John Cameron Mitchell
Born: 1963-04-21 in El Paso, Texas, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
American writer, director, actor. Mitchell, the son of a U.S. Army general and a Scottish mother, grew up on various army bases, including Berlin; later the family lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he attended a Catholic school. Since the mid-1980s, he has worked as a theatre actor and director in New York City and played small roles in television and film productions. Among other things, he directed a play by Tennessee Williams. From 1991, he appeared in the original Broadway production of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's musical adaptation of The Secret Garden, which won several Tony Awards. In the early 1990s, together with musician Stephen Trask, he developed the character of Hedwig, a transgender rock musician who grew up in East Berlin, for performances in the New York drag bar Squeezebox. This led to the successful Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 1998, which won two Obie Awards, and three years later to the film version of the musical, again with himself in the title role. The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Director's and Audience Awards, and the play won the 2001 Lambda Literary Award. At the 2002 Chlotrudis Awards, he won the prize for best leading actor. At the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 2001, the film was shown in the ‘PANORAMA’ section and won the Teddy Award. In 2003, he produced the film Tarnation by Jonathan Caouette, which was honoured as best documentary film by the US National Society of Film Critics, among others. In 2004, Mitchell shot the music video for the Scissor Sisters' single Filthy/Gorgeous with stars from the New York drag scene. The clip was not shown on American MTV due to its explicit sexual depictions.
Filmography
2025
- Paying for It ... (Executive Producer)
- Reclaim the Flag as Self
- Everybody Wants to Be Gen X as Self
- Lisbon
- Cockroach as James
2023
- City on Fire as Amory
- Nicole Kidman: Eyes Wide Open as Self (interview)
- AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex as Self
2022
- The Sandman as Hal Carter
- Joe vs Carole as Joe 'Exotic' Schreibvogel
- Dr. Jackie as John Cameron Mitchell
- Impresario
- I Am More
2021
- Yellowjackets as Caligula
- John Cameron Mitchell & Stephen Trask: Nation of One as John Cameron Mitchell
2020
2019
- Shrill as Gabe
- The Spark: The Origins of Pride as Self
2017
- The Good Fight as Felix Staples
- GLOW ... (Director)
- How to Talk to Girls at Parties as Punk (uncredited)
2016
- Vinyl as Andy Warhol
- My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea as Brent Daniels (voice)
2015
- Danny Says as Self
- Larry Kramer In Love & Anger as Himself
2014
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self - Guest
- Mozart in the Jungle as Egon
- The Hooping Life as Himself
2013
- Sigur Rós: Valtari Film Experiment ... (Director)
- Interior. Leather Bar. ... (Story Consultant)
- Seraph ... (Writer)
2012
- Girls as David Pressler-Goings
2010
- Rabbit Hole ... (Director)
2009
- Nurse Jackie ... (Director)
2007
- Indie Sex as Self
- Gifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus' as Himself
- Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer as Himself
2006
- Shortbus as Sextra (one of the participants in the orgy sequence)
- Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema as Self
- Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig as Self
- Apparition of the Eternal Church as Self
2005
- The House of Venus Show as Self
2003
- Totally Gay! as Self
- Tarnation ... (Executive Producer)
- Whether You Like It or Not: The Story of Hedwig as Self
- Lance Loud!: A Death in An American Family as Self (uncredited)
2001
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch as Hedwig
1999
- I Remember as Joe
1998
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch as Hedwig Robinson/Tommy Gnosis
1997
- David Searching as Man with Fruit
1996
- Girl 6 as Rob
- Party Girl as Derrick
1993
- Daybreak as Lennie
1990
- Law & Order as Eddie
- The Dreamer of Oz as Albert
- Book of Love as Floyd
1989
- Misplaced as Jacek
1988
- Freddy's Nightmares as Bryan Ross
- A Friendship in Vienna as Tommi Lowberg
1987
- The Stepford Children as Kenny
1986
- Band of the Hand as J.L.
- One More Saturday Night as Teenager #2
1985
- MacGyver as Aaron
- The Equalizer as Ed Donahue
- The Twilight Zone as Tom (segment "The Last Defender of Camelot")
1984
- The Roommate as Calvin Fitch