# Benny Safdie
**Benny Safdie** (born 1986) is an American filmmaker and actor from New York City who co-directed *Uncut Gems* and *Good Time* with his older brother [Josh Safdie](https://www.edgepedia.org/josh-safdie), and who won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2025 [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) for his first solo feature, *The Smashing Machine*.[1](https://www.watchmode.com/people/benny-safdie) • [2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) He is also a working character actor, appearing as [Edward Teller](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-teller) in Christopher Nolan's *Oppenheimer* and as Joel Wachs in Paul Thomas Anderson's *Licorice Pizza*.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1986, New York City; younger brother of filmmaker Josh Safdie[1](https://www.watchmode.com/people/benny-safdie) |
| Joint features with Josh Safdie | *Daddy Longlegs* (2009), *Lenny Cooke* (2013), *Heaven Knows What* (2014), *Good Time* (2017), *Uncut Gems* (2019)[4](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2026/02/17/marty-supreme-with-timothee-chalamet-an-existential-and-frenetic-table-tennis-journey_6750586_30.html) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/) |
| Signature joint film | *Uncut Gems* (2019), co-written and co-directed with Josh Safdie, won three Independent Spirit Awards[2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) |
| Television | Co-created, co-wrote, and acted (Dougie Schecter) in Showtime and A24's *The Curse* (2023), earning Independent Spirit and WGA Award nominations[2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) |
| First solo feature | *The Smashing Machine* (2025), written and directed, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, released October 3, 2025[5](https://a24films.com/films/the-smashing-machine) |
| Venice 2025 | Silver Lion for Best Director; the film premiered in main competition[2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) • [5](https://a24films.com/films/the-smashing-machine) |
| Notable acting | Edward Teller in *Oppenheimer* (2023), Joel Wachs in *Licorice Pizza* (2021), roles in *Stars at Noon*, *Pieces of a Woman*, and *Happy Gilmore 2* (2025)[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/) |
| Next project | *Lizard Music*, a live-action/CGI adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater's 1976 novel reuniting him with Dwayne Johnson, for Amazon MGM Studios and United Artists[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1509478/news/) |
## Early life and the Red Bucket years
Benny Safdie grew up in New York City, the younger brother of Josh Safdie, in a household where their father filmed the boys constantly on a [Video 8](https://www.edgepedia.org/8-mm-video-format) camera.[1](https://www.watchmode.com/people/benny-safdie) While still a student he formed the production company Red Bucket Films with his brother, high school friend Alex Kalman, and fellow filmmakers Sam Lisenco and Zachary Treitz.[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/benny-safdie/) He graduated in 2008 but skipped the ceremony to fly to Cannes, where his short film *The Acquaintances of a Lonely John* screened in the Directors' Fortnight alongside Josh's début feature *The Pleasure of Being Robbed*.[8](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/the-safdie-brothers-full-immersion-filmmaking)
The brothers' early features, *Daddy Longlegs* (2009) and the documentary *Lenny Cooke* (2013), grew out of this low-budget, street-level New York practice, followed by *Heaven Knows What* (2014), built around the experiences of a homeless addict.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/) • [9](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2017/josh-and-benny-safdie-in-the-darkness-of-new-york/)
## The Safdie brothers
Working as a duo for roughly two decades, Josh and Benny Safdie made five feature films, moving from the fringes of New York independent cinema to the success of *Uncut Gems*.[4](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2026/02/17/marty-supreme-with-timothee-chalamet-an-existential-and-frenetic-table-tennis-journey_6750586_30.html) *Good Time* (2017), a night-long thriller about two brothers on the run after a failed robbery, screened in competition at Cannes, with Benny credited as actor, director, and editor; he also played the younger brother, Nick.[10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/benny-safdie/) The film was written with Ronald Bronstein, who collaborated on each of the brothers' features.[9](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2017/josh-and-benny-safdie-in-the-darkness-of-new-york/)
*Uncut Gems* (2019), starring [Adam Sandler](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-sandler) as a Diamond District jeweler and compulsive gambler, was their largest production and won three [Independent Spirit Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/independent-spirit-awards); Benny co-wrote and co-directed and also shared editing credit with Bronstein.[2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/)
The split. The partnership ended as each brother moved to a solo project. *The Smashing Machine*, directed by Benny, and *Marty Supreme*, written and directed by Josh, were released in close succession in late 2025, making the end of the creative partnership public.[4](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2026/02/17/marty-supreme-with-timothee-chalamet-an-existential-and-frenetic-table-tennis-journey_6750586_30.html) In the period before the split, Benny had also been working outside the duo's films: he co-created and acted in *The Curse* with [Nathan Fielder](https://www.edgepedia.org/nathan-fielder), and took acting roles in films by Anderson, Nolan, and [Claire Denis](https://www.edgepedia.org/claire-denis).[2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) • [11](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/drama-movies/the-smashing-machine-director-benny-safdie-says-acting-for-christopher-nolan-and-paul-thomas-anderson-made-him-a-better-filmmaker-you-want-somebody-to-say-you-did-okay/)
## Solo work and The Smashing Machine
*The Smashing Machine* (2025) tells the true story of Mark Kerr, the MMA and UFC pioneer played by [Dwayne Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/dwayne-johnson), whose obsession with greatness made him a legend while a battle with opioid addiction and a strained marriage pushed his career toward a breaking point.[5](https://a24films.com/films/the-smashing-machine) Johnson had reached out to Safdie in 2019 after seeing *Uncut Gems*, and pointed him to John Hyams's 2002 documentary *The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr*, which the fiction film draws from.[12](https://filmmakermagazine.com/132285-theres-an-opera-out-on-the-turnpike-benny-safdie-on-the-smashing-machine/)
