Ethan Embry (born June 13, 1978), credited early in his career as Ethan Randall, is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, with starring roles in the films Dutch (1991), All I Want for Christmas (1991), and A Far Off Place (1993). He gained mainstream recognition for his supporting role in Empire Records (1995) and starring roles in Evolver (1995) and That Thing You Do! (1996).
In the late 1990s, Embry had the lead role in the teen comedy film Can't Hardly Wait (1998), starred in Vegas Vacation (1997) and Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 (1998), and a main role as Sebastian on the CBS sitcom Work with Me (1999). In the 2000s, Embry starred in the films They (2002) and Vacancy (2007) and had main roles as Derek and Adam Barnes on the Fox television series FreakyLinks (2000–2001), Frank Smith on the ABC television series L.A. Dragnet (2003), and Declan Giggs on the Showtime television series Brotherhood (2006–2008).
In the 2010s and 2020s, Embry starred in the films Cheap Thrills (2013), Blindspotting (2018), and Last Seen Alive (2022), and had a main role as Coyote Bergstein on the Netflix television series Grace and Frankie (2015–2022). He had supporting roles in the films Christy (2025) and Scream 7 (2026).
Early life Embry was born in Huntington Beach, California, and was raised in Los Angeles. His father was a dental technician. Embry was homeschooled by his mother as a result of a teacher allegedly recommending Ritalin after his first day of kindergarten.
Embry participated in gymnastics from a young age and enjoyed the sport.
Career Embry (originally credited as Ethan Randall) started acting at the age of 12. After making his debut in Defending Your Life (1991), he starred in several films, including Dutch (1991), All I Want for Christmas (1991), A Far Off Place (1993), Empire Records (1995), That Thing You Do! (1996), Vegas Vacation (1997), and the teen comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998).
In 2002, Embry appeared as Bobby Ray Bailey opposite Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. The two actors had previously worked together a decade prior in the 1993 live action Disney film A Far Off Place.
Embry had a major role in Showtime's Brotherhood, which premiered in 2006 and in 2013 he had a recurring role as Greg Mendell on the television series Once Upon a Time. In 2015, Embry had a guest role as Carter on The Walking Dead. That same year, Embry began a recurring role as Coyote Bergstein on Grace and Frankie on Netflix.
In 2018, Embry took a small role as astronaut Pete Conrad in the Damien Chazelle film First Man.
Embry has appeared in a recurring role as the real Pete Murphy in Sneaky Pete, an Amazon Video original series. He was also on Grey's Anatomy in 2012 where he played Prosthetist Dr. David Moore.
Personal life Embry married actress Amelinda Smith on November 14, 1998; they divorced in 2002. They have a son together.
Embry married actress Sunny Mabrey on July 17, 2005. In 2012, Mabrey filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The two maintained some contact through Mabrey's weekly contact with his son, which escalated to the couple dating again by 2013, then remarrying in June 2015. Embry and Mabrey have homes in Los Angeles and Atlanta.
In November 2006, Embry and Mabrey were robbed at gunpoint in their driveway.
In 2008, Embry settled a lawsuit with former Deal or No Deal model Angelina Roudeva, who had sued him after being scarred over her torso when thrown from his motorcycle in 2005.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes 1991 Defending Your Life Steve Credited as Ethan Randall Dutch Doyle Standish Credited as Ethan Randall All I Want for Christmas Ethan O'Fallon Credited as Ethan Randall 1992 A Dog and His Boy Short film (Producer/Assistant Director) 1993 A Far Off Place Harry Winslow Credited as Ethan Randall 1994 Season of Change Bobby Bascomb Credited as Ethan Randall 1995 Evolver Kyle Baxter Credited as Ethan Randall Empire Records Mark Credited as Ethan Randall 1996 White Squall Tracy Lapchick That Thing You Do! The Bass Player 1997 Vegas Vacation Rusty Griswold/Nick Papagiorgio 1998 Montana Jimmy How to Make the Cruelest Month Dillger The Prophecy II Young Coroner Direct-to-video Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 Squirrel Can't Hardly Wait Preston Meyers Disturbing