Biography

Scoot McNairy

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During the early 2000s, actor Scoot McNairy quickly came to specialize in portrayals of colorful and individualistic young men with a slightly rebellious edge. McNairy began during the early to mid-2000s, with bit parts in films including Wonderland (2003), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), and Art School Confidential (2006). He took his first bow as a producer with 2007's In Search of a Midnight Kiss, in which he also starred. That indie romantic comedy concerns a young man (McNairy) all washed up on New Year's Eve -- until an impulsive ad on Craigslist leads him to the great love of his life (Sara Simmonds) and an extraordinary night on the town.
- IMDb mini biography by: scaryofmonsters

Portraying colorful and individualistic young men with a slightly rebellious edge.
Tends to play downbeat characters who suffer a lot.

Worked as a carpenter and set designer on film sets.
Has no formal acting training.
His father started to call him Scooter from when Scoot was two years old because he used to "scoot around on his butt".
He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners in consecutive years: Argo (2012) and 12 Years a Slave (2013).
He originally wanted to be a cinematographer.

I've been asked, 'What was your big break?' I don't feel like I've had a big break. It's been a slow, slow break. I want my career to grow gradually. There's still so much for me to learn. I'm just trying to take these opportunities to get better at what I'm doing.
[on the prospect of stardom] I'm really not thinking too much about that. I'm trying to take good scripts with good stories, and figure out where I fit into those stories. Whether I want to stick around with character roles or be a leading man isn't clear. Leading roles are something that I think is around the corner for me, but financing is always a very important aspect. I don't know if my name is valuable enough at this point that people are going to put $20 million on a film with me as the lead.
[performing Jesse in 'Touchy Feely'] I think I'm incredibly distanced from a character like that. I'm not somebody who's thirty or thirty-one and lost. I'm very specific in what I want in my life, and I'm going after it, whereas Jesse is more like, 'Whatever happens happens. Who cares?'. I personally have never felt that way.
[on playing Frankie in 'Killing Them Softly'] The accent was something I sort of made up. My own take on a Boston accent I guess. I worked really hard on that character, probably more so than I've worked on some other ones, and maybe that was because I felt there was a lot more riding on it.

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