Mark Duplass always knew he wanted to be in show business, but his dream was originally to be a musician. He even moved to New York to pursue his career but after being diagnosed with tendinitis in both his arms, he decided to enroll in City College of New York to study composition instead. He eventually ended up joining the indie rock band "Volcano, I'm Still Excited!!" as their keyboardist and lead singer.
Mark initially began dabbling in the movie industry by co-writing and starring in several short films, many of which were directed by his older brother, Jay. In 2005, Mark teamed up with his brother behind the camera to write, produce and co-direct their first feature film, The Puffy Chair, about a man who travels across the country with his emotional girlfriend, his brother and barely any money to deliver his father's birthday gift. Mark also starred as one of the film's main characters. The Puffy Chair went on to win the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival and also earned two Independent Spirit Award nominations.
In 2008, the brothers joined forces again to write, produce and direct the dark comedy Baghead, about a group of struggling actors whose amateur horror screenplay, their hopeful shot to fame, starts to come true. In the year following the release of Baghead, Mark made a return to acting, starring in films like Other People's Parties, Humpday and True Adolescents. He also worked as a producer and writer on a few other films. Then in 2010, the Duplass brothers released their next feature, Cyrus, starring Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei and John C. Reilly, as well as the 2012 film Jeff, Who Lives at Home with Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon.
Mark also often plays roles in other directors' feature films, like Colin Trevorrow's comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) about a man who places a personal ad on craigslist and gets some strange responses, Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister (2012) about a man who hooks up with his best friend's sister, and People Like Us (2012) about a man who searches out his long-lost sister after the death of their father.
Since then, Mark has kept busy as an actor, playing recurring roles on series such as Wedlock, The League, Togetherness, Netflix's 2017 mini-series Manhunt: The Unabomber, The Mindy Project (2017) and Goliath (2018). He was also seen in the role of Craig, the brother of Charlize Theron's character on the big screen in Tully (2018).
In 2019, he was cast as Chip Black on the Apple TV+ hit series, The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. For his performance, Mark received a 2020 Primetime Emmy nomination.
Mark and his wife, actress Katie Aselton, with whom he co-starred in the FX television series The League, have two children together.
Filmography (Director):
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2012)
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2012)
Cyrus (2010)
Baghead (2008)
The Puffy Chair (2005)
Filmography (Actor):
Bombshell (2019)
Paddleton (2019)
Love Sonia (2018)
Duck Butter (2018)
Tully (2018)
Creep 2 (2017)
Blue Jay (2016)
The Lazarus Effect (2015)
Mercy (2014)
Tammy (2014)
Creep (2014)
The One I Love (2014)
Parkland (2013)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
People Like Is (2012)
Your Sister's Sister (2012)
Darling Companion (2012)
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Mars (2010)
Greenberg (2010)
True Adolescents (2009)
Humpday (2009)
Other People's Parties (2009)
Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)
The Puffy Chair (2005)