# Woody Harrelson filmography
The Woody Harrelson filmography is the record of screen roles performed by the American actor Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born 1961 in [Midland, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/midland-texas)), spanning television comedy, independent drama, and franchise film from the late 1970s to the present. One compiled count lists 106 credited roles, 95 in film and 11 in television series.[1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/woody-harrelson-filmography) His career divides into three phases: eight seasons as bartender [Woody Boyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-boyd) on the NBC sitcom *Cheers* (1985 to 1993), a 1990s run of leading film roles that produced his first Academy Award nomination, and, after a fallow stretch, a reinvention through independent cinema and prestige television from 2009 onward.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-woody-harrelson-lbj-rob-reiner-haymitch-20160917-snap-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Screen credits | 106 credited roles: 95 films and 11 television series[1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/woody-harrelson-filmography) |
| Breakthrough role | Woody Boyd on *Cheers*, 1985 to 1993; Emmy winner in 1989 and nominee in four other years of the run[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) |
| First starring film role | Billy Hoyle in *White Men Can't Jump* (1992), opposite Wesley Snipes[4](https://www.biography.com/actors/woody-harrelson) |
| Academy Award nominations | *The People vs. Larry Flynt* (1996), *The Messenger* (2009), and *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* (2017)[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/fullcredits) • [6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/snl-star-leslie-jones-reveals-she-thought-woody-harrelson-would-flop-as-host/) |
| Signature television drama | Detective Marty Hart in HBO's *True Detective* (2014), Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) |
| Franchise work | Haymitch Abernathy in *The Hunger Games* (2012) and its sequels[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/fullcredits) |
| Recent work | *Triangle of Sadness* (2022), *Champions* (2023), *Last Breath* (2025), and the Apple TV series *Brothers* (2026)[7](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/143929.pdf) • [8](https://apnews.com/article/c556e827ae93fdac3696d078a888efb8) • [9](https://apnews.com/article/1bacff9b76b672d8d86b6514de9fbac9) • [10](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/brothers/) |
## Television beginnings: Cheers
Harrelson's first substantial screen role came in 1985, when he was cast as the sweet, dim-witted bartender Woody Boyd on *Cheers*, a part he played for eight seasons until the series ended in 1993.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jan-10-la-ca-woody-harrelson10-2010jan10-story.html) The performance earned him five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, with a win in 1989.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) He later returned to the character's world as a guest on *Frasier* in the 1999 episode "The Show Where Woody Shows Up", which brought a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson)While still on the series he took small film parts: an uncredited extra in *Harper Valley P.T.A.* (1978) preceded his credited debut as Krushinski in *Wildcats* (1986), followed by roles in *Doc Hollywood* (1991) and an uncredited appearance in *L.A. Story* (1991).[1](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/woody-harrelson-filmography) • [12](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/233984-Woody-Harrelson) Harrelson later said that during his *Cheers* years he could not get other work and feared he would be Woody Boyd forever.[13](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/woody-harrelson)
## 1990s film career
**The break into leads.** Harrelson identified *White Men Can't Jump* (1992), [Ron Shelton](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-shelton)'s basketball comedy, as his real break into movies, playing the hustler Billy Hoyle opposite [Wesley Snipes](https://www.edgepedia.org/wesley-snipes); he joked that only [Keanu Reeves](https://www.edgepedia.org/keanu-reeves)'s poor basketball skills had saved the part for him.[13](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/woody-harrelson) Biography.com describes it as his first starring role.[4](https://www.biography.com/actors/woody-harrelson) He followed it with *Indecent Proposal* (1993) as David Murphy, and then took the lead in Oliver Stone's *Natural Born Killers* (1994) as Mickey, a role far removed from his television persona.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/233984-Woody-Harrelson) • [4](https://www.biography.com/actors/woody-harrelson)
**The Oscar-nominated turn.** In 1996 he played pornographer and First Amendment activist [Larry Flynt](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-flynt) in Milos Forman's *The People vs. Larry Flynt*, a performance that brought his first Academy Award nomination, along with Golden Globe and [Screen Actors Guild](https://www.edgepedia.org/screen-actors-guild) nominations.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/fullcredits) • [7](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/143929.pdf) The same year he starred as Roy Munson in the [Farrelly brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/farrelly-brothers)' bowling comedy *Kingpin*, and in 1995 he had played Charlie in *Money Train*, again with Snipes.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/233984-Woody-Harrelson) The Los Angeles Times later characterized the 1990s as his best run, but noted that a decade-long dry spell followed, with roles such as the good-natured fixer Carson Wells in the Coen brothers' *No Country for Old Men* (2007) arriving amid less successful vehicles.