Griffin Newman

Griffin Newman (born February 19, 1989) is an American actor and comedian.

He is known for starring as Arthur Everest in the Amazon Studios television series The Tick (2016–2019), as the voice of Orko in the Netflix animated series Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021, 2024), cohosting the film podcast Blank Check with Griffin & David alongside critic David Sims, and for acting as cohost and sidekick Watto on The George Lucas Talk Show.

Newman is the son of film producer Peter Newman and casting director Antonia Dauphin. His maternal grandfather, Claude Dauphin, was a French actor. His younger brother, James Newman, is also an actor. His maternal step grandfather was English novelist Marc Brandel, the son of writer J. D. Beresford. His parents had a Jewish wedding. Newman was raised in Greenwich Village, and attended Saint Ann's School. He was interested in performing from an early age, often performing Fozzie Bear routines for friends and family. He started stand-up comedy at the age of ten as part of the 'Kidsncomedy' program run by Jo Ann Grossman. His material was mostly political, workshopped with his father. He began getting some attention from agents at this time, though his parents were reluctant for him to pursue a career in acting. His first onscreen appearance was as 'Teenage Fan' in the mockumentary The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan. His role was mostly cut for the film. As a teenager, Newman regularly attended Buck's Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp.

Newman started college in 2007 at California Institute of the Arts with the intention of becoming a filmmaker. He dropped out after seven months in order to pursue a career in comedy and acting.

Newman's first major onscreen appearance is in the film The Treatment in 2006 as high school student Scott. He went on to play roles in a number of shorts and student films. He also began performing stand-up regularly around this time and produced a one-man show titled Grifftopia, which he performed in 2009 and 2010.

In 2010, Newman appeared in the teen film Beware the Gonzo in the role of Horny Rob Becker, one of the friends of the titular Gonzo (Ezra Miller). Though the film was released to mixed reviews, Newman's performance was positively reviewed, with Odie Henderson from RogerEbert.com writing that "Becker is the most interesting character in the film."

Over the next few years, Newman guest starred in a number of television shows, including Blue Bloods, Big Lake, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as appearing in sketches for Funny or Die. He played the role of Russ in the television mini-series Political Animals for the USA Network, and was listed by Just for Laughs as one of the 2012 New Faces of Comedy: Characters.

In 2013, Newman was cast in John Mulaney's sitcom Mulaney for NBC as Seymour. The network passed on the show after shooting the pilot, but later in the year, it was picked up by Fox with the role of Seymour cut from the script. Newman has described the situation as his own version of the Dark Phoenix saga.