Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Best TV and Movie Roles: Where You’ve Seen the Fantastic Four Star

Marvel‘s first family has finally assembled (mixing a couple of different teams’ catchphrases there, but you get the gist). Marvel Studios has now officially announced the performers that will be playing The Fantastic Four in the 2025 film of the same name.

Reflecting the importance of this superhero team to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are some big names involved including Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) as Reed Richards and Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, The Crown) as Sue Storm. Slightly lesser known but no less interesting are Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) as Ben Grimm.

We’ve got a ways to go before The Fantastic Four premieres on July 25, 2025 so let’s spend some of that time delving deeper into an unheralded member of the film’s cast. We’re speaking, of course, about Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Though he just won his first Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Richie Jerimovich in FX’s brilliant The Bear, this Massachusetts-born actor has been putting in award-worthy work long before that.

Of late it feels as though Ebon Moss-Bachrach has simply been in everything. From R-rated screwball comedies to biographical drama miniseries to even a galaxy far, far away, this character actor is bound to turn up where you least expect him. Before Ebon dons the orange rocks to become Marvel’s Thing, learn where else you’ve seen him previously. Because spoiler: you’ve almost certainly seen him somewhere previously.

John Quincy Adams in John Adams

What greater honor for a Masshole thespian than to play legendary New Englander John Quincy Adams in an HBO miniseries? In one of Moss-Bachrach’s first major roles, he turns up as John Quincy Adams, future president and son of Paul Giamatti’s John Adams in HBO’s John Adams. Though Moss-Bachrach had worked on TV previously (including hitting a Law & Order trinity with roles in Criminal Intent, Trial By Jury, and Special Victims Unit) this marks his breakthrough.

Desi Harperin in Girls

Speaking of HBO, most folks who were aware Ebon Moss-Bachrach before The Bear probably knew him from HBO’s Girls. This terminally underrated Lena Dunham comedy ran for six seasons and highlighted some wildly successful actors before they were household names (most notably Adam Driver). Moss-Bachrach played Desi Harperin, a seemingly soft-spoken and sweet musician who begins to collaborate with Marnie (Allison Williams) on some tunes. He also “collaborated” with Marnie on a sex act very rarely seen on television, pay cable or otherwise.

David Lieberman in The Punisher

In case you forgot, Ebon Moss-Bachrach has actually been employed by Marvel before. Though The Punisher was technically not part of the MCU canon at the time of its premiere on Netflix, Marvel has since reclaimed its Defenders properties, adding Moss-Bachrach to the surprisingly long list of actors who have performed Marvel double duty. His David Lieberman a.k.a. Micro is a legendary hacker who serves as an ally for Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle.

John Carreyrou in The Dropout

Hulu’s The Dropout tells the remarkable real life story of tech startup CEO Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) and her fraudulent business venture Theranos. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays a pretty big role in this miniseries, portraying the man who would eventually unravel this whole scheme: Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou.

Arvel Skeen in Andor

One of the reasons why Disney+’s Andor become one of the most beloved Star Wars properties in years was due to the strength of its cast. It only makes sense then that Ebon Moss-Bachrach turns up in a small, but crucial role. His Arvel Skeen is a freedom fighter serving under Vel Sartha. A classic battle-tested tough guy, he’s not so sure about this Andor guy at first.

Richard “Richie” Jerimovich in The Bear

We’ve arranged this list in chronological order. Partly because that’s the sensible thing to do. But mostly because if we had led off with this clip from The Bear, there is no way you would have been able to tear yourself away from it to read the rest of the article. As evidenced by said clip, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s work on The Bear is electric. Richie Jerimovich is a richly-rendered Chicago bro who will have you calling everyone “cousin” in no time.

Gary in No Hard Feelings

The majority of Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s best work comes from television as opposed to film. But that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t enjoyed some meaty roles on the big screen as well. His most prominent movie job is undoubtedly his most recent in No Hard Feelings. In this Jennifer Lawrence-starring sex comedy, Moss-Bachrach plays beleaguered ex-boyfriend Gary.