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-woody-harrelson-lbj-rob-reiner-haymitch-20160917-snap-story.html) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jan-10-la-ca-woody-harrelson10-2010jan10-story.html)
## Reinvention from 2009
The 2009 independent drama *The Messenger*, directed by Oren Moverman, in which Harrelson played a military casualty notification officer, earned him his second Academy Award nomination.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/fullcredits) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-woody-harrelson-lbj-rob-reiner-haymitch-20160917-snap-story.html) The same year he played the zombie-hunting Tallahassee in the comedy *Zombieland*. In 2012 he took two contrasting high-profile parts: [Steve Schmidt](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-schmidt), John McCain's 2008 campaign strategist, in the HBO film *Game Change*, which brought an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a [Miniseries](https://www.edgepedia.org/miniseries) or a Movie, and the drunken mentor Haymitch Abernathy in *The Hunger Games*, a role he reprised in the sequels.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/fullcredits)
**True Detective.** In 2014 Harrelson returned to series television as Detective Marty Hart opposite [Matthew McConaughey](https://www.edgepedia.org/matthew-mcconaughey) in the first season of HBO's *True Detective*, receiving Emmy nominations for both lead actor and, as an executive producer, Outstanding Drama Series.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) His third Academy Award nomination came for *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* (2017).[6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/snl-star-leslie-jones-reveals-she-thought-woody-harrelson-would-flop-as-host/) Other roles in this period include the title role in [Rob Reiner](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-reiner)'s *LBJ* (2016), the colonel in *War for the Planet of the Apes* (2017), and the captain in [Ruben Östlund](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruben-ostlund)'s Palme d'Arme-adjacent satire *Triangle of Sadness* (2022).[14](https://time.com/5016718/woody-harrelson-shines-as-crass-and-contradictory-lbj/) • [7](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/143929.pdf)
## Recent and upcoming work
Harrelson starred as a temperamental college basketball coach in *[Champions](https://www.edgepedia.org/champions-2023-film)* (2023), an American remake of Spain's 2018 box-office hit *Campeones*, which he also executive produced, with longtime collaborator [Bobby Farrelly](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-farrelly) directing.[8](https://apnews.com/article/c556e827ae93fdac3696d078a888efb8) He played saturation diver Duncan Allcock in the survival drama *Last Breath* (2025), based on a true deep-sea rescue.[9](https://apnews.com/article/1bacff9b76b672d8d86b6514de9fbac9) He reunited with McConaughey in *Brothers*, an Apple TV comedy premiering September 23, 2026, in which the two play fictionalized versions of themselves whose friendship is upended by the possibility that they are biological brothers; the series runs eight episodes with Lee Eisenberg as showrunner, and Harrelson also serves as a producer.[10](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/brothers/) • [15](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/woody-harrelson/)
## Television and other credits
Beyond *Cheers* and *True Detective*, Harrelson's television work includes a recurring guest role as Nathan, Grace's love interest, on seven episodes of *Will & Grace*, and voice work as Freewheelin' Franklin Freek in the animated series *The Freak Brothers* (2020 to 2026).[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson) • [16](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/) He has hosted *Saturday Night Live* five times between 1989 and 2023.[6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/snl-star-leslie-jones-reveals-she-thought-woody-harrelson-would-flop-as-host/)
## References
1. [Woody Harrelson Filmography in Order, Pop Culture Files](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/woody-harrelson-filmography)
2. [Woody Harrelson, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/woody-harrelson)
3. [Toronto film festival 2016: Woody Harrelson takes on 'LBJ', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-woody-harrelson-lbj-rob-reiner-haymitch-20160917-snap-story.html)
4. [Woody Harrelson: Biography, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/actors/woody-harrelson)
5. [Woody Harrelson, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/fullcredits)
6. ['SNL' Star Reveals Movie Star Host She Thought Would Flop, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/snl-star-leslie-jones-reveals-she-thought-woody-harrelson-would-flop-as-host/)
7. [Triangle of Sadness press kit, Festival de Cannes](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/143929.pdf)
8. [Disabled actors shine in basketball comedy 'Champions', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/c556e827ae93fdac3696d078a888efb8)
9. [Movie Review: 'Last Breath' with Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/1bacff9b76b672d8d86b6514de9fbac9)
10. [Brothers, Apple TV Press (UK)](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/brothers/)
11. [He's Woody Harrelson, not Woody Boyd, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jan-10-la-ca-woody-harrelson10-2010jan10-story.html)
12. [Woody Harrelson, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/233984-Woody-Harrelson)
13. [Woody Harrelson, Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/woody-harrelson)
14. [Woody Harrelson Shines as a Crass and Contradictory LBJ, Time](https://time.com/5016718/woody-harrelson-shines-as-crass-and-contradictory-lbj/)
15. [Woody Harrelson, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/woody-harrelson/)
16. [Woody Harrelson, IMDb profile](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000437/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actor filmographies and performer list articles › Surnames A to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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