The Truman Show: Where are they now?

With its satire of reality TV arriving before reality TV became an actual proper thing, The Truman Show could be seen as the Network of its day – a truly prophetic film which still has things to say about our culture.

But where are its stars now? We’re glad you asked!

Jim Carrey (Truman)

Truman Burbank himself, the titular star of the central reality series at the heart of the film, Jim Carrey followed his Golden Globe-nominated performance for Best Actor in The Truman Show with another Golden Globe-nominated performance, in Man On The Moon (1999). His popularity continued into the 2000s, where he mixed comedy roles such as Me, Myself & Irene (2000) and Bruce Almighty (2003), with more serious roles.

In 2004, he was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). A true renaissance man, Carrey has written a children’s book and had a side career as a painter, in addition to his pretty consistent acting career. Carrey will soon be seen in Kidding, a TV series that reunites him with his Eternal Sunshine director Michel Gondry.

Off the screen, he is a prominent anti-vaccination campaigner, believing that MMR vaccinations cause autism.

Laura Linney (Meryl/Hannah)

Laura Linney played Truman’s onscreen wife and product-placement queen, Hannah Gill. Linney continued to mix critically acclaimed indie hits with audience-pleasing blockbusters after 1998, appearing in films such as Mystic River (2003), Love Actually (2003), Kinsey (2004), The Squid and the Whale (2005), The Nanny Diaries (2007), Sully (2016), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).

She’s been nominated for awards along the way, with Mystic River gaining her a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and her performance in Kinsey leading her to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

More recently, Linney has won acclaim for her role in Netflix’s streaming series Ozark.

Ed Harris (Christof)

Ed Harris played the creator of The Truman Show, and his career has been comprised of edgy and critically acclaimed roles. He followed Truman with appearances in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Enemy at the Gates (2001), A History of Violence (2005), Gone Baby Gone (2007), Snowpiercer (2013), and Mother! (2017).

He’s currently starring as William, the Man in Black, in HBO’s Westworld.

Noah Emmerich (Louis/Marlon)

Noah Emmerich played Louis Coltrane playing Marlon, Truman’s best friend since early childhood. The actor followed his work on The Truman Show with a series of high-concept thrillers, including Frequency (2000), Wind Talkers (2002) and Cellular (2004).

Emmerich is also known for his television work, which includes a turn on The Walking Dead (he was the Doctor at the end of season one) and as FBI Agent Stan Beeman on the FX series The Americans, which earned him a Critics Choice nomination. He’ll next be seen in the TV miniseries The Spy, which is based on the life of the Israeli spy, Eli Cohen.

Natascha McElhone (Sylvia/Lauren)

British actress Natascha McElhone played Sylvia played Truman’s old flame who broke the rules and was taken from him, and the actress had a fairly major 1998. Not only did she appear in The Truman Show, she starred opposite Robert De Niro and Jean Reno in Ronin.

She followed those breakthrough roles with appearances in Kenneth Branagh’s Love Labour’s Lost (2000) and Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris (2002). More recently, McElhone has forged a successful TV career, appearing in the Showtime comedy-drama series Californication (2007–2014) as Karen van der Beek, the long-time partner of Hank Moody.

She also plays First Lady Alex Kirkman in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor (2016–2017), and will be seen as Laz Ingram in Beau Willimon’s upcoming Hulu science fiction series The First (2018).

Brian Delate (Walter/Kirk)

Delate’s biggest role following The Truman Show was actually five different supporting roles – he appeared as five different characters in the TV series Law & Order between 1993–2004.

Sadly, the actor wasn’t able to parlay his appearance as Truman’s long-lost dad in The Truman Show into any major leading roles – he played supporting parts and one-off appearances in film and TV, right up until he appeared in (ironically) The Comeback, Lisa Kudrow’s Curb Your Enthusiasm-style series, where he played the recurring Ron Wesson.

Holland Taylor (Alanis/Angela)

Holland Taylor played Alanis Montclair playing Angela Burbank, Truman’s mum. Following her work on the film, Holland Taylor was probably best known for her television work. She played Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice from 1998–2003, Peggy Peabody on The L Word from 2004–2009 and Evelyn Harper on Two and a Half Men from 2003–2015.

More recently, Stephen King fans will have seen Taylor on the television adaptation of Mr Mercedes, in which she appeared regularly as Ida Silver.

Paul Giamatti (Simeon)

Before his own rise to fame, Paul Giamatti played the control room director. Giamatti was able to move from supporting actor to lead thanks to critically acclaimed roles such as Harvey Pekar in American Splendor (2003) and Miles Raymond in Sideways (2004). He continued to play supporting roles in the right films, like Joe Gould in Cinderella Man (2005) – for which he was Academy Award-nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

More recently he’s moved into TV – while continuing to appear in films such as Straight Outta Compton (2015) and San Andreas (2015).

He played the title character in HBO’s miniseries John Adams (2008), which earned him a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. He currently stars as US Attorney Chuck Rhoades Jr in the Showtime television series Billions.

Peter Krause (Lawrence)

Peter Krause played Lawrence, Truman’s boss. Following his work on Truman, Krause is probably known best for his work on Six Feet Under, for which he was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning twice for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

He’s carried on working in TV, appearing in shows such as Parenthood (2010–2015) and The Catch (2016–2017). He’s currently in the cast of 9-1-1, as Bobby Nash.

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