Biography
The son of actor
Stephen Macht (
Raid on Entebbe), Big Apple native Gabriel Macht initially gravitated to acting when he felt inspired by viewing his dad's performance in the network miniseries
The Immigrants (1978). Gabriel gave drama a try at an early age by essaying roles in primary school plays, and debuted on film opposite his father at about the same time, in director
Larry Peerce's 1980 feature Why Would I Lie?. He later studied drama formally, in high school and at Carnegie Mellon University, and well before his 22nd birthday launched his professional acting career with roles on television, in feature films and in off-Broadway productions - a balance that he maintained for over a decade. Macht first began to emerge as an A-list star during the 2000s, with supporting roles in such Hollywood studio features as: the
Anthony Hopkins/
Chris Rock action comedy
Bad Company (2002); the
Roger Donaldson-directed unglamorized spy film
The Recruit (2003); and the
John Travolta alcoholism drama
A Love Song For Bobby Long (2004), which brought Macht his most complex and ambitious role up through that time, as southern novelist Lawson Pines. Macht then portrayed John Russell, Jr. in
Robert De Niro's epic period drama
The Good Shepherd (2006), before landing one of his first leads in director Frank Miller's comic-book superhero film
The Spirit (2008). In that film, Macht plays the title character, a masked crimefighter who attempts to save his home turf, Central City, from a deadly villain called The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide