Zach Woods

Zach Woods makes trying to fit in look like hard work. His tall, gangly presence suits those socially ill-equipped characters, and he takes their attempts to belong seriously. In The Office (2005), which he joined in 2010 as Gabe Lewis, that awkwardness has a workplace ensemble around it. Steve Carell supplies the painful neediness at the centre, while the supporting cast gives us reasons to stay when the programme overplays its jokes. Woods fits a comedy where getting along with colleagues can be an exhausting business.

An early film part as Chad in In the Loop (2009) put his improvisational skills to work in scripted comedy. Television then gave his awkward characters more time to develop. As Jared Dunn in Silicon Valley (2014), he plays a loyal man who becomes increasingly assertive. Avenue 5 (2020), with Woods as Matt Spencer, continued his collaboration with Armando Iannucci. We value the specificity of this acting, though another hapless role can risk making the effect too familiar.

In John Patton Ford’s How to Make a Killing (2026), the restriction is simpler: there is hardly any time. Woods plays Noah Redfellow, one of the relatives distributed among a cast that also includes Bill Camp, Ed Harris and Topher Grace. We were frustrated by how little the film gives these actors to do; a scene or two each leaves Woods scant opportunity to establish someone worth following. Harrison Atkins’s quick, clean editing keeps the film moving, but trouble never lasts long enough to frighten us. The actors are a virtue of a film we cannot quite recommend.

With The Accompanist (2026), Woods moves into feature directing and co-writing. We would be interested to see him give other performers the time his smaller roles have lacked. For his acting, start with The Office rather than a film that gives him only a scene or two.