# Tom Pelphrey
**Tom Pelphrey** (born 1982) is an American actor known for television, film, and stage work, most recently for playing Robbie Prendergrast in HBO's crime drama *Task*, a role that won him the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2026[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tom-pelphrey). His earlier breakthrough came as Ben Davis, the volatile brother of [Laura Linney](https://www.edgepedia.org/laura-linney)'s Wendy Byrde, in the third season of Netflix's *Ozark* in 2020[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / origin | Thomas J. Pelphrey, born 1982 in Howell, New Jersey[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/) |
| Training | BFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University; studied Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre in London[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/) |
| First role | Jonathan Randall on the CBS daytime drama *Guiding Light*, from 2004; won two Daytime Emmy Awards[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html) • [4](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-breakout-tom-pelphrey/id1468510314?i=1000486743827) |
| Breakout | Ben Davis in *Ozark* season 3 (2020); Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series[5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/) |
| Emmy record | Two nominations (Guest Actor, Drama, 2022 for *Ozark*; Supporting Actor, Drama, 2026 for *Task*), one win[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tom-pelphrey) |
| Signature roles | Kurt Bunker in *Banshee*, Ward Meachum in *[Iron Fist](https://www.edgepedia.org/iron-fist-tv-series)*, Perry Abbott in *Outer Range*, Don Crowder in *Love & Death*, Robbie Prendergrast in *Task*[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/) • [5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/) |
| Family | Engaged to actress Kaley Cuoco; they share a daughter, Matilda Carmine Richie Pelphrey, and are expecting a second child[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html) • [7](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/kaley-cuoco-and-tom-pelphreys-relationship-from-meet-cute-to-becoming-new-parents) |
## Training and early career
Pelphrey grew up in New Jersey and began acting in high school, crediting a teacher named Steve Kazakoff with changing his life when he was 14[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/) • [8](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/tom-pelphrey-kaley-cuoco-love-and-death-hbo-max-interview). After attending the performing arts program at Howell High School, he earned a BFA in Acting from [Rutgers University](https://www.edgepedia.org/rutgers-university)'s Mason Gross School of the Arts and studied Shakespeare at the [Globe Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/globe-theatre) in London[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/). He knew he wanted to act from the age of 15[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html).
His first professional job was on the long-running CBS soap opera *Guiding Light*, debuting in 2004 as the villain Jonathan Randall, the charming and volatile son of the show's leading lady[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/). He stayed with the show until its series finale in 2009 and won two [Daytime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/daytime-emmy-awards) for the role[5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/) • [4](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-breakout-tom-pelphrey/id1468510314?i=1000486743827).
**Theater years.** After leaving daytime television, Pelphrey worked primarily in theater. A few years after graduating from Rutgers, he and his friend Dennis Flanagan founded the Apothecary Theatre Company, where he served as artistic director; the company produced the world premiere of *In God's Hat*, which the *New York Times* called "terrific" and which sold out the rest of its run[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/) • [9](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/). He made his Broadway debut as Micky Deans in *End of the Rainbow*, a play about the final days of [Judy Garland](https://www.edgepedia.org/judy-garland) that was nominated for multiple [Tony Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-awards), and later appeared on Broadway in *Fool for Love* alongside [Sam Rockwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-rockwell) and Nina Arianda[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/).
## Television and film
Pelphrey's first recurring series regular role came when he was cast at about age 32 as Kurt Bunker on Cinemax's *[Banshee](https://www.edgepedia.org/banshee-tv-series)*, a troubled former neo-Nazi seeking redemption who becomes a police officer[5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/). He followed that with the role of the drug-addicted billionaire Ward Meachum in Marvel's *Iron Fist*[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/).
**Ozark.** In March 2020, Pelphrey joined the third season of Netflix's *Ozark* as Ben Davis, the bipolar brother of Laura Linney's Wendy Byrde. He was a relative unknown at the time, and his portrayal of Ben's inner turmoil drew wide acclaim[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html). His turn in the season earned him a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series[5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/). He expected an Emmy nomination that year and did not receive one; a year later he was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for flashback appearances in the show's fourth and final season[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tom-pelphrey). He has said the show "totally opened doors and had a big impact on my career"[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html).
