Early Life
Sarsgaard was born at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, the son of Judy Lea (née Reinhardt) and John Dale Sarsgard. His father was an Air Force engineer and later worked for Monsanto and IBM. He is of Danish, German, Norwegian, Austrian, Ulster-Scots, English, and Irish ancestry (his surname originates in Denmark, where two of his paternal great-great-grandparents were born). Sarsgaard was raised a Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy. His family moved more than 12 times during his childhood, following his father's job. At the age of 7, Sarsgaard originally wanted to become a soccer player and took up ballet to help improve his coordination. After suffering several bad concussions while playing soccer, he gave up the sport and became interested in writing and theater.
Sarsgaard attended Fairfield College Preparatory School, a private Jesuit boys' school in Connecticut, where he became interested in movies. Following his graduation from Fairfield Prep, he attended Bard College in New York for two years before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis in 1991, where he co-founded an improvisational comedy troupe "Mama's Pot Roast." While at Washington University, Sarsgaard began performing in plays in an offshoot of New York's Actors Studio; His first role was as the servant Lawrence in Molière's Tartuffe. In 1993, he graduated with a degree in history and moved to New York.
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