Thomas Joseph McCarthy^[1] (born June 7, 1966)^[2] is an American filmmaker and actor who has appeared in several films, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television series such as The Wire, Boston Public and Law & Order.

McCarthy has received critical acclaim for his writing and directing work for the independent films The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), and Spotlight (2015), the last of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, won McCarthy the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.

McCarthy also co-wrote the film Up (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. McCarthy also wrote Million Dollar Arm (2014), and directed and executive-produced for the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017).

McCarthy was raised in New Providence, New Jersey, one of five children of Carol and Eugene F. "Gene" McCarthy;^[3][4] His father worked in the textile industry.^[5] McCarthy was raised Catholic in a family of Irish descent.^[6] He is a graduate of New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey and Boston College (1988), where he was a member of the improv comedy troupe My Mother's Fleabag; and the Yale School of Drama,^[7][8] where he studied under Earle R. Gister.

McCarthy spent several years doing stand-up comedy and theater in Minneapolis and Chicago before going into television and film.^[9] He starred in Flags of Our Fathers as James Bradley, and in the final season of The Wire as the morally challenged reporter Scott Templeton. He made his Broadway debut in the 2001 revival of Noises Off!.^[10]

McCarthy's directorial debut, The Station Agent, which he also wrote, won the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and awards at film festivals ranging from San Sebastian to Stockholm, Mexico City, and Aspen.^[11]

McCarthy's second feature film was The Visitor, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and for which McCarthy won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director.^[12] He appeared in the 2009 dramas The Lovely Bones and 2012.^[13][14] In 2010, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the Pixar animated film Up, which he co-wrote.^[15]

In 2010, McCarthy directed the unaired pilot for the HBO series Game of Thrones, but the final cut of the episode was poorly received by showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.^[16] McCarthy was replaced by Tim Van Patten, who directed the final version of the pilot that aired in 2011.^[17] The experience discouraged McCarthy from returning to television directing for several years.^[18]

He also co-wrote and directed 2011's Win Win, based on his experiences as a wrestler at New Providence High School.^[19]

McCarthy's independent drama film Spotlight (2015) was widely acclaimed. It received six Academy Awards nominations, three Golden Globe Awards nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and eight Critics' Choice Movie Awards nominations.

McCarthy directed the first two episodes of 13 Reasons Why, from Anonymous Content and Paramount Television. It is based on the 2007 The New York Times bestselling YA book by Jay Asher.^[20] In 2019, he signed a first-look TV deal with Fox 21 Television Studios (now 20th Television).^[21]