Actor Tom McCarthy has been a regular on television, making notable appearances on such popular series as “The Practice,” “Ally McBeal” and “Spin City.” But it wasn’t until McCarthy turned to directing his first feature that people took special notice of his career. McCarthy made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed “The Station Agent” (2003), starring the most unlikeliest of actors, 4’5” Peter Dinklage. For McCarthy, choosing Dinklage was less about creating a stir through unusual casting than it was a perfect choice for exploring the theme of isolation.McCarthy was born into a Roman Catholic home on January 30, 1969. After graduating high school in New Providence, New Jersey, he attended Boston College where he helped form the comedy improv group, My Mother’s Fleabag. Started in 1980, the group consisted exclusively of BC students, though it never had any official affiliation with the school. Self-funded and self-perpetuating, the group performed for fun or profit in and around Boston, borrowing heavily from a bootlegged copy of The Groundling’s handbook.
After Boston College, McCarthy attended the renowned School of Drama at Yale University. He appeared on stage, most notably in “Noises Off” on Broadway, regional productions of Arthur Schnitzler’s “La Ronde," directed by famed actress Joanne Woodward, and “Virgil is Still the Frogboy," by dramatist Lanford Wilson. McCarthy also performed in numerous Shakespeare productions, including “Hamlet”, “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Twelfth Night.”
McCarthy then made the jump to television. He was on random episodes of several shows before landing a regular role on the acclaimed and sometimes controversial “Boston Public” (FOX, 2000-2004) for the first thirteen episodes. The actor played football coach Kevin Riley, whom one critic noted was probably the least physically intimidating coach in television history. McCarthy was also in a few feature films, including the comedy hit, “Meet The Parents” (2000), co-starring Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro, and directed by Jay Roach (“Austin Powers”, “Mystery, Alaska”).
It was while driving through the New Jersey countryside that McCarthy was struck by inspiration. He discovered an abandoned train depot in Newfoundland, and felt it was the perfect catalyst for a movie. After a bit of research, McCarthy discovered a true American subculture: railfans, a term for a group of people obsessed with the history and culture of the American railroad. Meanwhile, McCarthy directed his own play, “The Killing Act,” which co-starred Peter Dinklage, and the two struck a solid friendship. After a night of drinks with the actor, McCarthy noticed the attention—both good and ill—Dinklage received because of his dwarfism. McCarthy immediately saw in Dinklage the perfect actor for a feature.
With Dinklage in mind for his main character, McCarthy wrote “The Station Agent” (2003) with Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale in mind for the two other leads as well. The result was the story of Finbar McBride, a man born with dwarfism who sets out to find total isolation in an abandoned rail depot, but instead finds friendship with two townspeople (Clarkson and Cannavale) in desperate need of connection. The film screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, where it raked in the Audience Award, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and the Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance for actress Patricia Clarkson.
Back in front of the camera, McCarthy had a supporting role in Heather Graham’s comedic dud “The Guru” (2003), then played an FBI agent assisting in an elaborate sting operation disguised as a movie set in order to arrest infamous mobster John Gotti in “The Last Shot” (2004). A very small role in the murky political thriller “Syriana” (2005) was followed by a meatier part in “The Great New Wonderful” (2006), an ensemble drama weaving five stories set in an anxious post-9/11 New York City. McCarthy played a husband struggling to keep his marriage together while coping with an increasingly difficult and strangely self-possessed 10-year-old son. In 2005, McCarthy began a streak of appearances in historical—and in some cases Oscar-worthy—features that promised to up the actor’s profile and prestige. He appeared in George Clooney’s excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005), a tense and unflinching look at CBS anchor Edward R. Murrow’s lone fight against the fear-mongering of Senator Joseph McCarthy and his bullying tactics in ridding the government of supposed communists.
After a small part as a newspaper editor in “All the King’s Men” (2006), Steve Zaillian’s poor attempt to readapt Robert Penn Warren’s acclaimed novel, he was in “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006), director Clint Eastwood’s World War II epic that focused on the three surviving U.S. servicemen (Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach and Jesse Bradford) who were photographed raising the American flag during the nightmarish battle of Iwo Jima. McCarthy was the adult son of John “Doc” Bradley (Phillippe), who attempts years later to tell his father’s true story, one that contradicts the heroic persona propagated by a government that used the famous picture and a sanitized storyline to sell war bonds. Meanwhile, McCarthy began production on his second directorial effort, “The Visitor” (lensed 2006), a comedic drama about a widower whose mundane existence is turned upside-down when he tries to help two illegal aliens on the run from U.S. immigration authorities.
