Stephen Kunken

Stephen Michael Kunken (born April 30, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for the roles of Ari Spyros on Showtime's Billions and Commander Putnam on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale. His film work includes work with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Paul Greengrass, Ang Lee, Barry Levinson, Ron Howard and others. Graduating with top honors from The Juilliard School, Kunken has an extensive and celebrated theater career appearing on Broadway in 7 different Productions and countless off-Broadway and Regional productions. He is most readily known for playing Andy Fastow in the Broadway play Enron, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play. Other Broadway credits include Frost/Nixon and Rock 'n' Roll'. Early life and education Kunken was raised on Long Island in Upper Brookville, New York. His father is a dentist and his mother is a former grade school teacher. Kunken received a B.A. degree from Tufts University in 1993. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School's Graduate Acting program, where as a member of the Drama Division's Group 26 (1993–1997) he was awarded both The John Houseman Prize and the Pearl and Rolands Grant. His classmates included David Denman and Alan Tudyk. He is Jewish. Career Kunken has appeared on Broadway as David Halberstam in David Auburn's The Columnist (2012); opposite Kathleen Turner in High (2011); Tom Stoppard’s Rock 'n' Roll (2007); Frost/Nixon (2007) (for which he received Outer Critics Circle Award (Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play) and Drama League Award nominations),; Festen (2006); and Proof (replacement, 2002). For his role as CFO Andrew Fastow in Lucy Prebble's Enron, he received a 2010 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play. Off-Broadway, he played Tim Andrews in the award-winning Richard Nelson cycle of Apple Plays, which includes That Hopey Changey Thing, Sweet and Sad, and Regular Singing in 2013 at The Public.That Hopey Changey Thing lortel.org, retrieved October 29, 2017