Eric Bogosian


Eric Michael Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Chicago and Oberlin College. His play Talk Radio was a finalist for the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Bogosian also wrote and starred in the 1988 film adaptation, winning the Silver Bear.
As an actor, he has appeared in plays, films, and television series throughout his career. His television roles include Captain Danny Ross in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Lawrence Boyd on Billions, Daniel Molloy on Interview with the Vampire, and Gil Eavis on Succession. He also starred as Arno in the Safdie brothers' film Uncut Gems.
Bogosian has also been involved in New York City ballet production, and has written several novels as well as the historical nonfiction Operation Nemesis, based on the program to assassinate perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. He is the recipient of three Obie Awards and a Drama Desk Award, as well as two-time fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Early life

Eric Bogosian was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. He spent his early childhood in Watertown, Massachusetts, home to a large Armenian-American community which included his grandparents, survivors of the Armenian genocide. His family moved to nearby Woburn in 1960. He became interested in theater while attending Woburn Memorial High School, and would later base his play subUrbia on his youth in Woburn's Four Corners neighborhood. He attended the University of Chicago before graduating from Oberlin College.

Career

Bogosian is an author and actor known for his plays Talk Radio and subUrbia, as well as numerous one-man shows. In 1983, early in his career, Bogosian appeared in the music video for Jim Capaldi's song "That's Love". In recent years he has starred on Broadway in Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still, published three novels, and was featured on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Captain Danny Ross.

Stage

Between 1980 and 2000, six major solos written and performed by Bogosian were produced Off-Broadway, garnering him three Obie Awards as well as the Drama Desk award. His first two solos, Men Inside and funHouse were presented at the New York Shakespeare Festival. His third, Drinking in America, was produced by American Place Theater. Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee were all produced commercially Off-Broadway by Frederick Zollo.
Bogosian is also the author of six produced plays, including 1987's Talk Radio. Talk Radio was a finalist for Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but lost to Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy. In 2007, a Broadway revival of Talk Radio directed by Robert Falls starred Liev Schreiber. subUrbia was directed by Robert Falls and produced by Lincoln Center Theater in 1994. Other titles include Griller ; Humpty Dumpty ; Red Angel and 1+1. Bogosian's one-man drama, Notes from Underground has had several productions, most recently starring Jonathan Ames at Performance Space 122.
In addition to his many appearances in his solo work and starring in his play Talk Radio, Bogosian has also starred in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The [Last Days of Judas Iscariot] directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Film

Bogosian's play Talk Radio was adapted to film in 1988 by Oliver Stone, garnering Bogosian the prestigious Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear. The [SubUrbia (film)|film version of subUrbia] was directed by Richard Linklater. His play Sex, Drugs, [Rock & Roll (film)|Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll] was adapted to film in 1991. He has appeared in several other films including Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Wonderland. In addition, he has been featured in films by such directors as Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Taylor Hackford, Atom Egoyan, and Agnieszka Holland.

Television

In television, Bogosian is best known for his starring role as Captain Danny Ross in the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In addition, he has appeared as a guest star on dramas and in 1994 created with Steven Spielberg the series High Incident for ABC television. He portrayed Barney Greenwald, defense attorney, in the TV film The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. He also appeared in the episode "His Story" on Scrubs as Dr. Cox's therapist and was recurring character Lawrence Boyd in Billions' second season. In 1993, Bogosian played the role of Stan Paxton, Larry's ex-standup partner in the series 'The Larry Sanders Show'. He has also appeared in HBO's show Succession as Senator Gil Eavis, and in the main cast of the AMC show Interview with the Vampire as Daniel Molloy, the reporter who interviews the titular vampire. Bogosian’s "incredible performance" during the show’s second season was highlighted by Ro Rusak of Nerdist in their Best TV and Film Moments of 2024. That role was particular important to Bogosian as he was a long term fan of vampire genre- "When I first came to New York as a young theatre intern, Frank Langella was doing Dracula on Broadway. I was there with a girlfriend, and we were probably in the last row of the balcony. And I felt like he was breathing down my neck. That power, that energy that he could create, thrilled me." That titillating thrill embedded itself deep into Bogosian, awakening an inclination toward the vampire's allure that has persisted for decades. "I love the eroticism of vampire stuff. I love these movies and plays more than anything. I petitioned Francis Ford Coppola to be in his Dracula (1992 film)|Dracula], but unfortunately, I wasn't a big enough star," Bogosian shrugs. "But he did invite me to the set, and I got to hang around with him and look at all the storyboards for that movie. That was really exciting." As the years went on, Bogosian's fascination crystallized into a specific desire for his career: One way or another, he was determined to play a vampire. "It's just always on my mind," Bogosian smiles. "I think there's something about the power of a vampire. And hey, the biting the neck stuff is just sexy to me, so that doesn't hurt."

