Sam Richardson (actor) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sam Richardson
Richardson in January 2019
Born	(1984-01-12) January 12, 1984 (age 41) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Actor comedian writer producer
Years active	2004–present
Known for	Veep Detroiters The Afterparty Velma

Sam Richardson is an American actor and comedian. He was born on January 12, 1984. He is well-known for his funny roles in TV shows and movies.

You might know him as Richard Splett in the TV show Veep. He also helped create and star in Detroiters. He plays different characters in the Netflix show I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. Sam also stars as Aniq Adjaye in The Afterparty and Norville Rogers (Shaggy) in Velma.

In 2023, he won an Emmy Award. This was for his role as Edwin Akufo in the show Ted Lasso. An Emmy is a very important award for TV shows.

Early life

Sam Richardson was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother is from Ghana, and his father is African-American. His aunt, Barbara-Rose Collins, made history in 1990. She was the first black woman from Michigan to be elected to the United States Congress. The Congress is a big part of the U.S. government that makes laws.

Sam often traveled to Ghana with his parents. His grandfather there was a chief and a local leader. Sam finished high school in 2002 at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. He then studied theater at Wayne State University.

Career beginnings and big roles

Sam started his acting career performing comedy. He worked at a famous comedy theater called The Second City in Detroit and Chicago. He was known for playing many different characters. He could do funny impressions of famous people.

Later, Sam moved to Los Angeles to act in more shows. He appeared in six episodes of The Office. He also had a role in Arrested Development. He was in shows like New Girl and Teachers.

His most famous role was Richard Splett in Veep. This is a political comedy show on HBO. He started in season 3 and became a regular cast member in season 4. His character got a job helping the President in the show. Sam has also been in movies like We're the Millers, Spy, and Ghostbusters.

Creating Detroiters

In 2015, Sam and his friend Tim Robinson created a show called Detroiters. Comedy Central ordered a pilot episode, which is like a test episode. Sam and Tim starred in the show. They also helped write and produce it.

The show was filmed in Detroit. Sam and Tim played two friends who run an advertising business. They make local TV commercials. The idea for the show came from the funny commercials they watched growing up in Detroit. Detroiters ran for two seasons.

Awards and recent work

In 2016, Sam was nominated for an award in Canada for his comedy work. He was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his acting in Veep. This award is given to a group of actors who work well together. He won this award in 2018.

Since 2019, Sam has played many different characters. You can see him in the Netflix sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.

In 2021, Sam appeared in the popular show Ted Lasso. He played a character named Edwin Akufo. His performance earned him an Emmy nomination in 2022 and 2023. He won the Emmy in 2023 for this role.

In 2022, Sam was a main actor in The Afterparty. This is a mystery comedy series on Apple TV+. That same year, he played Gilbert in Hocus Pocus 2. This movie is a sequel to the classic film Hocus Pocus.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Planning Lady	Police Officer	Short film
2010	Superman vs. The Office	Sam
2013	We're the Millers	TSA Agent
	The Rule of Threes	Jeff	Short film
	Crash Site	Ben
2014	Horrible Bosses 2	The Producer
2015	Spy	John
	The Night Is Young	Sam
2016	Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising	Eric Baiers
	Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates	Eric Huddle
	Ghostbusters	Basement Cop
	Office Christmas Party	Joel
2017	The House	Marty
2018	Game Over, Man!	Donald
	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Lee the Office Nerd	Voice
2019	Good Boys	Officer Sacks
2020	Promising Young Woman	Paul
	Superintelligence	Agent John Donahue
2021	Werewolves Within	Finn Wheeler	Producer
	The Tomorrow War	Charlie
2022	Family Squares	Alex
	Senior Year	Seth Novacelik
	Hocus Pocus 2	Gilbert
2023	Somebody I Used to Know	Dar
	Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken	Brill	Voice
2024	The 4:30 Movie	Major Murder
2025	Star Trek: Section 31	Quasi
	Hypergalactic	0TBA	Post-production; voice
TBA	Let's Have Kids!	0TBA	Post-production
	Sacrifice	0TBA	Filming
	Matchbox	0TBA	Filming

Television

Awards and nominations