Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian and American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on The Wire (2003, 2008), William Lewis on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2013–2014), Mad Sweeney on the Starz series American Gods (2017–2021), and as George "Pornstache" Mendez on Orange Is the New Black (2013–2017), for which he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He starred as the Master Chief in the Paramount+ live-action series Halo (2022–2024) which is based on the franchise of the same name.
His film roles include minor roles in Bubble Boy (2001), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Allegiance (2012), and Preservation (2014). He co-starred in the 2016 war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi directed by Michael Bay. In 2018, he starred in the action heist film Den of Thieves opposite Gerard Butler and in Skyscraper with Dwayne Johnson. In 2020, he starred in the drama film Lorelei with Jena Malone.
He is also known for his dramatic stage work including his performance in Awake and Sing! (2006) on Broadway which earned him a nomination for a Tony Award. In 2008, he starred in reasons to be pretty where he won the 2009 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. He narrated the audiobook version of Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.
Early life Schreiber was born to Tell Carroll Schreiber (1941–2021), an American actor, and Lorraine Reaveley, a Canadian psychotherapist who practises body-based psychotherapy.Body-based psychotherapy is an approach that emphasizes the relationship between bodily experience and psychological processes. He was born in an intentional community in Ymir, British Columbia, and at six months of age moved with his family to the unincorporated rural community of Winlaw, British Columbia. His older paternal half-brother is actor Liev Schreiber.
Schreiber's father, who had a strong interest in literature, named him after the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. His parents separated when he was 12, and he moved to Seattle with his father.
After graduating from high school, Schreiber enrolled at the University of San Francisco and sought to play on the university's basketball team. He later transferred to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and graduated in 2000 with a degree in theatre.
Career Television Schreiber's first television appearance was as Nick Sobotka in season 2 of the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire (2003). After his final appearance in the last episode of season 2, he also made a cameo appearance in the season 5 episode "The Dickensian Aspect". He went on to play minor roles in the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order before playing the recurring guest role of serial rapist William Lewis on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He appeared in an eight episode arc playing the antagonist to protagonist Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).
From 2008 to 2009, he appeared in multiple series including Dirt, Army Wives, The Beast, Numbers, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In 2011, he was cast as Johnny Leary in the FX series Lights Out which only aired for one season. From 2011 to 2012, he played both Demetri Ravitch in the Showtime series Weeds and Anton Little Creek on the show A Gifted Man. BuddyTV ranked him #77 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011".
In October 2012, Schreiber was cast in the recurring role of George "Pornstache" Mendez on the Netflix original drama series Orange Is the New Black. For his role on the show, he won the "We Love to Hate You Award" at the 2014 Young Hollywood Awards and received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2015. He played the role from 2013 to 2017 and had a guest appearance in a 2019 episode.
In February 2013, he co-starred as Virgil in NBC's drama pilot Ironside, a reboot of the 1967 series of the same name. However ratings and reviews were unfavourable and it was canceled after only four episodes had aired.
Schreiber was cast as Mad Sweeney in the 2017 Starz series American Gods, based on the novel of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. His character is a self-described leprechaun unwillingly endebted to Mr. Wednesday, played by Ian McShane. By the end of season 2, Sweeney remembers that he is Buile Shuibhne, the king of the Dál nAraidi driven insane by the curse of Saint Rónán Finn. Schreiber appears in seasons 1 and 2 with flashback appearances in the third and final season. His character became a favourite of viewers during the series.
In April 2019, he was cast as Master Chief / John-117 in the Halo live-action series, based on the video game franchise of the same name. The series was released on March 24, 2022, by Paramount+ and has received mostly positive reviews with 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. To prepare for his role in the series, Schreiber worked with a trainer and a chef to bulk up adding muscle to play the supersoldier. Paramount confirmed that the series was renewed for season 2 with Schreiber reprising the main role of Master Chief.
Schreiber co-starred in the biographical crime drama streaming television miniseries Candy as Allan Gore, opposite Jessica Biel's character, Candy Montgomery. It is based on the true story of how Candy Montgomery was accused of the axe murder of her neighbour, Betty Gore in 1980 in Texas. The series premiered May 9, 2022, with the last episodes airing on May 13, 2022.
Film Schreiber's first film was a minor role in the 2001 American black comedy film Bubble Boy. He appeared in the 2004 film The Manchurian Candidate which starred his half-brother Liev Schreiber. He had supporting roles in the films Lords of Dogtown (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), and Happythankyoumoreplease (2010). In 2016, he co-starred as Kris "Tanto" Paronto, GRS team member and former U.S. Army Ranger in the American biographical war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, opposite John Krasinski and James Badge Dale. The film was directed and co-produced by Michael Bay, written by Chuck Hogan, and is based on Mitchell Zuckoff's 2014 book of the same name.
In 2018, he starred in the American action heist film Den of Thieves with Gerard Butler. He played Ray Merrimen, a MARSOC Marine veteran who is the crew's leader and schemer, and one of the robbers who sets out to rob the Federal Reserve Bank of downtown Los Angeles. Schreiber underwent extensive military training for his role in the film, saying "... with the weapons training, we had extensive military movement, team movement, weapons training boot camp, a couple of weeks before we started shooting". In the same year he co-starred with Dwayne Johnson in the action thriller film Skyscraper. He played the role of American astronaut Jim Lovell in the biographical drama First Man which was also released in 2018.
