Connor Ratliff

Connor Ratliff (born August 27, 1975) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his podcast Dead Eyes,^[1] is the star and creator of the long running stage and streaming show The George Lucas Talk Show,^[2] and is associated with Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City where he is a member of the long form improv comedy troupe The Stepfathers.^[3]

Early life

Ratliff grew up in Missouri, the son of Bill and Gretta Ratliff, and after high school attended the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in Liverpool, England. He stayed in London after graduation and worked as a reader while looking for work as an actor.^[4]

Career

He began acting at The Royal Court Theatre in London, where in 1998 he appeared as one of the four lead roles in Christopher Shinn's debut play Four.^[5] In 2000, Ratliff was cast in a small role in Band of Brothers, but the role was recast before Ratliff's scene was filmed.^[6][7] This experience later prompted Ratliff to create the podcast Dead Eyes.^[8]

UCB Theatre and The Chris Gethard Show

After moving to New York, Ratliff began working at the UCB Theatre East, where he performed weekly Friday nights with the improv troupe The Stepfathers, and performed Sunday nights in the theatre's longest running show, ASSSSCAT 3000.^[9] He also wrote and performed on The Chris Gethard Show throughout its run^[10] as both a stage show and its many iterations on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Fusion, and TruTV. During its run, he launched a 2012 Presidential campaign and debated Jimmy McMillan,^[11] contributed short films with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux as The Lone Cornmeal Machine,^[12] and served as a warm up comedian and panelist.^[13]

The George Lucas Talk Show

In 2014, Connor Ratliff began hosting a live talk show where he appears as George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, and he interviews real guests as themselves in a panel format.^[10] He is joined by sidekick Star Wars characters: initially Jar Jar Binks, played by comedian Shaun Diston, and in current shows, Watto, played by Griffin Newman. The show was performed monthly live on stage at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre until the COVID 19 pandemic forced the venue to close. On May 4, 2020, the show resumed as a live broadcast on Twitch, first on Planet Scum and then on Paul Scheer's channel Friendzone,^[14] and was performed remotely until the stage show format was revived in June of 2022.^[15]

In 2024 the documentary I'm "George Lucas": A Connor Ratliff Story premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival.^[16]

Dead Eyes

In 2000, Ratliff was cast in the role of Private John Zielinski in the HBO television series Band of Brothers and was set to begin filming when he was subsequently fired, allegedly because series co-creator Tom Hanks believed Ratliff had "dead eyes". In 2020, Ratliff began a podcast, Dead Eyes, that set out to "solve a very stupid mystery" of why he was fired, and to more generally explore the concept of rejection in the entertainment industry, drawing on many fellow actors to share their own experiences.^[17] The podcast gained significant media attention in March 2022 when, for its season 3 finale, Ratliff finally got Hanks to appear on the program.^{[18][13][19][20]}

Film, television, and other work

Ratliff played Mr. Rapp in Mean Girls (2024), Chester in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018–2022), and Ted in Search Party (2016–2022).^[21][22] He was one of the narrators for the audiobook version of Hanks' novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.^[23] Ratliff starred as Gil in the podcast In The Cards (2023) by Next Chapter Podcasts.^[24][25]

Filmography

Films

Television

References

1. ^ Quah, Nicholas (May 5, 2020). "Rejected by Tom Hanks? Start a Podcast About It". Vulture. Archived 2020-05-06 at the Wayback Machine.
2. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (September 19, 2020). "Watching 'The George Lucas Talk Show' Watch Weird TV Live Is a 2020 Highlight — Here's Why". Collider. Archived 2020-10-08 at the Wayback Machine.
3. ^ "The Stepfathers Are Gods of Improv Comedy". BlackBook. May 25, 2012. Archived 2021-01-19 at the Wayback Machine.
4. ^ Moreno, Mike (Sep 2, 2020). "The Connor Ratliff Conspiracies: The Mishaps and Misfortunes That Lead To His Success". Archived 2020-09-22 at the Wayback Machine.
5. ^ Shinn, Christopher (2002). Four. New York City, NY: Dramatists Play Service. p. 3. ISBN 9780822218500.
6. ^ Heritage, Stuart (March 10, 2022). "'Tom Hanks would be boring if he was just nice': the podcaster interviewing the star – after being fired by him". The Guardian. Archived December 6, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
7. ^ Ratliff, Connor (January 23, 2020). "01 – He's Having Second Thoughts". Dead Eyes. Nelson, Harry & Comite, Mike (eds.). Headgum. Archived August 7, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
8. ^ McCarter, Reid (January 14, 2020). "Actor starts podcast to figure out why, exactly, Tom Hanks fired him from Band Of Brothers". AVClub. Archived 2020-01-14 at the Wayback Machine.
9. ^ O'Meara, Brendan. "Connor Ratliff on Falling Backward into Show Biz and How Improv Made Him a Better Listener". Archived 2019-12-08 at the Wayback Machine.
10. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (27 October 2021). "Tom Hanks Nearly Destroyed Connor Ratliff's Life. So He Made a Podcast About It". Rolling Stone. Archived 13 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
11. ^ Gethard, Chris (Aug 30, 2013). "THE GREAT AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE". Youtube. Archived 2014-06-22 at the Wayback Machine.
12. ^ Doliveux, Maelle. "The Lone Cornmeal Machine". Archived 2015-02-20 at the Wayback Machine.
13. ^ "Why Did Tom Hanks Fire This Man?". Vanity Fair. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
14. ^ Squires, Bethy (2022-05-05). "The George Lucas Talk Show Moves to Paul Scheer's Twitch Network". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
15. ^ "The George Lucas Talk Show Episode XLV: Pretend It's A Typewriter (Early Show)". www.imdb.com. Retrieved 2026-05-27.
16. ^ Mecca, Dan (2024-03-20). "I'm 'George Lucas': A Connor Ratliff Story Review: A Loving Portrait of a Unique Comedian". Retrieved 2024-11-28.
17. ^ Dockterman, Eliana (May 29, 2020). "The Best Podcasts of 2020 So Far". Time.com. Archived 2020-05-29 at the Wayback Machine.
18. ^ "Connor Ratliff Confronted Tom Hanks About Firing Him for His "Dead Eyes"", retrieved 2022-03-04; 00:01:50.
19. ^ "Dead Eyes Should Interview Tom Hanks Every Week". Vulture. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
20. ^ "Tom Hanks Apologizes to Conor Ratliff for Band of Brothers Firing Due His 'Dead Eyes'". People. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
21. ^ Grobar, Matt (2023-03-22). "'Mean Girls' Movie Musical From Paramount Finds Its Kevin G. In Mahi Alam; Connor Ratliff Also Set". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
22. ^ Harrison, Ellie (12 March 2022). "Tom Hanks apologises to Connor Ratliff for firing him from Band of Brothers because of his 'dead eyes'". Independent. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
23. ^ Quinn, WJ (2023-07-17). "Podcast Star Connor Ratliff – Long Read interview!". theqr.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
24. ^ White, Peter (2023-08-02). "Connor Ratliff To Star In Scripted Comedy Podcast 'In The Cards' From Next Chapter". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
25. ^ "In The Cards". Audacy. Retrieved 2024-12-18.

External links

• Connor Ratliff at IMDb