Andrew Leeds (actor)

Andrew Leeds
Born Andrew Harrison Leeds
Clearwater, Florida
Residence Los Angeles
Occupation Actor, Writer, Director

Andrew Leeds is an American actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Josh on Cristela, Christopher Pelant on Bones, and Jackson Pulver on Veep. He is also in the Main Company of the sketch comedy/improv theater The Groundlings.[1]

Early career

Andrew's first job as a professional actor was as an understudy in the Broadway musicalTeddy & Alice. Eventually, Andrew took over for the role of Quentin Roosevelt.[2] Andrew then originated the role of Gavroche in the national tour of Les Miserables.[3] After rehearsing in New York City, the tour opened in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.For the next twenty months, Andrew traveled around the country, playing the role in over 40 cities, from Dallas to Denver to Lincoln to Orlando.[4] After leaving Les Miserables, Andrew auditioned for the Broadway production of Falsettos and was offered the role of Jason on Wednesday and Saturday matinees.[5] He starred in the musical for a year, acting opposite such Broadway legends as Michael Rupert,[6] Chip Zien, and Mandy Patinkin. After taking over the evening performances for a short stint, Andrew departed the production to play the title role in Carly Simon's opera Romulus Hunt.[7]

The opera was commission by the Metropolitan Opera Guild of New York City. The production was directed by Francesca Zambello and was performed in New York at the John Jay Theater and then at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. It was subsequently recorded by Angel Records. A mini-documentary of the recording session can be seen here.

Shortly after completing his run in the opera, Andrew was offered a role in the movie A Pig's Tale produced by Polygram Filmed Entertainment. Andrew's next job was as Cadet Dotson in the Universal Studios movie Major Payne starring Damon Wayans.[8] The movie was released in 1995, which is when Andrew returned to Florida to start high school. A few years later he received admission to Stanford University.

Education

While at Stanford, Andrew participated in many theatrical productions on campus (acting, directing,[9] set designing, producing.[10]) He graduated with a degree in computer science.

Career

Andrew's first big television role came when Ryan Murphy cast him in the recurring role of Henry on Nip/Tuck. This led to an arc on The Practice. Things then took a turn in Andrew's career when he and his writing partner at the time, David Lampson, were selected to be on the Bravo reality show Situation: Comedy.[11] Produced by Sean Hayes, the show documented the process of making two competing pilots. Andrew and David's pilot, Stephen's Life, was selected out of 10,000 submissions. The pilot was shot for NBC and went on to win the entire competition, launching Andrew's career as a writer.

Andrew returned to his acting career and worked on many shows including Veep, Desperate Housewives, House M.D., Cult,[12] Castle, Grey's Anatomy, American Horror Story: Coven, NCIS: Los Angeles,[13] Hot in Cleveland, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In the meantime, he continued to write and sell pilots.

His drama pilot Rex is Not Your Lawyer was produced by NBC in 2011 starring David Tennant, Jeffery Tambor, Abigail Spencer, Jane Curtain, Jerry O'Connell, Lindsey Kraft, and Cleo King. Shortly after that he landed the role of serial killer Christopher Pelant on the hit television show Bones.[14] What originally started out as one episode turned into a three season arc and Pelant became the most popular criminal the series ever had.

Leeds and Lampson then wrote another pilot. This was a comedy for NBC called Brenda Forever.[15] It was produced, starring Ellie Kemper, Stephnie Weir, and David Krumholtz. It was directed by David Wain. It took did not go to series, but shortly after this Andrew was cast in his first series regular role as Josh in the ABC comedy Cristela.[16]

After one season on the air, the show was canceled. Andrew then wrote a comedy pilot called Those People[17] for Kelly Ripa's company and ABC and appeared on the Comedy Central show Workaholics. In November 2015, Andrew was asked to become a member of the Main Company of the sketch comedy/improv troupe The Groundlings. He now performs there regularly.

