Thomas Middleditch

Middleditch grew up in Nelson, British Columbia, the son of British immigrants. His father was a school principal and his mother a special education teacher. He discovered improv during eighth grade when he joined a Theatresports group, and the experience transformed him from a shy, bullied student into the confident class comedian. After high school he briefly enrolled in the theatre program at the University of Victoria but left, feeling the curriculum placed too little emphasis on comedy.

He moved to Toronto hoping to enter the George Brown Theatre School but ultimately chose to produce his own sketch material instead, working at a New Balance store to support himself. He then relocated to Chicago, where he trained at The Second City and iO Theater (then ImprovOlympic) under the mentorship of the Chicago long-form community. As a Canadian citizen he faced immigration obstacles and took cash jobs until iO founder Charna Halpern sponsored his U.S. work visa, a pivotal intervention that allowed him to remain in the country and continue performing.

In 2005 Middleditch co-founded the Improvised Shakespeare Company alongside Blaine Swen and other Chicago improvisers. The troupe, which creates fully improvised plays in Elizabethan English from a single audience-suggested title, launched its ongoing residency at iO in 2006 and was named Chicago's best improv group by both the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Examiner. Middleditch also performed with Second City's touring company aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines vessels. While on a cruise ship engagement, he secured an audition for Saturday Night Live. Although he was not cast, the routine he used during his audition earned him a network holding deal, prompting his move to New York City.

In New York, Middleditch began performing regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, appearing in ensemble shows and at the annual Del Close Marathon. He also pursued on-camera work, landing commercials and small film roles. A sketch video he made with Fernando Sosa in Chicago was purchased by McDonald's and aired as a national commercial in 2007.

His breakout came in 2013 when he was cast as Richard Hendricks, the awkward tech genius at the center of Mike Judge's HBO comedy Silicon Valley. The pilot was reportedly written with Middleditch in mind for the lead. The series premiered April 6, 2014, and ran for six seasons through December 2019. His performance earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2016), four Satellite Award nominations (winning Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical in 2019), and multiple Critics' Choice Television Award nominations. The show itself received a Peabody Award in 2015.

Alongside Silicon Valley, Middleditch assembled a significant list of film and voice credits. He appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), The Final Girls (2015), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Tag (2018). His voice work includes Harold Hutchins in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), the title character in Disney XD's Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero (2014 to 2017), and Terry in Hulu's animated series Solar Opposites (2020 to present). He starred in a series of widely seen Verizon advertising campaigns from 2017 to 2018.

In April 2020, Netflix released Middleditch and Schwartz, three hour-long fully improvised specials performed with Ben Schwartz at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. The show received a 100 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was described as a masterclass in improv comedy. The duo had built the project from sold-out runs at Largo in Los Angeles, expanded to small venues across the country, and eventually performed at Carnegie Hall before landing the Netflix deal.

Middleditch made his Broadway debut in December 2024, playing Eli in Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by Anna D. Shapiro and co-starring Jessica Hecht, Bill Irwin, and Amber Gray. He became a U.S. citizen in January 2022 and holds a pilot's license.