The film departs from the frenetic pace of the brothers' joint work. It covers 1997 to 2000, was shot largely on 16mm with a documentary-like approach, shifts to 65mm for its present-day coda, and carries a jazz-and-electronics score by Nala Sinephro; Safdie directed a 164-person crew.[12](https://filmmakermagazine.com/132285-theres-an-opera-out-on-the-turnpike-benny-safdie-on-the-smashing-machine/) • [13](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2025/10/30/the-smashing-machine-is-a-deeply-tender-film-about-one-champion-s-vulnerabilities_6746908_30.html) In his Venice acceptance speech he described his approach as "radical empathy."[13](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2025/10/30/the-smashing-machine-is-a-deeply-tender-film-about-one-champion-s-vulnerabilities_6746908_30.html) Reviewers noted the tonal shift: critics such as Variety called Johnson's performance a revelation in what it described as a "laceratingly humane" biopic,[14](https://au.variety.com/2025/film/news/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-benny-safdie-27096/) while the Associated Press found the film "simpler and less curious" than the brothers' earlier work, avoiding addiction and sports-movie clichés to the point of understatement.[15](https://apnews.com/article/ae270603438539d2b34b104557ce668a) The film's United States release on October 3, 2025 coincided with early awards attention for Johnson's dramatic turn.[16](https://apnews.com/article/7757dd8008cae25d99039eedfefc3847)
His next feature, *Lizard Music*, adapts Daniel Pinkwater's 1976 novel as a live-action/CGI hybrid, again with Dwayne Johnson, for Amazon MGM Studios and [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists).[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1509478/news/)
## Acting career
Safdie's on-camera work runs alongside his directing. His credits include Nick Nikas in *Good Time* (2017), Joel Wachs in *Licorice Pizza* (2021), a CIA man in Claire Denis's *Stars at Noon* (2022), Chris in *[Pieces of a Woman](https://www.edgepedia.org/pieces-of-a-woman)* (2020), Herb Simon in *Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret* (2023), and Edward Teller in *Oppenheimer* (2023).[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/) In *The Curse* (2023), the Showtime and A24 series he co-created with Nathan Fielder, he played the character Dougie Schecter; the role earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for acting and the series' writing a WGA Award nomination.[2](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf) He appeared in *Happy Gilmore 2* (2025) and has upcoming roles as [Agamemnon](https://www.edgepedia.org/agamemnon) in Nolan's *The Odyssey* (2026) and as the voice of Bowser Junior in *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie* (2026).[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/) He has said that acting for directors such as Nolan and Anderson informed his own directing on *The Smashing Machine*.[11](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/drama-movies/the-smashing-machine-director-benny-safdie-says-acting-for-christopher-nolan-and-paul-thomas-anderson-made-him-a-better-filmmaker-you-want-somebody-to-say-you-did-okay/)
He also works as an executive producer on documentary and nonfiction projects, including *Telemarketers* (2023) and *[Ren Faire](https://www.edgepedia.org/ren-faire)* (2024).[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/benny-safdie/)
## References
1. [Benny Safdie biography, Watchmode](https://www.watchmode.com/people/benny-safdie)
2. [SCAD Savannah Film Festival guide 2025, Benny Safdie bio](https://filmfest.scad.edu/sites/filmfest/files/2025-10/SCAD-Savannah-Film-Festival-festival-guide-2025.pdf)
3. [Benny Safdie, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/benny-safdie/)
4. ["'Marty Supreme,' with Timothée Chalamet", Le Monde (2026)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2026/02/17/marty-supreme-with-timothee-chalamet-an-existential-and-frenetic-table-tennis-journey_6750586_30.html)
5. [The Smashing Machine, A24](https://a24films.com/films/the-smashing-machine)
6. [Benny Safdie News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1509478/news/)
7. [Benny Safdie credits, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/benny-safdie/)
8. ["The Safdie Brothers' Full-Immersion Filmmaking", The New Yorker (2019)](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/the-safdie-brothers-full-immersion-filmmaking)
9. ["Josh and Benny Safdie in the darkness of New York", Festival de Cannes (2017)](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2017/josh-and-benny-safdie-in-the-darkness-of-new-york/)
10. [Benny Safdie, Festival de Cannes profile](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/benny-safdie/)
11. ["The Smashing Machine director Benny Safdie says acting for Christopher Nolan and Paul Thomas Anderson made him a better filmmaker", GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/drama-movies/the-smashing-machine-director-benny-safdie-says-acting-for-christopher-nolan-and-paul-thomas-anderson-made-him-a-better-filmmaker-you-want-somebody-to-say-you-did-okay/)
12. ["'There's an Opera Out On the Turnpike': Benny Safdie on The Smashing Machine", Filmmaker Magazine (2025)](https://filmmakermagazine.com/132285-theres-an-opera-out-on-the-turnpike-benny-safdie-on-the-smashing-machine/)
13. ["'The Smashing Machine' is a deeply tender film about one champion's vulnerabilities", Le Monde (2025)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2025/10/30/the-smashing-machine-is-a-deeply-tender-film-about-one-champion-s-vulnerabilities_6746908_30.html)
14. ["'The Smashing Machine' Review: Dwayne Johnson Is a Revelation", Variety (2025)](https://au.variety.com/2025/film/news/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-benny-safdie-27096/)
15. ["Dwayne Johnson has never been better in 'The Smashing Machine,' but the movie dodges", Associated Press (2025)](https://apnews.com/article/ae270603438539d2b34b104557ce668a)
16. ["Oscar buzz builds for Dwayne Johnson's role as Mark Kerr in 'The Smashing Machine'", Associated Press (2025)](https://apnews.com/article/7757dd8008cae25d99039eedfefc3847)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Directors, producers, and screenwriters › Film directors by country and region › North and South American directors › Contemporary American directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license