Schreiber starred in the 2021 drama film Lorelei with Jena Malone. It received mostly positive reviews from critics. Brian Tallerico from RogerEbert.com said of Schreiber, "Schreiber uses his massive size in an interesting way in that he’s such an imposing figure but he allows himself to also be fascinatingly vulnerable at the same time... He has remarkable range".
Theatre Schreiber's stage work includes both Broadway and off-Broadway plays. In 2006, he starred in the Broadway play Awake and Sing!, earning him a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He also starred in the 2008 Broadway play reasons to be pretty with Piper Perabo and Alison Pill. For that role he won the 2009 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. He played Eben in the 2009 play Desire Under the Elms opposite Carla Gugino's Abbie. In 2011, Schreiber starred in the Off-Broadway play Gruesome Playground Injuries at Second Stage Theatre.
Personal life Schreiber married yoga teacher Jessica Monty in 2007. They have two sons together, born in 2009 and 2012. She filed for divorce in 2014, citing irreconcilable differences.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2001 Bubble Boy Todd 2003 Brent2004 Eddie Ingram Invitation to a Suicide Kazimierz "Kaz" Malek 2005 Lords of Dogtown Stecyk 2006 Jimmy Blue Jimmy Short film2008 Quid Pro Quo Brooster Vicky Cristina Barcelona Ben Nights in Rodanthe Charlie Torrelson Favorite Son David Paxton Also co-producer2009 Breaking Upwards Turner Tell-Tale Bernard Cochius 2010 Happythankyoumoreplease Charlie 2012 Allegiance Lieutenant Alec Chambers2014 Preservation Sean Neary Fort Bliss Staff Sergeant Donovan After Christian Valentino 2015 Bryan Macy 2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Kris "Tanto" Paronto2017 All Summers End Older Conrad Stevens Thumper Wyatt Rivers Big Bear Dude2018 Den of Thieves Ray Merrimen Beast of Burden Bloom Skyscraper Ben Gillespie First Man Jim Lovell 2019 The Devil Has a Name Ezekiel 2020 Lorelei Wayland 2022 The King's Daughter Dr. Labarthe 2025 Motor City Savick2026Batman: KnightfallJean-Paul Valley / AzraelVoice
Television Year Title Role Notes 2003, 2008 Nick Sobotka Recurring role (season 2), guest (season 5) 2003 A Painted House Hank Spruill Television film2005, 2007Law & Order: Criminal IntentEd LangEpisode: "The Unblinking Eye"TJ HawkinsEpisode: "Self-made" 2005 Into the Fire Sandy Manetti Television film2006, 2008Law & OrderKevin BoatmanEpisode: "America, Inc."Sean HauserEpisode: "Rumble"2007, 2013–2014Law & Order: Special Victims UnitDan KozlowskiEpisode: "Haystack" William Lewis Recurring role (seasons 14–15) 2007 Mitchell Carr Episode: "When the Door Opens"2008 Dirt Jason Konkey 3 episodes Fear Itself Mattingley Episode: "Eater" Army Wives Tim 3 episodes Life on Mars Kim Trent Episode: "The Real Adventures of the Unreal Sam Tyler"2009 Officer Delaney Episode: "Capone" Numbers Tal Feigenbaum 2 episodes It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Ricky Falcone Episode: "A Very Sunny Christmas" Three Rivers Nick Episode: "The Kindness of Strangers" 2010 Medium Jeremy Kiernan Episode: "An Everlasting Love"2011 Lights Out Johnny Leary Main cast Gregory Mars Episode: "Ham Sandwich"2011–2012 Weeds Demetri Ravitch Recurring role (seasons 7–8) Anton Little Creek Main cast2012 Person of Interest Tommy Clay Episode: "Matsya Nyaya" Made in Jersey Luke Aaronson Episode: "Pilot"2013 White Collar JB Bellmiere Episode: "The Original" Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight Covert Becker Television film Ironside Virgil Main cast 2013–2015,2017, 2019 Orange Is the New Black George "Pornstache" Mendez Recurring role (seasons 1–3)Guest (seasons 5, 7)Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 2015 The Brink Zeke Tilson Main cast 2017–2019 American Gods Mad Sweeney Main cast (seasons 1–2) 2020 Defending Jacob Neal Logiudice Main cast, miniseries 2022–2024 Halo Master Chief Main cast; also producer 2022 Candy Allan Gore Miniseries 2025 The Terminal List: Dark Wolf Hank "Dash" Dashnaw Episode: "The Wolf You Feed" 2026 His & Hers Richard Jones Miniseries TBA The Savant Jason Upcoming series
Video games Year Title Voice role 2007 Manhunt 2 The Asylum Staff
Audiobooks Year Title Voice role 2009 American Psycho Narrator 2018 The Call of the Wild Narrator 2019 Daisy Jones & The Six Narrator / Billy Dunne
Explanatory notes
References
External links