Jonathan Tucker

Jonathan Tucker is an American actor known for intense, physical roles across film and prestige television, from the mixed-martial-arts drama “Kingdom” to HBO’s “Westworld.” Born on May 31, 1982, in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in the city’s Charlestown neighbourhood, he grew up in an academic family — his father, Paul Hayes Tucker, is an art historian and noted scholar of Claude Monet, and his mother, Maggie Moss, worked in public relations and marketing.

Tucker trained as a child dancer with the Boston Ballet, appearing in “The Nutcracker” for several years before turning to acting. He attended The Park School in Brookline and later The Thacher School in Ojai, California, and began working in films while still a teenager, with early appearances in “Two If by Sea” and “Sleepers” (both 1996).

His breakthrough came as Tim Weiner in Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides” (1999). A steady run of film roles followed, among them “The Deep End” (2001), “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), “Hostage” (2005), Paul Haggis’s “In the Valley of Elah” (2007) and “The Ruins” (2008). More recently he earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his supporting performance in “Palm Trees and Power Lines” (2022).

On television he led the Irish-American crime drama “The Black Donnellys” (2007) and drew wide acclaim as fighter Jay Kulina in the acclaimed series “Kingdom” (2014–2017). His many other series credits include “Parenthood,” “Justified,” “Hannibal,” “American Gods,” “Snowfall,” “Westworld” as Major Craddock, “Debris” and “Echoes,” establishing him as one of the more prolific and versatile character actors of his generation.

Away from the screen, Tucker is a longtime practitioner and advocate of Transcendental Meditation and founded the nonprofit Pegasus Fund. He married Tara Ahamed in 2012, and the couple have twin children. He continues to work steadily in film and television, with the thriller series “I Will Find You” among his recent projects.