Acting · El Paso, Texas, USA · Born April 21, 1963
American writer, director, actor. Mitchell, the son of a U.S. Army general and a Scottish mother, grew up on various army bases, including Berlin; later the family lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he attended a Catholic school. Since the mid-1980s, he has worked as a theatre actor and director in New York City and played small roles in television and film productions. Among other things, he directed a play by Tennessee Williams. From 1991, he appeared in the original Broadway production of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's musical adaptation of The Secret Garden, which won several Tony Awards. In the early 1990s, together with musician Stephen Trask, he developed the character of Hedwig, a transgender rock musician who grew up in East Berlin, for performances in the New York drag bar Squeezebox. This led to the successful Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 1998, which won two Obie Awards, and three years later to the film version of the musical, again with himself in the title role. The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Director's and Audience Awards, and the play won the 2001 Lambda Literary Award. At the 2002 Chlotrudis Awards, he won the prize for best leading actor. At the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 2001, the film was shown in the ‘PANORAMA’ section and won the Teddy Award. In 2003, he produced the film Tarnation by Jonathan Caouette, which was honoured as best documentary film by the US National Society of Film Critics, among others. In 2004, Mitchell shot the music video for the Scissor Sisters' single Filthy/Gorgeous with stars from the New York drag scene. The clip was not shown on American MTV due to its explicit sexual depictions.
MovieCockroach
2026
as James
MovieEverybody Wants to Be Gen X
2025
as Self
MovieReclaim the Flag
2025
as Self
MovieLisbon
2025
MovieAngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex
2023
as Self
MovieNicole Kidman: Eyes Wide Open
2023
as Self (interview)
TVCity on Fire
2023
as Amory
TVDr. Jackie
2022
as John Cameron Mitchell
TVThe Sandman
2022
as Hal Carter
MovieI Am More
2022
MovieImpresario
2022
TVJoe vs Carole
2022
as Joe 'Exotic' Schreibvogel
TVYellowjackets
2021
as Caligula
MovieJohn Cameron Mitchell & Stephen Trask: Nation of One
2021
as John Cameron Mitchell
MovieSkin: A History of Nudity in the Movies
2020
as Self
MovieTime Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
2020
as Self
TVTime Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time
2020
as Self
MovieThe Spark: The Origins of Pride
2019
as Self
TVShrill
2019
as Gabe
MovieHow to Talk to Girls at Parties
2017
as Punk (uncredited)
TVThe Good Fight
2017
as Felix Staples
MovieMy Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
2016
as Brent Daniels (voice)
TVVinyl
2016
as Andy Warhol
MovieLarry Kramer In Love & Anger
2015
as Himself
MovieDanny Says
2015
as Self
MovieThe Hooping Life
2014
as Himself
TVLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self - Guest
TVMozart in the Jungle
2014
as Egon
TVGirls
2012
as David Pressler-Goings
TVIndie Sex
2007
as Self
MovieAnita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
2007
as Himself
MovieGifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus'
2007
as Himself
MovieShortbus
2006
as Sextra (one of the participants in the orgy sequence)
MovieFollow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig
2006
as Self
MovieFabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
2006
as Self
MovieApparition of the Eternal Church
2006
as Self
TVThe House of Venus Show
2005
as Self
MovieWhether You Like It or Not: The Story of Hedwig
2003
as Self
MovieTotally Gay!
2003
as Self
MovieLance Loud!: A Death in An American Family
2003
as Self (uncredited)
MovieHedwig and the Angry Inch
2001
as Hedwig
I Remember
1999
as Joe
MovieHedwig and the Angry Inch
1998
as Hedwig Robinson/Tommy Gnosis
MovieDavid Searching
1997
as Man with Fruit
Party Girl
1996
as Derrick
MovieGirl 6
1996
as Rob
MovieDaybreak
1993
as Lennie
MovieThe Dreamer of Oz
1990
as Albert
TVLaw & Order
1990
as Eddie
MovieBook of Love
1990
as Floyd
Misplaced
1989
as Jacek
TVFreddy's Nightmares
1988
as Bryan Ross
MovieA Friendship in Vienna
1988
as Tommi Lowberg
MovieThe Stepford Children
1987
as Kenny
MovieOne More Saturday Night
1986
as Teenager #2
MovieBand of the Hand
1986
as J.L.
TVMacGyver
1985
as Aaron
TVThe Twilight Zone
1985
as Tom (segment "The Last Defender of Camelot")
TVThe Equalizer
1985
as Ed Donahue
MovieThe Roommate
1984
as Calvin Fitch
TVAmerican Playhouse
1982
as Calvin Fitch
MovieBroadway: The Next Generation
as Self
MovieHeaven Above Rowen
as Promise (voice)
MovieRon Forever
as Ron
