Norbert Leo Butz as Paddy Chayefsky | Fosse / Verdon | FX Networks

Norbert Leo Butz

Paddy Chayefsky

A brilliant playwright and screenwriter, Paddy, portrayed by Norbert Leo Butz, is one of Bob’s few true friends, a force of nature who never shies away from telling the painful truth. When he speaks, Bob listens. But even Paddy will struggle to get through to his friend as his behavior, and his appetites, grow increasingly out of control.

Career Highlights

Norbert Leo Butz is a multi-award-winning actor whose talents span across television, film and theater. Most recently, Butz starred in the critically acclaimed Netflix series Bloodline. He also starred in Mercy Street, the PBS medical drama, and had starring roles in the series The Deep End (ABC) and the miniseries Comanche Moon (CBS) as well as the pilots The Miraculous Year (HBO) and Playing Chicken (FOX).

The extremely versatile Butz won his first Tony Award® for his performance as “Freddy Benson” in the Broadway production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a role that also earned him a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics’ Award, an Astaire Award and a Drama League Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He garnered his second Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as “Carl Hanratty” in Catch Me If You Can. Butz’s other Broadway credits include Big Fish, Dead Accounts, Enron, Speed-the-Plow, Is He Dead?, Wicked, Thou Shalt Not, for which he earned Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics’ nominations, and Rent.

Off-Broadway credits include How I Learned to Drive, Fifty Words, Buicks (Drama Desk nomination), The Last Five Years (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations, Drama League Award), Juno and the Paycock and Saved. Butz also joined the national tours of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Cabaret (Helen Hayes Award, Jefferson, Dora and Ovation Awards).

Regional theater credits include Catch Me If You Can (5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle), four seasons at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis Festival and Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

His film credits include Better Living Through Chemistry, Greetings From Tim Buckley, Disconnect, The English Teacher, Higher Ground, Fair Game, and Dan in Real Life.

Butz participated in the producing, writing and recording of The Angel Band Project’s album, “Take You With Me” (now available on iTunes), for which all proceeds benefit the Voices and Faces Project. He received a BFA from Webster University and an MFA from Alabama Shakespeare Theatre.

Margaret Qualley

as Ann Reinking

Ann Reinking knows the talent she has – and that’s why she’s determined to avoid a potentially career-jeopardizing romance with her director, Bob Fosse.

Sam Rockwell

as Bob Fosse / Executive Producer

When Bob Fosse’s career as a dancer in Hollywood fails to take off, he finds a second act as a Broadway choreographer. But it’s only when he meets Gwen Verdon that his talents truly blossom.

Michelle Williams

as Gwen Verdon / Executive Producer

Once a household name, Gwen Verdon will find herself increasingly in Bob Fosse’s shadow, her pivotal role in his work too often overlooked and unappreciated.