# Ben Rappaport
**Ben Rappaport** (born 1986; birth name Bennett Eli Rappaport) is an American actor known for starring as Todd Dempsy on the NBC sitcom *Outsourced* (2010–2011), as Seth Oliver on the Shondaland/ABC drama *[For the People](https://www.edgepedia.org/for-the-people-2018-tv-series)* (2018–2019), and on Broadway as Perchik in the 2015 revival of *Fiddler on the Roof* and as [Jack Paar](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-paar) in *Good Night, Oscar*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/) • [2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1986, Arlington, Texas; birth name Bennett Eli Rappaport[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/bio/) |
| Training | The Juilliard School, where he received the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize, the Drama Department's highest honor[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) |
| Breakout role | Todd Dempsy, the lead of NBC's *Outsourced*, 2010–2011, 22 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/) |
| Series regular roles | Seth Oliver in *For the People* (2018–2019, 20 episodes); Brett Navson in *Grosse Pointe Garden Society* (2025, 13 episodes)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/) |
| Broadway | Alan Seymour in *Picnic* (Roundabout, 2013); Perchik in *Fiddler on the Roof* (2015 revival); Jack Paar in *Good Night, Oscar* (2023)[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) |
| Film | *Hope Springs* (2012) and *The Brass Teapot* (2012), among others[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) |
## Early life and training
Rappaport grew up in Texas, the only child of Howard and Karen Rappaport, and was raised in the Jewish faith; he has described his bar mitzvah, Hebrew school, and temple attendance on the High Holidays as instilling the importance of family, traditions, and values.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/bio/) • [4](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/ben-rappaport.html) He attended Klein High School, the same school as actor [Matt Bomer](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-bomer).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/bio/)
**The acting bug.** He has dated his start in theater to age 15, when he saw his high school's modern-dress production of *Romeo and Juliet*. He had been a musician and visual artist and describes himself as having been a shy kid, but that performance, in his words, "reached down and grabbed me."[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Interview-This-Show-is-The-Gift-That-Keeps-On-Giving-Actor-Ben-Rappaport-on-Returning-to-GOOD-NIGHT-OSCAR-at-The-Barbican-20250718) He then studied acting at the [Juilliard School](https://www.edgepedia.org/juilliard-school) in New York, graduating around 2008, and as a student received the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize, the highest honor of Juilliard's Drama Department.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) • [6](https://www.collegemagazine.com/rappaports-fast-track-to-success/)
## Television
**Outsourced.** Two years after graduating from Juilliard, Rappaport won the lead role of Todd Dempsy, a naïve American salesman whose Kansas City novelty-goods call center is outsourced to Mumbai, on NBC's workplace comedy *Outsourced*, which ran for one season, 2010 to 2011, in 22 episodes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/) • [6](https://www.collegemagazine.com/rappaports-fast-track-to-success/) • [7](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item?item=103895) It was his first on-camera role, following off-Broadway work in *The Gingerbread House*.[8](https://archive.newyorkmoves.com/?p=9075) He has called the season a crash course in on-camera acting and a huge milestone.[8](https://archive.newyorkmoves.com/?p=9075)
**Recurring and later roles.** After *Outsourced*, he appeared in several pilots that were not picked up before landing series-regular work again.[9](https://beforethebreak.buzzsprout.com/1721601/episodes/13009967-102-good-night-oscar-s-ben-rappaport-re-release) His television credits include recurring roles as Carey Zepps on *The Good Wife*, Ollie Parker on *Mr. Robot* (2015–2019, 9 episodes), and Max on *Younger* (2016–2021, 10 episodes), plus guest appearances on *[Elementary](https://www.edgepedia.org/elementary-tv-series)*, *Ozark*, *Law & Order: SVU*, *Modern Love*, *Evil*, *Blindspot*, *God Friended Me*, and *Inventing Anna*, where he played [Billy McFarland](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-mcfarland).[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/) From 2018 to 2019 he was a series regular as lawyer Seth Oliver on *For the People*, a Shondaland-produced ABC drama about rookie lawyers in the New York federal court; he has called Seth his favorite character to date.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/) • [10](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/for-the-people-86101/) • [8](https://archive.newyorkmoves.com/?p=9075) In 2025 he played Brett Navson in the NBC series *Grosse Pointe Garden Society*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/)
## Theatre
**Broadway debut and Fiddler.