**Film and further series.** Pelphrey played screenwriter Joseph Mankiewicz, brother to [Gary Oldman](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-oldman)'s Herman Mankiewicz, in [David Fincher](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-fincher)'s *Mank* (2020), a film nominated for 10 Academy Awards[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/). His subsequent television work included Perry Abbott, a ranch owner's son whose unchecked anger sets the series in motion, in Amazon's *Outer Range*, and the real-life attorney Don Crowder in HBO's *Love & Death*[5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/). On film, he played real-life fugitive [Jason Derek Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-derek-brown) in Matthew Gentile's *American Murderer*[9](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/).
## Task and the 2026 Emmy
*Task*, the HBO limited series from *Mare of Easttown* creator Brad Ingelsby, premiered on September 7, 2025. Pelphrey plays Robbie Prendergrast, a family man turned violent criminal on a collision course with [Mark Ruffalo](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-ruffalo)'s grieving FBI agent, set in the same Pennsylvania working-class landscape as *Mare of Easttown*[9](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/). The character required the local "Delco" accent; despite growing up less than an hour from the filming area, Pelphrey worked with an accent coach and spent hours on the phone with a Delaware County local, talking about football to absorb the sounds unconsciously[9](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html).
At the 78th [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards) in 2026, Pelphrey won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role, his second career nomination and first win[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tom-pelphrey). In his acceptance speech he expressed thankfulness for his life and sobriety and paid tribute to his fiancée, [Kaley Cuoco](https://www.edgepedia.org/kaley-cuoco)[10](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/tom-pelphrey-honored-pregnant-kaley-cuoco-emmys-bts-footage).
## Personal life
Pelphrey met actress Kaley Cuoco at the *Ozark* season four premiere in 2022; their shared manager had arranged the meeting, and he later described it as love at first sight[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html) • [5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/). They are engaged and have a daughter, Matilda Carmine Richie Pelphrey, with a second child on the way[7](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/kaley-cuoco-and-tom-pelphreys-relationship-from-meet-cute-to-becoming-new-parents) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html). He has said that becoming a parent changed his acting, giving him certainty about the depth of feeling a character like Robbie would have for his child[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html). His father died when Pelphrey was 25[5](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/).
## Approach to acting
Pelphrey gravitates toward morally complex characters and has described his creative approach as "being part of something bigger," crediting the collective work of a production for what an audience experiences[9](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/). In interviews he has emphasized persistence and continual learning over outcomes, saying that focusing on the work itself rather than reviews or awards improved both his happiness and his performance[9](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/) • [11](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2026/tom-pelphrey-identity-discipline-family-success).
## References
1. [Tom Pelphrey | Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tom-pelphrey)
2. [Task star Tom Pelphrey: 'Getting the accent right was keeping me up at night', The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/tom-pelphrey-task-ozark-interview-b2820739.html)
3. [Tom Pelphrey, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/bio/)
4. [The Breakout: Tom Pelphrey, Skip Intro with Krista Smith, Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-breakout-tom-pelphrey/id1468510314?i=1000486743827)
5. [Tom Pelphrey on 'Task,' Kaley Cuoco, and Nailing a Philly Accent, Esquire](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65951423/tom-pelphrey-task-interview/)
6. [Tom Pelphrey - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670601/)
7. [Kaley Cuoco And Tom Pelphrey's Relationship: From Meet Cute To Becoming New Parents, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/kaley-cuoco-and-tom-pelphreys-relationship-from-meet-cute-to-becoming-new-parents)
8. [Tom Pelphrey on Life With Kaley Cuoco and Love & Death, W Magazine](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/tom-pelphrey-kaley-cuoco-love-and-death-hbo-max-interview)
9. [Tom Pelphrey Doesn't Play It Safe, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tom-pelphrey-task-interview-79123/)
10. [Tom Pelphrey Shouted Out 'Very Pregnant' Kaley Cuoco At The Emmys, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/tom-pelphrey-honored-pregnant-kaley-cuoco-emmys-bts-footage)
11. [Tom Pelphrey on Identity, Discipline, and Loving the Work, Ford DRIVE](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2026/tom-pelphrey-identity-discipline-family-success)
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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: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Pe to P*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: 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