# Raphael Sbarge
**Raphael Sbarge** (born 1964) is an American actor, voice actor, director, and producer whose career spans stage, film, television, and video games. He is known on screen as Archie Hopper and [Jiminy Cricket](https://www.edgepedia.org/jiminy-cricket) on the ABC fantasy drama *Once Upon a Time*, as Jake Straka on *The Guardian*, and as Detective David Molk on TNT's *Murder in the First*, and to game audiences as the voice of Carth Onasi in *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic* and Kaidan Alenko in the *Mass Effect* trilogy.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) Since the 2010s he has also worked behind the camera, winning an Emmy for the PBS series *10 Days in Watts* and co-hosting the podcast *Inside the Arthouse* with Laemmle Theaters chief executive Greg Laemmle.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964, New York City; son of Broadway costume designer Jeanne Button and artist, filmmaker, and author Stephen Sbarge[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) |
| Start in acting | Appeared on *Sesame Street* at age 4.5; first Broadway show at 16, *The Curse of An Aching Heart* opposite Faye Dunaway[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) |
| Breakout film role | Co-starred in *Risky Business* (1983) with Tom Cruise at age 18, days after graduating high school[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) |
| Signature voice roles | Carth Onasi in *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic* (2003) and its sequel; Kaidan Alenko in *Mass Effect* (2007), *Mass Effect 2* (2010), and *Mass Effect 3* (2012)[3](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/credit/5077-raphael-sbarge) |
| Television leads | Jake Straka on *The Guardian* (2001–2004, all three seasons); Archie Hopper/Jiminy Cricket on *Once Upon a Time*; David Molk on *Murder in the First*[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/raphael-sbarge/) • [2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) |
| Directing | Emmy-winning director and producer; *10 Days in Watts* (2023) won his first Emmy, and the documentary *Only in Theaters* (2022) played over 100 US dates[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) |
| Podcasting | Co-host of *Inside the Arthouse* with Greg Laemmle since 2024, a weekly video podcast interviewing filmmakers whose films open in theaters[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) |
## Early life and stage beginnings
Sbarge grew up in Manhattan as the only child of two theater professionals. His mother, Jeanne Button, was a Broadway costume designer who also taught at the Yale Drama School, Tulane, and NYU; his father, Stephen Sbarge, was an artist, playwright, and documentary filmmaker.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362) He has described himself as "raised in a trunk," growing up backstage in costume shops and rehearsal halls.[5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362)
His entry into performing came through geography as much as ambition. Living on the [Lower East Side](https://www.edgepedia.org/lower-east-side) in the 1960s, his family happened to be near where *Sesame Street* was being shot, and he appeared on the new PBS show at about four and a half years old.[5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362) His mother declined a contract offer because she did not want to be a stage mother, but he kept appearing in plays at [Tanglewood](https://www.edgepedia.org/tanglewood) from age seven and at the Yale Repertory Theater from age ten, when his mother taught there.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362) At 13 he decided to become an actor, found his own agent, and earned his [Screen Actors Guild](https://www.edgepedia.org/screen-actors-guild) card almost immediately; his early stage work included Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park production of *Henry IV, Part 1* and a Papp-directed *Hamlet* at the Public Theater.[5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362)
## Film and television
At 16 Sbarge made his Broadway debut in *The Curse of An Aching Heart* opposite [Faye Dunaway](https://www.edgepedia.org/faye-dunaway), and at 18, days after finishing high school, he flew to Chicago to co-star in *Risky Business* (1983) with [Tom Cruise](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-cruise).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) His first film was actually the independent drama *Abuse* (1983), made in New York when he was 16, which he later described as a cult classic that won awards.[5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362) He went on to appear in dozens of films, including *Vision Quest* (1985), *Independence Day* (1996), *Message in a Bottle* (1999), *Pearl Harbor* (2001), and *The Exorcist: Believer* (2023), with later roles in *Friendship* (2024) with [Paul Rudd](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-rudd) and *The History of Sound* (2025) with Paul Mescal, in which he played the father of Mescal's character Lionel.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-history-of-sound-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnors-gay-romance-is-years-most-moving-drama/)
Television has been the center of his screen career. His first series-regular role was Brian McGuire on the short-lived CBS show *Better Days* (1986), and he later played the ship engineer Michael Jonas in a recurring role on *Star Trek: Voyager*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/raphael-sbarge/) • [7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/sbarge-raphael-1964) His highest-profile role to that point came in 2001 with *[The Guardian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-guardian-tv-series)*, in which he played Jake Straka, the best friend of [Simon Baker](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-baker)'s character, for all three seasons of the series.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/raphael-sbarge/) On *Once Upon a Time* (2011) he played Dr. Archie Hopper, the town therapist of Storybrooke, and his fairy-tale counterpart Jiminy Cricket, a dual role he has said he approached as one person in two places.[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) • [8](https://www.blastmagazine.com/2012/05/13/once-upon-a-times-raphael-sbarge-the-blast-interview/) He later starred as Detective David Molk on TNT's *Murder in the First* (2014).[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) His resume includes more than 100 guest appearances, with recurring parts on shows including *Dexter*, *Longmire*, *24*, and *Prison Break*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) A 2015 profile in *The A.V. Club* counted him in no fewer than 15 hour-long dramas then on the air, a density of appearances that led a Twitter commenter to call him "the Where's Waldo? of actors."[5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362)
