Ron Livingston

Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. His early roles in Office Space and the miniseries Band of Brothers have been noted as two of his best-known works. Early life Livingston was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Linda (née Rinas), a Lutheran pastor, and Kurt Livingston, an aerospace/electronics engineer. His younger brother John is also an actor; sister Jennifer Livingston and brother-in-law Mike Thompson are both TV news personalities at WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He graduated from Marion High School in Marion, Iowa, and attended Yale University, where he received B.A. degrees in Theater and English. Livingston had his first acting experience at Theatre Cedar Rapids after being introduced to the group during a school job shadowing. Livingston relocated to Chicago and became involved in the local theater scene. Career Livingston's first film role was in 1992, in Dolly Parton's Straight Talk. He moved to Los Angeles and was cast in supporting roles in Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade and The Low Life. Livingston landed his first role in a major film in 1996's Swingers. He starred as the male lead, Peter Gibbons, in the comedy cult classic Office Space, which co-starred Jennifer Aniston and was written and directed by Mike Judge. He also appeared in HBO's miniseries Band of Brothers as Captain Lewis Nixon opposite Donnie Wahlberg and Damian Lewis. Going beyond nice-guy roles, Livingston played a Hollywood agent in Adaptation (2002); a weaselly Ivy League upstart to Alec Baldwin's casino boss in The Cooler (2003); and teachers in Winter Solstice and Pretty Persuasion (both 2005). He also appeared as sardonic writer Jack Berger, Carrie's short-term boyfriend in the sixth season of Sex and the City. He guest starred in the episode "TB or Not TB" of House. In 2006, he starred as FBI negotiator Matt Flannery in the Fox series Standoff, co-starring Rosemarie DeWitt, and he was an ad spokesman for Sprint Nextel. In summer 2007, Livingston appeared on the off-Broadway stage in the world premiere of Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House, produced by MCC Theater, with Frederick Weller and Louisa Krause. The show ran from May–July at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City. In November 2007, the indie film Holly told the story of a Vietnamese girl trafficked into the sex trade in Cambodia. Livingston starred as Patrick, a shady card shark who becomes determined to save Holly from her ill-destined fate. In 2009, he portrayed flight engineer Maddux Donner in the series Defying Gravity, which was cancelled after its first season. In 2010, Livingston co-starred in the Jay Roach comedy Dinner for Schmucks. On February 26, 2013, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that he would be joining the cast of HBO's Boardwalk Empire for the fourth season. In 2013, Livingston co-starred in the indie comedy Drinking Buddies alongside Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick. Drinking Buddies received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 82% based on 97 reviews. Personal life Livingston and his Standoff co-star Rosemarie DeWitt began a relationship after meeting each other on the show. After dating for three years, they were married on November 2, 2009, in San Francisco. He was previously engaged to actress Lisa Sheridan. In May 2013, Livingston and wife Rosemarie announced that they had adopted a girl, Gracie James Livingston, who was born on April 29, 2013.