Sam Trammell (born January 29, 1969) is an American actor, best known for his role as Sam Merlotte on the HBO fantasy drama series True Blood. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Miller in Ah, Wilderness!
Early life and education Trammell was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was raised in Charleston, West Virginia. He attended Brown University, graduating in 1991.
Career Trammell has worked in theater, Broadway, Off-Broadway, film, and television. His stage credits include a Tony Award-nominated performance in Ah, Wilderness! at Lincoln Center. Off-Broadway, he starred in Dealer's Choice, My Night with Reg, If Memory Serves, and Ancestral Voices, as well as in Kit Marlowe at the Joseph Papp Public Theater.
Trammell's big break came when he landed the role of Sam Merlotte on the HBO series True Blood. In 2013, he played Darrell Mackey in the drama film White Rabbit. He played Hazel (Shailene Woodley)'s father, Michael Lancaster, in the 2014 film The Fault in Our Stars, based on the novel of the same name by John Green.
In 2019, Trammell starred in the Netflix horror-drama series, The Order.
He played vice president Benjamin Hayes in the final season of Homeland who is sworn in as commander-in-chief after the sitting president is killed.
Personal life Trammell met actress Missy Yager in 2003 while performing theatre in New York City. The couple's twin sons were born in August 2011. The couple later parted ways at an unknown time.
He has been in a relationship with actress Emmanuelle Chriqui since 2020.
Awards For his work on HBO's True Blood, Trammell was nominated for: Breakout Performance – Male at the 2009 Scream Awards Best Supporting Actor at the 2010 Scream Awards."Scream 2009 Breakout Performance - Male" Retrieved on 2009-09-04. Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 Childhood's End Greg Chute 1997 The Hotel Manor Inn Nolan 1998 Wrestling with Alligators Will 2000 Beat Lee Fear of Fiction Red/Tom Hopkins Autumn in New York Simon Followers John Dietrich 2003 Undermind Derrick Hall/Zane Waye 2004 Short film 2007 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Tim O'Brien 2008 Miracle of Phil Taylor Short film 2010 Children of the Spider Alex Short film Jeb Short film 2011 Chris Uncredited 2012 Guns, Girls and Gambling Sheriff Cowley 2013 Crazy Kind of Love Jeff Lucas The privileged Preston Westwood White Rabbit Darrell Mackey 2014 After the Fall Lee Michael Lancaster Me David 2015 All Mistakes Buried Sonny Coles 3 Generations Matthew Walker Scott I Am Wrath Detective Gibson 2016 Imperium Gerry Conway 2017 Say You Will Dean Hall 2018 It's Time Coach Billy Brewer 2019 I See You Todd Breakthrough Dr. Kent Sutterer Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase Carson Drew 2021UnsilencedDaniel Davis American RefugeeWinter2022The Tiger RisingRob Horton Sr.2023Big George ForemanReverend Virdell Stokes2023Organ TrailLogan202472 Hours
+ Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Harvest of Fire Simon Troyer Television film 1998 Maximum Bob Sonny Dupree 2 episodes 1998 Trinity Liam McCallister 3 episodes 2001–02 Going to California Kevin "Space" Lauglin Main role; 20 episodes 2004 House Ethan Hartig Episode: "Maternity" Anonymous Rex Vincent Rubio Television film 2005 Strong Medicine Kiko Ellsworth Episode: "First Response" Judging Amy Marty Levine 3 episodes Bones Ken Thompson Episode: "Pilot" 2006 CSI: NY Charles Wright Episode: "Heroes" Numb3rs Thomas Gill Episode: "Hot Shot" Justice Kevin O'Neil Episode: "Pilot" Dexter Matt Chambers Episode: "Crocodile" 2007 What If God Were the Sun? Jeff Television film Cold Case Porter Rawley (1981) Episode: "Blood on the Tracks" 2008–14 True Blood Sam Merlotte Main role; 81 episodes 2009 Medium Dr. Brian Seward Episode: "Things to Do in Phoenix When You're Dead" Law & Order: Criminal Intent Gray Vanderhoven Episode: "Identity Crisis" 2013 Filthy Sexy Teen$ Tom Saxson Television special Childrens Hospital Denizen Stoop Episode: "My Friend Falcon" 2015 Cocked Richard Paxson Main role 2017 Training Day Emmet Rourke Episode: "Blurred Lines" 2016–17 This Is Us Ben 4 episodes 2019–20 The Order Eric Clarke Main role (Season 1); Guest role (Season 2) 2019 Reckoning Leo Doyle Main role; Mini-series (10 episodes) 2020 Homeland VP Benjamin Hayes Recurring role 2023 The Rookie: Feds Neal Wizaro Episode: "Red One" 2026 Euphoria Ellis 3 episodes 2026 The Gray House Jefferson Davis Reoccurring role
+ Web Year Title Role Notes 2011 Paul the Male Matchmaker Stu Episode: "Know When You Are Too Old"
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