Robert Knepper

Robert Knepper grew up smack in the middle of Ohio, in Fremont, with a dad who fixed up animals and a mom who basically lived backstage at the local theater. Yeah, talk about growing up with some weird and wonderful influences. His mom spent her days wrangling props for the community theater, so Robert was basically raised on paint fumes and the sound of people running lines. Honestly, it’s no shock he caught the acting bug early—when your house is full of fake swords, costumes, and scripts, what else are you supposed to do? He didn’t just dabble, either. He started acting in his tiny hometown theater, picking up tricks from all the regulars, then leveled up and went to Northwestern University to major in theater. That’s not exactly the path of someone just looking for a hobby. He threw himself into it, and, apparently, the guy never slowed down. Robert’s racked up more than a hundred professional stage credits—yeah, more than a hundred, which is wild. He’s been all over the place too, not just lurking around the Midwest. If there’s a stage, chances are he’s stood on it. Now he calls Southern California home, which is pretty much standard-issue for anyone in the business, right? Still, his roots are pure Midwest—hardworking, a little quirky, and not afraid to get his hands dirty. Even as he’s gotten bigger gigs and his face started popping up in movies and TV, you get the sense he’s still that theater kid from Ohio who just really, really loves acting. That kind of passion? You can’t fake it.