Filmography

TV shows

Year Title Role Notes
2003 CSI Tom Bell "All for Our Country" (Season 4, Episode 2)
2003 The Practice Danny Grant Season 8 (2 episodes)
2003-2004 Nip/Tuck Henry Shapiro Seasons 1 - 2 (3 Episodes)
2004 I'm with Her Joel "Drama Queen" (Season 1, Episode 21)
2006 Numb3rs Daniel "Backscatter" (Season 2, Episode 22)
2008 Dirt Alan Season 2 (3 episodes)
2008 Desperate Housewives Leo "Kids Ain't Like Everybody Else" (Season 5, Episode 3)
2009 House, M.D. Dr. Medina Season 6 (2 Episodes)
2010 The Mentalist Drew Yost "Red Sky at Night" (Season 3, Episode 1)
2010 Castle Adam Murphy "Punked" (Season 3, Episode 4)
2011 The Closer Conner Ellis "Home Improvement" (Season 7, Episode 6)
2011 Rules of Engagement Lester "Audrey is Dumb" (Season 6, Episode 3)
2012 Grey's Anatomy Andy "Second Opinion" (Season 9, Episode 6)
2013 Cult Marc Season 1 (2 Episodes)
2013 The Fosters ADA Colbert "I Do" (Season 1, Episode 10)
2013 American Horror Story: Coven Dr. Dunphy "The Axeman Cometh" (Season 3, Episode 6)
2013-2014 NCIS: Los Angeles John Booker Season 5 (4 Episodes)
2014 Mixology Cute Guy "Bruce & Fab" (Season 1, Episode 7)
2014 Bad Teacher Ned "Divorced Dudes" (Season 1, Episode 7)
2014 Hot in Cleveland Tom "The Italian Job" (Season 5, Episode 20)
2015 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Jason "The Gang Misses the Boat" (Season 10, Episode 6)
2012-2015 Bones Christopher Pelant Seasons 7 - 10 (9 Episodes)
2014 Veep Jackson "Debate" (Season 3, Episode 8)
2014-2015 Cristela Josh Season 1 (22 episodes)
2016 Workaholics Dan "A Night at the Dudeseum" (Season 6, Episode 7)
2016 Modern Family Rich (Season 7, Episode 22)

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Life with Mikey Fred
1994 A Pig's Tale Beckerwood
1995 Major Payne Cadet Dotson
2003 Missing Brendan Bob Calden
2004 Who's Your Daddy Austin
2006 Special
2009 Irene In Time Marcus
2011 Subject: I Love You Chris
2015 Entourage Paul
2016 Office Christmas Party Tim

References

  1. "The Groundlings". The Groundlings Website. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  2. "Andrew Harrison Leeds | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  3. Willis, John (1995-01-01). Theatre World 1992-1993. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781557832047.
  4. "'Miserables' Is Much More Than Spectacle". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  5. Gerard, Jeremy. "Review: ‘Falsettos’". Variety. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  6. LLC, New York Media (1993-01-18). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC.
  7. Rothstein, Edward (1993-02-27). "Review/Music; Carly Simon's New Opera for Children". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  8. Klady, Leonard. "Review: ‘Major Payne’". Variety. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  9. "The Stanford Daily 2 April 1997 — The Stanford Daily". stanforddailyarchive.com. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  10. "The Stanford Daily 13 April 2000 — The Stanford Daily". stanforddailyarchive.com. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  11. "Picks and Pans Review: Situation: Comedy : People.com". www.people.com. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  12. "'Bones' actor joins CW pilot 'Cult'". Digital Spy. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  13. "NCIS: LA Exclusive: Bones Baddie Andrew Leeds Joins Season 5 in Recurring Role". TVLine. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  14. "'Bones': Season 7 finds its murderous nerd in Andrew Leeds". Zap2It. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  15. Andreeva, Nellie. "Andrew Leeds/David Lampson Comedy Spec Lands NBC Pilot Order, Ellie Kemper Circling". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  16. Andreeva, Nellie. "Quintet Cast In ABC Comedy ‘Cristela’". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  17. Petski, Denise. "ABC Buys Comedy From Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos, Andrew Leeds". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-03-15.

External links

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