D.W. Moffett

D.W. Moffett, born and raised just outside Chicago in Wilmette, didn’t exactly pop out of Stanford thinking he’d be an actor—he actually graduated with a degree in International Relations. The guy started at Continental Bank in Chicago and, let’s be real, took an acting class mostly to meet women. Turns out, he found a whole new direction for his life instead. He jumped into the Chicago theater scene, eventually helping launch the Remains Theatre Ensemble and racking up more than 40 credits as an actor, director, or producer. His big break came with the lead in Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart” in New York, making enough noise to land on Broadway in “The Boys of Winter” and “The Real Thing.” He even went across the pond for “The Philadelphia Story” with Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic in London—a pretty wild ride for a guy who once just wanted a better social life. When he headed to Hollywood, Moffett split his time between film and TV. He popped up in films like “Stealing Beauty,” “Thirteen,” “Twisted,” and Soderbergh’s “Traffic”—he even snagged a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for that last one. TV-wise, he’s done everything from “An Early Frost” to “Friday Night Lights,” where he played the infamously hated Joe McCoy, plus regular gigs on shows like “Switched at Birth,” sticking around for all five seasons. He’s also directed a handful of episodes—yeah, he’s not just in front of the camera. These days, he’s teaching at SCAD, running their film and TV department, and passing along his decades of experience to the next wave of storytellers.