Noah Harpster Explained

Noah Harpster
Education:University of California, Santa Barbara (BFA)
Awards:Humanitas Prize, PEN award, Peabody Award

Noah Harpster is an American actor, writer, producer and director. He is best known for his role of Remy on Tig Notaro's One Mississippi, and writing, producing and acting on Transparent, for which he won a Peabody Award, and was nominated for an Emmy Award, Writers Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, and GLAAD Award.

Early life and education

Harpster grew up in Salinas, California.[1] He attended Salinas High School, where he wasn't selected for the baseball team and took up acting before graduating in 1994.[1]

He later attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting in 1998.[2]

Career

He and his writing partner Micah Fitzerman-Blue wrote the script for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood about Fred Rogers which landed on the Black List in 2013.[3] After a nearly 10-year process, it was released in 2019, starring Tom Hanks,[4] Chris Cooper, Matthew Rhys, and Harpster himself in a small role.[5] For their screenplay, Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster were nominated for also winners of the prestigious PEN Award and the Humanities Prize.

He and Fitzerman-Blue also co-wrote alongside Linda Woolverton.

In 2017, they opened their production company, Blue Harp.,[6] and in 2018, he and Fitzerman-Blue were listed on Varietys 10 Screenwriters to Watch.

Since 2019 he has played NASA Mission Controller Bill Strausser in the Apple TV+ alternate history series For All Mankind, created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi.

In 2021, Harpster and Fitzerman-Blue created the limited series Painkiller for Netflix. Painkiller is a dramatization of the birth of the opioid crisis and stars Matthew Broderick, Uzo Aduba, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, and West Duchovony. It is based on the reporting work done by Barry Meier for the New York Times and Patrick Radden Keefe for the New Yorker. Harpster also has an acting role in the limited series. It was released August 10, 2023.

Along with Fitzerman-Blue, he will be co-directing the film adaptation of Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button in 2024.

Filmography

Year! rowspan="2"
TitleCredited asNotes
WriterExecutive ProducerActor
2010Takedowns and Falls
2012The Motel Lifeco-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2013Afternoon Delight
2014–2019Transparentco-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2015–2017One Mississippi
2017Legend of Master Legendcreated and co-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2019A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhoodco-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2019co-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2019–presentFor All MankindRecurring role
2020Magic Campco-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2023Painkillercreated and co-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2024Bottomless Belly ButtonBottomless Belly Buttondirected and co-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2024The USA vs. Vince McMahonco-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2025Unt. Fernando Valenzuela seriesco-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue
2025BambiBambico-written with Micah Fitzerman-Blue

Notes and References

  1. News: Andre . Drew . November 22, 2019 . Fred Rogers biopic writer talks about growing up in Salinas . . March 25, 2024.
  2. Web site: Writing Mister Rogers . Jacobs . Tom . January 2, 2020 . news.ucsb.edu . March 25, 2024.
  3. News: Black List 2013: Full Screenplay List. Team. The Deadline. 2013-12-17. Deadline. 2018-08-08. en-US.
  4. News: Tom Hanks to Play Mr. Rogers in Biopic 'You Are My Friend' (EXCLUSIVE). Kroll. Justin. 2018-01-29. Variety. 2018-08-08. en-US.
  5. News: Matthew Rhys to Star Opposite Tom Hanks' Mr. Rogers in 'You Are My Friend'. The Hollywood Reporter. 2018-08-08. en.
  6. News: Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster Sign First-Look Deal With Amazon Studios For TV. Ramos. Dino-Ray. 2017-08-14. Deadline. 2018-08-08. en-US.