Paul Walter Hauser

Paul Walter Hauser (born October 15, 1986) is an American actor and wrestler. He is best known for his portrayal of Stingray in the Netflix series Cobra Kai and providing the voice of Embarrassment in Pixar's Inside Out 2 (2024). He played supporting roles in the films Super Troopers 2 (2018), Beats (2019), Adam (2020), Cruella (2021), and Old Dads (2023). 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. As an occasional professional wrestler, Hauser is signed to Major League Wrestling.

Paul Walter Hauser
Hauser in 2021
Born	(1986-10-15) October 15, 1986 (age 38) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2005–present
Spouse	Amy Elizabeth Boland ​ ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	2

Early life

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.^[1][2] He attended Valley Lutheran High School, with Keenan Rodammer a private parochial school in Saginaw.^[2] He attended Concordia University Chicago before dropping out to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.^[3]

Career

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.^[4]

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.^[5][6] 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, I Think You Should Leave, 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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."^[10]

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;^[11] the lead role in a bio-pic about actor-comedian Chris Farley;^[12] a reboot of The Naked Gun franchise;^[13] the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025);^[14] a biographical film about Bruce Springsteen titled Deliver Me from Nowhere, in the role of guitar tech Mike Batlan;^[15] and the comedy Balls Up alongside Mark Wahlberg.^[16] An upcoming film of his is The Luckiest Man in America, in which he plays Michael Larson, a contestant accused of cheating on the game show Press Your Luck in 1984.^[17]

Other work

In 2022, Hauser debuted as a rapper under the moniker Signet Ringer. He released his first EP, Murder for Higher, on July 8, 2022.^[18]

As a professional wrestler, he is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and also makes sporadic appearances on the independent circuit.^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

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.^[24] 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.^[4][25] He and his wife Amy were featured in a video series for online Christian multimedia movement I Am Second.^[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Virginia	Dale
2011	Demoted	Bothered Salesman	Uncredited[citation needed]
2013	iSteve	Pastey Jones
2017	I, Tonya	Shawn Eckhardt
2018	Super Troopers 2	Lonnie Laloush
	BlacKkKlansman	Ivanhoe
2019	Late Night	Eugene Mancuso
	Beats	Terrence
	Richard Jewell	Richard Jewell
2020	Adam	Trent
	Da 5 Bloods	Simon
	Eat Wheaties!	James Fisk
	Songbird	Michael Dozer
2021	Silk Road	Curtis Clark Green
	Cruella	Horace Badun
	Queenpins	Ken Miller
2022	Delia's Gone	Bo
	Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm	Elmer (voice)
2023	Americana	Lefty Ledbetter
	Old Dads	Tracy
2024	Orion and the Dark	The Dark (voice)
	Inside Out 2	Embarrassment (voice)
	The Instigators	Booch
	The Luckiest Man in America	Michael Larson	Also executive producer
2025	The Fantastic Four: First Steps †	TBA	Post-production
	The Naked Gun †	Capt. Ed Hocken	Post-production
	Deliver Me from Nowhere †	Mike Batlan	Post-production
TBA	Balls Up †	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Too Late with Adam Carolla	Various roles (voice)	2 episodes
2010	Community	Student #3	Episode: "Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples"
	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Richie	1 episode
2013	Key & Peele	Various roles	2 episodes
2013–2014	Betas	Dashawn	4 episodes
2014–2017	Kingdom	Keith	Recurring role, 27 episodes
2015	The Night Shift	Oren Edwards	1 episode
	Blunt Talk	Audience Member	1 episode
2017	Superstore	Vince	1 episode
	A Midsummer's Nightmare	Nick Bottoms	Television film
2018–2019	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Tripp Knob	2 episodes
2019–2025	Cobra Kai	Raymond "Stingray" Porter	Recurring role, 15 episodes (seasons 2, 4–6)
2019	WWE Smackdown	Himself	1 episode
2020	Reno 911!	Jeffy Renee Chisholm	Recurring role, 6 episodes
2021	Calls	Floyd (voice)	1 episode
	I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson	Scott	1 episode
2022	The Late Show With Stephen Colbert	No One (Voice)	1 episode
	Black Bird	Larry Hall	Miniseries, 6 episodes
2023	AEW Dynamite	Himself	1 episode
	AEW Rampage		1 episode
	The Afterparty	Travis Gladrise	Main role, 1o episodes (Season 2)
	Bupkis	Hauser	1 episode

Accolades

Year[a]	Organizations[b]	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2020	Astra Film Awards	Game Changer Award	Richard Jewell	Won	[26]
		Breakthrough Performance Actor		Nominated
2021	Astra Midseason Film Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Cruella	Nominated	[27]
2024	Astra TV Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Streaming Movie	Black Bird	Won	[28]
2025	Children's and Family Emmy Awards	Outstanding Voice Performer in a Children's or Young Teen Program	Orion and the Dark	Nominated	[29]
2023	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries	Black Bird	Won	[30]
2019	Detroit Film Critics Society	Breakthrough Performance	Richard Jewell / Late Night / Beats / 7 Days to Vegas	Nominated	[31]
2021	Garden State Film Festival	Best Ensemble (Feature)	7 Days to Vegas	Won	[32]
2023	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Limited or Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture	Black Bird	Won	[33]
2019	Indiana Film Journalists Association	Best Actor	Richard Jewell	Nominated	[34]
2019	National Board of Review	Breakthrough Performance		Won	[35]
2024	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie	Black Bird	Won	[36]
2021	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Da 5 Bloods	Nominated	[37]
2023		Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series	Black Bird	Nominated	[38]
2019	Women Film Critics Circle	Best Actor	Richard Jewell	Nominated	[39]

Championships and accomplishments

• PROGRESS Wrestling
  • PROGRESS Wrestling Proteus Championship (1 time, current)

Notes

1. Indicates the year of ceremony.
2. Awards, festivals, honors and other miscellaneous organizations are listed in alphabetical order.