David Krumholtz

In the flashbacks in Supergirl (2026), David Krumholtz gives a troubled film someone worth caring about. His Zor-El and Emily Beecham’s Alura In-Ze are Kara’s parents, seen in a handful of scenes on a world that is ending. We were moved more than we expected by this father who knows what is coming and cannot say it. Krumholtz lets us understand the fear without making a display of it. We would not recommend the whole film on the strength of these scenes, but they are a reason to notice him.

The early comedies made use of his geniality, from Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause (1994) to Michael Eckman in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Television gave him longer to work as the mathematician Charlie Eppes in Numb3rs (2005–2010), a lead he held for six seasons. Playing an intelligent man can become an exercise in making everybody else look slow; Krumholtz’s warmth is a useful defence against that. In Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023), he joined the ensemble as Isidor Rabi. His wit and authority make the scientist companionable without making him seem any less clever.

The Studio (2025) places him, as Mitch Weitz, in a tightly performed Hollywood farce that we recommend despite its fondness for its own industry. His presence is no guarantee of a satisfactory film, however. Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) casts him as Al Teller, but the recording scenes and Jeremy Allen White provide the strongest reasons to watch. A supporting actor cannot do much about a biopic that is being too careful with its subject.

Supergirl makes the limitation particularly plain: it cuts from the parents back to a fight in the dark, and the feeling has nowhere to go. Krumholtz has made those few scenes matter, but the film will not stay with them. We would like to see that quiet authority given more room than a handful of flashbacks. For his warmth and humour in a film that uses them well, seek out his Rabi in Oppenheimer.