Behavior Allen Clark 2000 The Independent Bert 2001 Rennie's Landing Trevor Logan also known as "Stealing Time" Ball in the House Bobby Male Order Actor #2 Short film Who Is A.B.? unknown role 2002 Sweet Home Alabama Bobby Ray They Sam Burnside 2003 Manfast Johnny Shore Timeline Josh Stern 2004 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle Billy Carver 2005 Pizza Matt Firenze Standing Still Donovan 2006 A Slice of 'Pizza' Matt Firenze Short film Escape Hollywood Agent #1 Short film Kidney Thieves Guy Short film 2007 Vacancy Mechanic Order Up Man Short film 2008 Player 5150 Joey Heart of a Dragon Lee Eagle Eye Agent Toby Grant 2010 You're So Vain Boyfriend Short film The Kane Files: Life of Trial Jace Olsen 2011 The Reunion Leo Carey 2012 Dorothy and the Witches of Oz Frick Ordinary Man Jason Watts 2013 Cheap Thrills Vince The House Across the Street Tom Armed Response Kevin 2014 The Guest Higgings Late Phases Will 2015 Bereave Tommy Echoes of War Seamus Riley Covergence Daniel White Cops and Unarmed Black Civilians Playset! unknown role Short film The Devil's Candy Jesse Hellman 2016 Fashionista Eric Those Eyes Son Short film 2017 The Feminist Short film (Cinematographer) 2018 Blindspotting Officer Molina Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats: You Worry Me Husband Short film First Man Pete Conrad 2022 Last Seen Alive Knuckles 2025 Alma and the Wolf Ren Accord Christy John Salters Safe House Sorello 2026 The Gymnast Rich Scream 7 Marco Davis By Any Means Sam Bowers
Television YearTitleRoleNotes 1990 Drug Wars: The Camarena Story unknown role Miniseries (3 episodes) 1991 Bad Attitudes Cosmo Consingsby Credited as Ethan Randall 1993–1994 Harts of the West Randy 2 episodes, credited as Ethan Randall1994 Murder, She Wrote Jimmy Taylor Episode: "The Trouble with Seth" 1995 Mike Seresino Episode: "School for Murder" 1998 Hercules Melampus Voice, 2 episodes 1999 The Wild Thornberrys Ned Fervel Voice, episode: "Chimp Off the Old Block" A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Rocket Power TV Announcer Voice, episode: "Rocket Girls" 1999–2000 Batman Beyond Lee, Terrapin Voice, 2 episodes 1999–2000 Work with Me Sebastian Series regular (10 episodes) 2000 Get Real Wade Kostick Episode: "Saved" 2000–2001 FreakyLinks Derek Barnes / Adam Barnes Series regular (13 episodes) 2001 The Zeta Project Bodhi Voice, episode: "His Maker's Name" Silicon Follies unknown role Television film 2002 The Twilight Zone Zack Walker Episode: "Time Lapse" 2003 L.A. Dragnet Detective Frank Smith Series regular (12 episodes) Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Max Dillon / Electro Voice, 3 episodes 2004 Celeste in the City Kyle Halley Television film Life on Liberty Street Rick Spencer Television film 2005 Numb3rs Blake Cosnell Episode: "Noisy Edge" Masters of Horror Bruce Episode: "Incident on and Off a Mountain Road" 2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Art Geddons Episode: "Watch" 2006–2008 Brotherhood Declan 'Decko' Griggs Series regular (20 episodes) 2009 Fear Itself Chance Miller Episode: "Chance" 2010 House M.D. Mickey Episode: "The Down Low" Biography Himself (Interviewee) Episode: "Ed O'Neill" 2011 Fairly Legal Spencer Reed 3 episodes CSI: Miami Randy North 2 episodes Thunderballs unknown role Television film 2012 Imaginary Friend Brad Television film Drop Dead Diva Mark Baker Episode: "Jane's Getting Married" Dark Wall Man Episode: "6:14" Grey's Anatomy Dr. David Moore Episode: "I Saw Her Standing There" The Frontier D.J. Jackson Television film 2013 Once Upon a Time Greg Mendell Recurring role (Season 2–3; 10 episodes) 2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jefferson Nalley Episode: "Keep Calm and Carry-On" Hawaii Five-0 Shawn Hutten Episode: "Pale 'la" 2015 The Walking Dead Carter Episode: "First Time Again" 2015–2019 Sneaky Pete Pete Murphy / Real Pete Recurring role (11 episodes) 2015–2022 Grace and Frankie Coyote Bergstein Series regular (53 episodes) 2017 A Bunch of Dicks Mick Miniseries Idiotsitter unknown role Episode: "Girls Gone Wild" 2020 The Twilight Zone Harry Pine Episode: "The Who of You" 2021 Stargirl Johnny Thunder 2 episodes 2021 Creepshow Hank Episode: "Mums" 2023 Gotham Knights Arthur Brown 3 episodes 2024 Blue Ridge Powell Padgett Episode: "Locked In" 2026 Cape Fear Ollie 2 episodes
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