Books

Bogosian is the author of three novels published by Simon & Schuster: Mall, Wasted Beauty, and Perforated Heart. All of his dramatic work is in print, published by Theater Communication Group. In 2015, Little, Brown published Operation Nemesis: The Secret Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide, a history of Operation Nemesis, which involved a group of Armenian assassins who set out to avenge the deaths of the one and a half million victims of the Armenian genocide.

Dance

Bogosian founded the dance series at The Kitchen. During his charter tenure there, he produced the first concerts in New York City by Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Karole Armitage and Molissa Fenley as well as dozens of other choreographers. In 2006, Bogosian acted as producer on the New York City Ballet's documentary, Bringing Back Balanchine.

Collaborations

In addition to working with Jo Bonney and Tad Savinar, other notable collaborations include with Michael Zwack ; Joe Hannan ; Glenn Branca ; Robert Longo ; Ann Magnuson and Elliott Sharp. Since 2016 Bogosian has been filming the 100monologues.com series with Travis Bogosian and Good Baby Films.

Awards

Bogosian has won the Obie Award three times as well as the Drama Desk Award. He received the prestigious "Silver Bear" at the 1989 Berlin Film Festival for his work on Talk Radio. He is a 2004 Guggenheim fellow and the recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Legacy and influence

In April 2025, the one-night monologue performance Wake Up and Smell the C*VID: An Evening Without Eric Bogosian was staged in New York City and online via livestream by the anonymous arts collective HEPA. While Bogosian was not involved with the play, his legacy and style were invoked in what reviewers described as “a series of monologues about artists and community members whose lives have drastically changed due to COVID-19 and Long COVID.”
Broadway World reported that the play featured “a fictional septuagenarian playwright who’s telling the world it’s collapsing while overlooking the collapse of his community—and his own vascular system.”
According to The Sick Times, the event drew “packed, engaged audiences.” Reviewers noted that “even when events like this may be suppressed by social media algorithms… the community who refuses to ‘move on’ is still hungry for spaces where they can connect.”

Personal life

In 1980, he married Jo Anne Bonney, with whom he has two sons, Harry and Travis Bogosian.
In an April 2025 interview with Nerdist, Bogosian reflected on his experiences in the 1970s and his proximity to queer spaces during that period. He stated, "There wasn’t a door I didn’t walk through. There was nothing that scared me. I was fascinated by whatever was going on. My gay experiences were very limited, but it wasn’t like I wouldn’t do something."

Performances and works

Writing credits

  • Men in Dark Times
  • Scenes from the New World
  • Sheer Heaven
  • Men Inside
  • The New World
  • FunHouse
  • Drinking in America
  • Talk Radio
  • Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll
  • Notes from Underground
  • Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead
  • subUrbia
  • Griller
  • Mall
  • Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
  • Humpty Dumpty
  • Non-profit Benefit
  • Red Angel
  • Wasted Beauty
  • 1+1
  • Perforated Heart
  • ''Operation Nemesis''