** Rappaport made his Broadway debut as Alan Seymour in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2013 revival of William Inge's *Picnic*.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) When he read that *Fiddler on the Roof* would return to Broadway, he told his girlfriend, Megan Kane, that he would play Perchik; he then enrolled in voice lessons with Andrew Byrne and drilled the song "Now I Have Everything" for 45 minutes to an hour daily for the better part of a year.[11](https://playbill.com/article/now-he-has-everything-how-fiddlers-perchik-willed-his-casting-and-onstage-engagement-into-existence) • [12](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Blog-FIDDLER-ON-THE-ROOFs-Ben-Rappaport--My-Road-To-Anatevka-20160302) During that preparation he learned that his family descended from Eastern European Jews; his great-great-grandfather Louis Sugarman wrote a novel about life in his shtetl, *The God of Ben Zion*, originally in Yiddish and translated into English by his family in the preceding year.[11](https://playbill.com/article/now-he-has-everything-how-fiddlers-perchik-willed-his-casting-and-onstage-engagement-into-existence) He won the role in director Bartlett Sher's 2015 Broadway revival, and performed "Sunrise, Sunset" at the 70th Annual Tony Awards.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/)
**Good Night, Oscar.** In 2023 he originated the role of television host Jack Paar opposite Sean Hayes's Oscar Levant in the Broadway production of Doug Wright's play *Good Night, Oscar*, and he reprised the role in the show's 2025 West End run at the [Barbican Centre](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbican-centre) in London, his West End debut.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/) • [5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Interview-This-Show-is-The-Gift-That-Keeps-On-Giving-Actor-Ben-Rappaport-on-Returning-to-GOOD-NIGHT-OSCAR-at-The-Barbican-20250718) For the part he studied archival Paar footage, including material at the Paley Center for Media, and built the characterization on dialect work and Paar's radio-trained vocal delivery rather than mimicry.[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Interview-This-Show-is-The-Gift-That-Keeps-On-Giving-Actor-Ben-Rappaport-on-Returning-to-GOOD-NIGHT-OSCAR-at-The-Barbican-20250718)
His other stage work includes off-Broadway productions of *Actually, We're F**ked* (Cherry Lane Theatre), *Sex Lives of Our Parents* (Second Stage), and *The Gingerbread House* (Rattlestick Theatre/stageFARM).[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/)
## Film
Rappaport's film credits include Brad in *Hope Springs* (2012) with [Meryl Streep](https://www.edgepedia.org/meryl-streep), Ricky in *The Brass Teapot* (2012), Nathan in *Better Off Single* (2016), David in *Landing Up* (2018), Bill in *Ask for Jane* (2018), and Craig in *Albany Road* (2024).[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/)
## References
1. [Ben Rappaport, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/)
2. [Ben Rappaport, BroadwayWorld person page](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Rappaport/)
3. [Ben Rappaport Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2999419/bio/)
4. [Ben Rappaport, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/ben-rappaport.html)
5. [Interview: Actor Ben Rappaport on Returning to Good Night, Oscar at The Barbican, BroadwayWorld (2025)](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Interview-This-Show-is-The-Gift-That-Keeps-On-Giving-Actor-Ben-Rappaport-on-Returning-to-GOOD-NIGHT-OSCAR-at-The-Barbican-20250718)
6. [Rappaport's Fast-Track to Success, College Magazine (2011)](https://www.collegemagazine.com/rappaports-fast-track-to-success/)
7. [Outsourced: Pilot, The Paley Center for Media](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item?item=103895)
8. [Ben Rappaport, New York Moves](https://archive.newyorkmoves.com/?p=9075)
9. [Before The Break episode 102: Good Night, Oscar's Ben Rappaport](https://beforethebreak.buzzsprout.com/1721601/episodes/13009967-102-good-night-oscar-s-ben-rappaport-re-release)
10. [For the People Production Listing, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/for-the-people-86101/)
11. [Now He Has Everything! How Fiddler's Perchik Willed His Casting Into Existence, Playbill (2016)](https://playbill.com/article/now-he-has-everything-how-fiddlers-perchik-willed-his-casting-and-onstage-engagement-into-existence)
12. [BWW Blog: Fiddler on the Roof's Ben Rappaport, My Road To Anatevka, BroadwayWorld (2016)](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Blog-FIDDLER-ON-THE-ROOFs-Ben-Rappaport--My-Road-To-Anatevka-20160302)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames R to Ri*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 20, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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