Dermot Mulroney Dermot Mulroney is an American actor and director.
Acting since the 1980s, he is known for his roles in the films Young Guns, Where the Day
Takes You, My Best Friend's Wedding, and About Schmidt.
Early life Mulroney was born in Alexandria, Virginia.
His mother, Ellen, was a housewife and amateur actress originally from Manchester, Iowa,
and his father, Michael Mulroney, was a law professor (and amateur racecar driver) at
Villanova University School of Law, originally from Elkader, Iowa. He has a sister, Moira,
and three brothers, Conor, Kieran (who is also an actor), and Sean. Moira formerly worked
in the Philadelphia DA's office as an assistant district attorney, and later at WXPN, an FM
radio station in Philadelphia, but now works elsewhere in the non-profit industry. Some
of Mulroney's ancestors immigrated from County Donegal and County Mayo in Ireland during
the Irish Potato Famine; he is of seven eighths Irish, and one eighth German, ancestry. Mulroney
attended Maury Elementary School and played cello in school and city youth orchestras,
as well as acted in children's community theater. Mulroney attended the Interlochen Arts Camp
as a cellist. He later attended T. C. Williams High School (grad. 1981) as well as Northwestern
University (grad. 1985) in Evanston, Illinois, where he was a member of the fraternity of
Phi Gamma Delta. Career
Most of his lead performances have been in romantic comedy films. Mulroney has appeared
in many movies, including as the male lead in My Best Friend's Wedding alongside Julia
Roberts and Cameron Diaz. He is probably best known for his western roles as either an outlaw
or gunman. Mulroney co-starred in the 1988 western Young Guns, for which he is possibly
best known, in which he played "Dirty Steve" alongside Emilio Estevez. Mulroney played
"J.P", the boyfriend of star "Maggie" (played by Bridget Fonda) in Point of No Return (1993
film). In 1994 he starred with Mickey Rourke in The Last Outlaw, which has since become
a cult classic among western genre fans. Mulroney also played the love interest of Madeleine
Stowe in the western Bad Girls. He first gained critical acclaim in the film Longtime Companion,
portraying a young man with HIV during the early days of the outbreak of the virus, who
becomes the first of his group of friends to succumb to the disease. He was also in
the ensemble film The Family Stone starring Sarah Jessica Parker. In 2005, he played a
"date-for-hire" character alongside Debra Messing in The Wedding Date. He was also in
the movie Abduction as Martin Price. Mulroney played Gavin Mitchell on the TV series,
Friends. His character dated Rachel for one episode but they broke up when it became too
complicated between them because of Ross. In 1993, he wrote the song "Someone Else's
Used Guitar" for Peter Bogdanovich's The Thing Called Love. Mulroney also had a cameo in
the Joaquin Phoenix directed video "Tired of Being Sorry" for Balthazar Getty's band
Ringside. Mulroney also is credited as a song performer on the movie and for four other
tunes, as well as acting in the movie. In 2007, Mulroney voiced Green Lantern Hal Jordan
in the animated series The Batman in the season 5 episode "Ring Toss". He occasionally reads
stories on the WBEZ Chicago Public Radio radio. In 2012, Mulroney played the love interest
of Zooey Deschanel, Russell, in the Fox series New Girl. In 2013, he portrayed the title
starring role in the psychotronic horror film The Rambler, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance
Film Festival. In 2011, Mulroney directed the film Love,
Wedding, Marriage. Personal life
Mulroney married actress Catherine Keener in 1990 after they met in 1987 when filming
Survival Quest. The couple separated in May 2005 and filed for divorce June 11, 2007,
citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was final on December 19, 2007. They have
a son named Clyde Keener Mulroney (born June 21, 1999).
Mulroney is an accomplished cellist, and in 2005 appeared alongside Boyd Tinsley for Alanis
Morissette's show at the House of Blues in Hollywood. He played cello in the song "Place
Your Hand" from Melissa Etheridge's 1992 album Never Enough, on the EP for Rain Phoenix's
band Papercranes, and on the score to Mission: Impossible III (2006), Mission: Impossible
– Ghost Protocol, and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Mulroney (cello and mandolin) and
his brother Kieran (violin and accordion) were both members of the punk-folk band Low
and Sweet Orchestra which included members of The Pogues and The Circle Jerks.
Filmography Television