell Carson — [page](https://film.one/film/ant-man.md)
- *Inherent Vice* (2014), Fi1m 78, as Crocker Fenway — [page](https://film.one/film/inherent-vice.md)
- *Weeds* (2005), Fi1m 76, as Lieutenant Peter Scottson — [page](https://film.one/tv/weeds.md)
- *The Portrait of a Lady* (1996), Fi1m 68, as Ralph Touchett — [page](https://film.one/film/the-portrait-of-a-lady.md)
- *Trust* (1990), Fi1m 79, as Matthew Slaughter — [page](https://film.one/film/trust.md)

## Complete filmography (117)

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

- *Little House on the Prairie* (2026), series, as Mr. Ingalls — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/tv/little-house-on-the-prairie.md)
- *Earth Abides* (2024), series, as Milton
- *The Apprentice* (2024), as Fred Trump — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/the-apprentice.md)
- *Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent* (2024), series, as Charles Graff
- *Sealed with a List* (2023), as Silas Redmond
- *Lioness* (2023), series, as Errol Meade
- *BlackBerry* (2023), as Rick Brock — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/blackberry.md)
- *Archive 81* (2022), series, as Virgil Davenport
- *Crisis* (2021), as Lawrence Morgan
- *Firefly Lane* (2021), series, as Wilson King
- *Redemption Day* (2021), as Tom Fitzgerald
- *Percy* (2020), as Rick Aarons
- *Tenet* (2020), as Fay — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/tenet.md)
- *Dead Still* (2020), series, as Bushrod Whacker
- *Nancy Drew* (2019), series, as Everett Hudson
- *White Lie* (2019), as Doug Arneson
- *The Art of Racing in the Rain* (2019), as Maxwell
- *Come to Daddy* (2019), as Brian
- *Carter* (2018), series, as Hamilton Gerard
- *Fahrenheit 451* (2018), as Commissioner Nyari
- *Indian Horse* (2018), as Jack Lanahan
- *Status Update* (2018), as Dutch Alden
- *The Lost Wife of Robert Durst* (2017), as Detective Struk
- *Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams* (2017), series, as Odin
- *Rememory* (2017), as Gordon Dunn
- *Aftermath* (2017), as Robert
- *Big Little Lies* (2017), series, as Martin Howard — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/big-little-lies.md)
- *All at Once* (2016), as Giovanni Sacco
- *Conviction* (2016), series, as President Theodore 'Ted' Morrison
- *Lethal Weapon* (2016), series, as Grant Davenport
- *DC's Legends of Tomorrow* (2016), series, as Zaman Druce
- *Ant-Man* (2015), as Mitchell Carson — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/ant-man.md)
- *Ned Rifle* (2015), as Rev. Daniel Gardner
- *Inherent Vice* (2014), as Crocker Fenway — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/inherent-vice.md)
- *The Lottery* (2014), series, as Darius Hayes
- *Amnesia: Who Are You?* (2014), as Internet Submission 6
- *Sabotage* (2014), as Floyd Demel
- *Nurse 3-D* (2013), as Larry Cook
- *King & Maxwell* (2013), series, as Bob Scott
- *The Reluctant Fundamentalist* (2013), as Ludlow Cooper
- *Motive* (2013), series, as Miles Balfour
- *Silent Hill: Revelation 3D* (2012), as Douglas Cartland
- *The Firm* (2012), series, as Kevin Stack
- *Boss* (2011), series, as Ezra Stone
- *Collaborator* (2011), as Robert Longfellow · Director, Writer
- *Homeland* (2011), series, as Leland Bennett — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)
- *Unforgettable* (2011), series, as William Houston
- *Unnatural History* (2010), series, as Martin Donovan
- *Unthinkable* (2010), as Jack Saunders
- *Shadows & Lies* (2010), as Victor
- *Everything She Ever Wanted* (2009), series, as Charles
- *Duress* (2009), as Richard Barnett
- *The Listener* (2009), series, as Michael Morrissey
- *The Haunting in Connecticut* (2009), as Peter Campbell
- *The Spirit Box* (2009), as Officer Dan Johnson
- *The Alphabet Killer* (2008), as Jim Walsh
- *Fear Itself* (2008), series, as Officer Dan Johnson
- *Remember Back, Remember When* (2008), as Dad
- *K. Il bandito* (2008), Director, Writer
- *Wind Chill* (2007), as Highway Patrolman
- *Right to Die* (2007), as Cliff Addison
- *The Garage* (2006), as Adult Matt
- *The Quiet* (2006), as Paul Deer
- *Day On Fire* (2006), as Walter Evering
- *The Sentinel* (2006), as William Montrose
- *The Visitation* (2006), as Travis Jordan
- *Masters of Horror* (2005), series, as Cliff Addison
- *Ghost Whisperer* (2005), series, as Tom Gordon
- *Weeds* (2005), series, as Peter Scottson, Lieutenant Peter Scottson — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/weeds.md)
- *Dark Shadows* (2005), as Roger Collins
- *Saved!* (2004), as Pastor Skip
- *The Pornographer: A Love Story* (2004), as Michael
- *Traffic* (2004), series, as Brent Delaney
- *The United States of Leland* (2003), as Harry Pollard
- *Agent Cody Banks* (2003), as Dr. Connors
- *Pipe Dream* (2002), as David Kulovic
- *RFK* (2002), as John F. Kennedy
- *The Dead Zone* (2002), series, as Malcolm Janus
- *Insomnia* (2002), as Hap Eckhart
- *Pasadena* (2001), series, as Will McAllister
- *Amy & Isabelle* (2001), as Peter Robertson
- *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation* (2000), series, as Howard Delhomme
- *Desire* (2000), as (uncredited)
- *Custody of the Heart* (2000), as Dennis Raphael
- *Wonderland* (2000), series, as Neil Harrison
- *The Great Gatsby* (2000), as Tom Buchanan
- *Onegin* (1999), as Prince Nikitin
- *In a Savage Land* (1999), as Dr. Phillip Spence
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Dr. Archibald Newlands, Logan Carter
- *The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer* (1999), as Richard DiBenedetto
- *The Hunt For The Unicorn Killer* (1999), series, as Richard DiBenedetto
- *Heaven* (1999), as Robert Marling
- *Living Out Loud* (1998), as Robert Nelson
- *Spanish Fly* (1998), as Carl
- *The Book of Life* (1998), as Jesus Christ
- *When Trumpets Fade* (1998), as Captain Pritchett
- *The Opposite of Sex* (1998), as Bill Truitt
- *Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples* (1998), as Aart Vos
- *Night Sins* (1997), as Paul Garrison
- *Night Sins* (1997), series, as Paul Garrison
- *The Portrait of a Lady* (1996), as Ralph Touchett — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/the-portrait-of-a-lady.md)
- *Flirt* (1996), as Walter
- *Hollow Reed* (1996), as Martyn Wyatt
- *Nadja* (1995), as Jim
- *The Rook* (1994), as John Abbott
- *Amateur* (1994), as Thomas Ludens
- *Flirt* (1993), as Walter
- *Quick* (1993), as Herschel Brewer
- *Scam* (1993), as Gordon Wexler
- *Malcolm X* (1992), as FBI Agent — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/malcolm-x.md)
- *Simple Men* (1992), as Martin
- *Surviving Desire* (1992), as Jude
- *Law & Order* (1990), series, as Robert White — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)
- *Trust* (1990), as Matthew Slaughter — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/trust.md)
- *Leg Work* (1987), series, Actor
- *Hard Choices* (1985), as Josh
- *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Jude, Martin

## Gallery

- ![Martin Donovan](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-f8f410b11c7d.jpg) Martin Donovan — Nick Step, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Martin_Donovan.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Tom Ortenberg, and Amy Baer in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024)](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-921366ee35a6.jpg) Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Tom Ortenberg, and Amy Baer in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024) — Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Martin_Donovan%2C_Maria_Bakalova%2C_Ali_Abbasi%2C_Sebastian_Stan%2C_Jeremy_Strong%2C_Tom_Ortenberg%2C_and_Amy_Baer_at_%22The_Apprentice%22_in_NYC.jpg/1280px-Martin_Donovan%2C_Maria_Bakalova%2C_Ali_Abbasi%2C_Sebastian_Stan%2C_Jeremy_Strong%2C_Tom_Ortenberg%2C_and_Amy_Baer_at_%22The_Apprentice%22_in_NYC.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024)](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-e3949d76f8d6.jpg) Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024) — Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Martin_Donovan%2C_Maria_Bakalova%2C_Ali_Abbasi%2C_Sebastian_Stan%2C_Jeremy_Strong_at_%22The_Apprentice%22_in_NYC_01.jpg/1280px-Martin_Donovan%2C_Maria_Bakalova%2C_Ali_Abbasi%2C_Sebastian_Stan%2C_Jeremy_Strong_at_%22The_Apprentice%22_in_NYC_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024)](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-3cba0ef8b843.jpg) Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024) — Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Martin_Donovan_in_2024_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Martin Donovan](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-fdd57e43ae73.jpg) Martin Donovan — Image via TMDB
- ![Martin Donovan](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-8fdade213cdc.jpg) Martin Donovan — Image via TMDB
- ![Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Tom Ortenberg, and Amy Baer in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024)](https://film.one/media/person/387/gallery-31c0fa4e458e.jpg) Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Tom Ortenberg, and Amy Baer in New York City for the movie The Apprentice. (2024) — Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Martin_Donovan_in_2024_%282%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© 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/martin-donovan