David Krumholtz - Career

Career

Krumholtz began his acting career at the age of 13 when he followed his friends to an open audition for the Broadway play Conversations with My Father (1992). Though he did not expect to get the part, he won the role of Young Charlie opposite Judd Hirsch, Tony Shalhoub, and Jason Biggs, who was also making his Broadway debut. Soon after his run on Broadway, Krumholtz co-starred in two feature films, Life With Mikey (1993) opposite Michael J. Fox, and Addams Family Values (1993) opposite Christina Ricci. For his role in Mikey, David was nominated for a 1993 Young Artist Award. Although his work in these two films garnered him critical attention, David is probably best known by children as the sarcastic head elf Bernard from The Santa Clause (1994) and its 2002 sequel The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs Clause, but due to filming overlap with Numb3rs was unable to take part in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.

In 1994 (at age 16) Krumholtz co-starred in his first television series, Monty, with Henry Winkler; the show lasted only a few episodes. Krumholtz later starred in several short-lived series over the years. Along the way, he had the opportunity to work with Jason Bateman (Chicago Sons, 1997), Tom Selleck (The Closer, 1998), Jon Cryer (The Trouble with Normal, 2000), and Rob Lowe (The Lyon's Den, 2003). In 2005 he finally found television success with the CBS series Numb3rs. Along with his starring roles on television, Krumholtz made memorable guest appearances on ER, Law & Order, Undeclared, Lucky, and Freaks and Geeks.

He broke out of the children's movie genre with The Ice Storm (1997), directed by Ang Lee, and Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), starring Alan Arkin and Natasha Lyonne. In 1999 David starred as Michael Eckman in the popular teen movie 10 Things I Hate about You with Larisa Oleynik, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles, and Heath Ledger. That same year, he portrayed a completely different teen character – that of Yussel, a young conflicted Jewish man in Liberty Heights.

It was the role of Yussel that brought Krumholtz to the attention of actor and filmmaker, Edward Burns, who cast him in the 2001 independent movie, Sidewalks of New York. Playing the romantic and slightly obsessed Benny, Krumholtz was on a path to larger, more complex film roles. His first role as a leading man was in the 2002 romantic comedy You Stupid Man, playing opposite Milla Jovovich. Although never released theatrically in the United States, You Stupid Man, directed by Edward Burns's brother Brian Burns, was released on DVD in 2006. Krumholtz carried his first leading role in a released American film when he starred Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie, which premiered on FX Networks in 2002.

Big Shot was a true story based on the Arizona State University basketball fixing scandal of the early 1990s. Krumholtz played Benny Silman, a college student and campus bookmaker who was jailed for his part in shaving points off key Arizona State basketball games. Benny was unlike any character Krumholtz had played before, and he garnered critical praise for his performance, proving that he was not just a sidekick.

In 2004 Krumholtz reunited with Edward Burns for the independent film The Last Hold-Outs. The following year he played Max in My Suicidal Sweetheart (formerly Max and Grace), once again starring opposite actress Natasha Lyonne. Krumholtz also returned to smaller key roles in the successful films Ray and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle – two very different movies released in 2004. In September 2005, he was seen in Joss Whedon's science fiction film Serenity as "Mr. Universe", a hacker and information broker. Most recently, in early 2006, Krumholtz's 2003 film Kill the Poor screened in New York City at IFC Center and across the country on Comcast's On Demand cable service.

On Numb3rs, he played the part of Charlie Eppes, a mathematical genius who helped his brother Don (Rob Morrow), an FBI agent, solve crimes using mathematics. The cast of Numb3rs also included Judd Hirsch and Peter MacNicol, who appeared with him in Addams Family Values as a camp counselor. Television critic Matt Roush (TV Guide) called Krumholtz's work on Numb3rs "probably his best TV work to date". Numb3rs was officially cancelled by CBS on May 18, 2010.

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