Martin Donovan

Martin Donovan (born August 19, 1957) is an American film, stage and television actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley and appeared in many of Hartley's films, such as Trust (1990), Surviving Desire (1991), Simple Men (1992), Flirt (1993), Amateur (1994), and The Book of Life (1998; in which he played Jesus). Donovan also played Peter Scottson on Showtime's cable series Weeds. He made his writing/directorial debut with the film Collaborator (2011).

Early life

Donovan was born Martin Paul Smith in Reseda, California, to Roman Catholic middle-class parents, Gayne Paul Smith and Agnes Mary Regan. He and his three siblings were raised Catholic.

He graduated from Crespi Carmelite High School and attended Pierce College for two years. He attended American Theater Arts, a combined conservatory and theater company in Los Angeles, where he appeared in the plays Richard's Cork Leg by Brendan Behan and Private Life of the Master Race by Bertold Brecht. In 1983, he and his wife, Vivian, moved to New York City, where he took odd jobs like installing drapery to support his family. He joined the off-off-Broadway Cucaracha Theater on Greenwich Street.