Zachary Knighton
Zachary Knighton is an American actor and filmmaker born on October 25, 1978, in Alexandria, Virginia, whose work spans both television and film.
Knighton attended Frank W. Cox High School before going on to the Governor's School for the Arts, an educational path that placed him within a formal arts training environment from an early age. He subsequently studied at Virginia Commonwealth University, completing an academic grounding that preceded his entry into professional performance. His career developed across multiple roles within the entertainment industry, with his work as a television actor representing the most prominently documented dimension of his professional life. In addition to performing on screen, Knighton has worked as a television director and as a film producer, taking on responsibilities behind the camera as well as in front of it.
His professional output encompasses both the small screen and feature film, with credits as both a television actor and a film actor establishing him as a practitioner across those two formats. The combination of acting, directing, and producing points to a career that has engaged with the production side of the industry alongside performance itself.
Quotes by Zachary Knighton
'FlashForward' was a dream come true. I had auditioned for David Goyer for 'Blade: Trinity' and didn't get the part, but I guess he became a fan.
'FlashForward' was a really fun show to make. Not to mention, I only worked, like, one day a week, and it paid the same as 'Happy Endings.' I got to make out with beautiful women on that show as well.
I mean, comedy’s hard. If you go back and look at the first season of ‘Seinfeld,’ it’s a work in progress and that’s what happens. It just takes time for people to figure each other out, and figure out timing, and to develop creatively with the writers.
I’ve done comedy, and I’ve done drama. I’ve sort of been a journeyman in my career so far.
You know, I’ve just always been sort of goofy and kind of gone with it. I actually usually work more in drama, but I have been floating back and forth with comedy, and somehow they keep giving me jobs in comedy, so I guess there’s something funny about me.
Film work can be tedious and sort of all over the place, especially when you have a family and you’re going off and doing things somewhere else.
In college, I won the Irene Ryan; it’s kind of like a collegiate Tony, which got my career going. I was honored. I won a fellowship to the Kennedy Center, and that’s where I got my agent.
At one point, I was in a place where it didn’t feel like it was going to happen, and I was feeling pretty down on myself. But I stuck to it, and now I have a hit comedy on my hands. You’ve got to keep plugging away at it. If you really believe in yourself, you can definitely make it happen.
I don’t want to name any names, but I’ve worked on television shows where there’s a guy writing for my generation who’s, like, 60 – and it doesn’t work.
V-necks are great because you can get a little fat and you still look kind of good – and I like to get fat sometimes, so it’s nice. I like to fluctuate between the world of skinny and fat, so V-necks suit me well.