He voiced Roger in the Ice Age franchise, and numerous characters in the shows Bob's Burgers, Robot Chicken and BoJack Horseman. He has also written the children's books I Don't Want to Read This Book, I Don't Want to Read This Book Aloud, This Book is Not a Present and Good Night Thoughts.
Early life and education
Greenfield was born and raised in Dobbs Ferry, New York. He is Jewish and had a Saturday Night Live-themed Bar Mitzvah. He graduated from Dobbs Ferry High School in 1998. At DFHS, Greenfield played wide receiver for the football team.
Career
Greenfield began pursuing an acting career in 1995 after he graduated from high school. He briefly attended college at the University of Wisconsin, but dropped out after earning a 1.0 GPA his freshman year. He landed guest appearances on dramas such as Boston Public, Gilmore Girls and The O.C. Greenfield scored his first lead role on the short-lived series Modern Men as one of three bachelors who hire a life coach to help them understand women.
Greenfield had more success in supporting roles on Veronica Mars (reprising the role in the film adaptation in 2014) and Greek. In 2007, he landed a recurring role on Ugly Betty. He made other guest-starring appearances on the remake of Melrose Place, the short-lived No Ordinary Family, and Castle.
He created, produced, and starred in the comedy series The Gentlemen's League for the Audience Network in 2010, which followed the real-life fantasy football league he ran with actor Jerry Ferrara. Greenfield had his feature film debut in the film Cross Bronx. Greenfield had a featured role in When Do We Eat?, as an Internet tycoon who, after losing his fortune, becomes a Hasidic Jew.
In 2011, Greenfield began playing the role of Schmidt in the sitcom New Girl. The role earned him nominations for both a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor โ Series, Miniseries or Television Film.
In 2015, Greenfield starred in a series of McDonald's commercials promoting their Sirloin Third Pound Burgers.
In 2018, Greenfield was cast in the lead role of Dave Johnson in the CBS comedy The Neighborhood. He took over the role from Josh Lawson, who played the character in the pilot episode. On November 8, 2018, it was announced that Greenfield was set to reprise his role as Leo D'Amato in the 8-episode revival series of Veronica Mars.
In the same year, Greenfield was cast in the recurring role of the Denouement brothers on the third season of the Netflix comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Philanthropy
Greenfield has worked with Young Storytellers Foundation on numerous occasions, stating that his own kids have inspired him to help children find self-confidence and creativity.
Personal life
Greenfield married Tess Sanchez, a former casting director, in 2008. They have two children, a daughter and a son.
Filmography
- โ โ Denotes films that have not yet been released
Film
- 2004 โ Cross Bronx โ Ike Green
- 2005 โ When Do We Eat? โ Ethan
- 2014 โ They Came Together โ Jake
- 2014 โ Veronica Mars โ Leo D'Amato
- 2014 โ About Alex โ Josh
- 2015 โ Hello, My Name Is Doris โ John Fremont
- 2015 โ The Big Short โ Mortgage Broker
- 2016 โ Ice Age: Collision Course โ Roger (voice)
- 2017 โ Fist Fight โ โ.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap}N/a โ Story writer and producer
- 2017 โ Shot Caller โ Tom
- 2017 โ The Glass Castle โ David
- 2017 โ I'm Not Here โ Dad
- 2018 โ A Futile and Stupid Gesture โ Chris Miller
- 2018 โ The Oath โ Dan Moore
- 2019 โ What Men Want โ Kevin Myrtle
- 2020 โ Promising Young Woman โ Joe Macklemore III
- 2020 โ Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite! โ Roger (voice)
- 2022 โ The Valet โ Vincent Royce
- 2023 โ First Time Female Director โ Robbie
- 2024 โ Unfrosted โ Rick Ludwin
- 2026 โ Don't Say Good Luck โ Ted Birenbaum
Audio
- 2023 โ Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus โ Barry Allen / Flash โ Main role
