Mark Merphy — Actor

Mark Merphy is a SAG-AFTRA actor based in New York City. Raised in the Bronx's Edenwald Houses, he became fascinated with storytelling long before acting seemed possible. He grew up watching old films with his grandfather and acting out scenes around the apartment, filling notebooks with ideas for movies that didn't exist yet. Storytelling was always there, before it was ever a career.

He studied computer science with the intention of building video games, but storytelling kept pulling him toward performance. In 2023 he created a Backstage account and committed to the work. His first booking was a national Bring Change 2 Mind commercial. That same account is how he found Shinya Tsukamoto's feature film Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?, which premiered in Competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where it received the 38th Premio Leoncino d'Oro, before its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. He auditioned from his apartment in a military jacket with a toy prop pistol and was cast as Young Allen.

Merphy is drawn to psychological dramas, historical dramas, character-driven thrillers, black comedy, absurdism, and horror. The characters that interest him most are usually carrying something heavier than they let on. Guilt, responsibility, survival, grief, loyalty, impossible choices. His creative influences include Spike Lee, Edgar Wright, Ryan Coogler, and Martin Scorsese's After Hours. He is available for film, television, and limited series work, with theatrical representation currently available and commercial representation through Tracey Goldblum at Brady, Brannon & Rich Talent.