Paul Walter Hauser

Paul Walter Hauser (born October 15, 1986) is an American actor. He played supporting roles in the films Demoted (2011), Super Troopers 2 (2018), Beats (2019), Adam (2020), Cruella (2021), Old Dads (2023), and Inside Out 2 (2024). In 2019, Hauser had his breakout performance as the title character in Clint Eastwood's drama film Richard Jewell. Hauser starred as murderer Larry Hall in the 2022 miniseries Black Bird, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Life and career
Hauser was born on October 15, 1986 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in Saginaw, Michigan. His parents are Deborah and The Rev. Paul Hauser, a Lutheran minister. He attended Valley Lutheran High School, a private parochial school in Saginaw. He attended Concordia University Chicago before dropping out to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

Acting
Hauser portrayed Shawn Eckhardt in the 2017 film I, Tonya, Dale in the 2010 film Virginia, and Keith in the television series Kingdom. Hauser was initially cast as an extra for Virginia as his acting debut, and complimented director Dustin Lance Black for his speech after winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2009 for Milk (2008); this led to Black writing him a larger role in the movie.

He had the recurring role of Deshawn in the Amazon web series Betas, and in 2018 appeared as Lonnie Laloush in Super Troopers 2 and as Ivanhoe in BlacKkKlansman. He has also appeared as a guest star on the television series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Night Shift, Superstore, Key & Peele, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Community, Blunt Talk, Bupkis and Cobra Kai. In 2019, he starred in Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell, portraying the title role, Richard Jewell, the real life security guard who spotted the bomb at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. In 2020, he starred in Songbird, a film based on the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, Hauser played Horace Badun in the crime comedy-drama Cruella, a Disney live-action prequel/spin-off of One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Hauser also stars as Raymond Porter, better known by his nickname Stingray, in Cobra Kai. He plays a recurring character in Season 2, and a major anti-hero in Seasons 4 & 5.

Although known for his comedic turns, Hauser gained broad recognition and critical praise for his portrayal of the serial killer Larry Hall in the 2022 Apple TV+ true crime miniseries Black Bird, adapted from James Keene's memoir In with the Devil. Critic Nick Schager wrote of Hauser's performance, "even in a sea of maniacal villains, his Larry Hall stands out as a uniquely cunning madman, so unpredictable and unnerving as to be downright unforgettable."

In 2024, he voiced a lead role in the DreamWorks Animation film Orion and the Dark and the role of Embarrassment in the Pixar film Inside Out 2.

In 2024, Hauser became attached to the true-crime drama Fruitcake alongside Jennifer Garner; the lead role in a bio-pic about actor-comedian Chris Farley; a reboot of The Naked Gun franchise; the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four (2025); a biographical film about Bruce Springsteen titled Deliver Me from Nowhere, in the role of guitar tech Mike Batlan; and the comedy Balls Up alongside Mark Wahlberg. An upcoming film of his is Press Your Luck, in which he plays Michael Larson, a contestant accused of cheating on the game show of the same name in 1984.

Other work
In 2022, Hauser debuted as a rapper under the moniker Signet Ringer. He released his first extended play, Murder for Higher, on July 8, 2022. As a wrestler, he makes occasional appearances on the independent circuit.

Personal life
He married Amy Elizabeth Boland on July 23, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. Hauser and Boland have a son, Harris Boland Hauser, who was born on April 21, 2021, in Thomasville, Georgia. Their son was in his first movie, Bandit, when he was just 5 weeks old. On January 11, 2023, during his Golden Globes acceptance speech, he announced he and his wife were expecting their second son. Their son Jonah Maverick Hauser was born on April 1, 2023, at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California.

Hauser is a Christian. He and his wife Amy were featured in a video series for online Christian multimedia movement I Am Second.