## Voice acting
Sbarge's game voice work began, by his own account, with LucasArts' *Grim Fandango* (1998), where he voiced Terry Malloy, a New York union organizer-type character he has cited as the moment he realized how much he enjoyed creating characters vocally.[9](https://www.destructoid.com/a-quick-chat-with-voice-actor-raphael-sbarge/) • [10](https://www.mobygames.com/person/9258/raphael-sbarge/credits/) His *Star Wars* credits grew from Dack Ralter in *Star Wars: Rogue Squadron* (1998) and Dellis Tantor in *Star Wars: Force Commander* (2000) to Carth Onasi in *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic* (2003) and its 2004 sequel, and Delta 62 "Scorch" in *[Star Wars: Republic Commando](https://www.edgepedia.org/star-wars-republic-commando)* (2005).[3](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/credit/5077-raphael-sbarge) • [5](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362)
The role that reached the widest game audience is Kaidan Alenko, the human squadmate in BioWare's *Mass Effect* trilogy (2007, 2010, 2012), a part he reprised in the *Citadel* downloadable content.[3](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/credit/5077-raphael-sbarge) • [10](https://www.mobygames.com/person/9258/raphael-sbarge/credits/) He has described the recording process for the [BioWare](https://www.edgepedia.org/bioware) games as largely solitary, working from concept drawings and outlines before the game's years of later development were complete, and has said that theater training helps actors tell a story entirely with their voice.[9](https://www.destructoid.com/a-quick-chat-with-voice-actor-raphael-sbarge/) He has also appeared at fan events alongside his *Mass Effect* co-star Mark Meer, the voice of male Commander Shepard.[11](https://animesuperhero.com/toonzone-mcm-london-comic-con-may-2013-mark-meer-raphael-sbarge/)
## Directing and producing
Sbarge began working behind the camera in 2011, adding director and producer credits with a focus, in his own description, on social justice, environmental justice, and underserved voices.[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) His documentary *LA Foodways* (2019), a one-hour feature and six-part series made with KCET-PBS through his production company Wishing Well Entertainment, earned his first Emmy nomination in 2020.[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) His feature documentary *Only in Theaters* (2022) follows the Laemmle Theaters art-house cinema chain, a fourth-generation family business, and played a theatrical run of over 100 dates around the United States; it received a 97 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and reviews that *The New York Times* summarized as "Undeniably compelling."[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) He won his first Emmy for *10 Days in Watts* (2023), a PBS series he directed and produced about the Watts community of Los Angeles and the opening of the MudTown Farms urban garden; the series was also nominated five times by the LA Press Club and won a journalism award for excellence.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) • [2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/) His other directing work includes the narrative film *The Bird Who Could Fly* (2017), about a Korean immigrant family, which won Best Director awards at several Asian American film festivals, and a film of Marty Moran's Obie Award-winning play *The Tricky Part* (2019).[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/)
In 2024 he began co-hosting *Inside the Arthouse*, a weekly video podcast with Greg Laemmle, chief executive of Laemmle Theaters, interviewing the filmmakers, actors, and producers behind films opening in theaters.[2](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/)
## Stage career
Theater remains central to his work. He has appeared on Broadway five times, including *Ah, Wilderness* with [Jason Robards](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-robards), *The Shadow Box* with [Mercedes Ruehl](https://www.edgepedia.org/mercedes-ruehl), *Voices in the Dark* with [Judith Ivey](https://www.edgepedia.org/judith-ivey), and *The Twilight of the Golds*, which also had a pre-Broadway national tour and a Kennedy Center run.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/) His off-Broadway and regional credits include *Picnic* with Gwyneth Paltrow, *Booth* with Frank Langella, and *The Cherry Orchard* with Annette Bening and Alfred Molina.[12](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/2923/raphael-sbarge)
## References
1. [Raphael Sbarge – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768620/bio/)
2. [About Raphael Sbarge, raphaelsbarge.com](https://www.raphaelsbarge.com/info/)
3. [Game Credits – Raphael Sbarge, GameFAQs](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/credit/5077-raphael-sbarge)
4. [Raphael Sbarge – Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/raphael-sbarge/)
5. [Raphael Sbarge is the Where's Waldo? of actors, The A.V. Club (2015)](https://avclub.com/raphael-sbarge-is-the-where-s-waldo-of-actors-1798282362)
6. [The History of Sound review, The Daily Beast (2025)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-history-of-sound-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnors-gay-romance-is-years-most-moving-drama/)
7. [Sbarge, Raphael 1964–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/sbarge-raphael-1964)
8. ["Once Upon A Time's" Raphael Sbarge: The Blast Interview, Blast Magazine (2012)](https://www.blastmagazine.com/2012/05/13/once-upon-a-times-raphael-sbarge-the-blast-interview/)
9. [A quick chat with voice actor Raphael Sbarge, Destructoid (2011)](https://www.destructoid.com/a-quick-chat-with-voice-actor-raphael-sbarge/)
10. [Raphael Sbarge – Video Game Credits, MobyGames](https://www.mobygames.com/person/9258/raphael-sbarge/credits/)
11. [Toonzone at MCM London Comic Con May 2013 – Mark Meer & Raphael Sbarge Q&A, Anime Superhero News](https://animesuperhero.com/toonzone-mcm-london-comic-con-may-2013-mark-meer-raphael-sbarge/)
12. [Raphael Sbarge, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/2923/raphael-sbarge)
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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 S to Se*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 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