Michael Chernus

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary by Rehana Lew Mirza

On the big screen, Michael has had numerous memorable roles in films like “Men in Black 3”, "Captain Phillips”, “Spiderman: Homecoming”, "The Bourne Legacy”, “Werewolves Within”, “Mistress America” and co-starring opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal in “The Kindergarten Teacher”.

On television, Michael can currently be seen as Dr Ricken Lazlo Hale in the groundbreaking Apple TV+ series “Severance”. He is perhaps most well known for playing Piper's brother Cal Chapman in every season of Netflix’s hit series “Orange is the New Black”. He was also a series regular on the cult favorite Amazon original series “Patriot” as well as the critically acclaimed World War II drama “Manhattan”. For three seasons, his character Kyle had a major recurring story arc on the Netflix improvised anthology series “Easy”. Upcoming work includes starring opposite Rachel Weisz in the limited series “Dead Ringers” for Amazon.

Michael attended the Juilliard School’s Drama Division in New York City from 1995-1999. Post Juilliard, he worked professionally in the theater for many years, both regionally and Off-Broadway in New York. He has originated roles in world premieres of plays by Adam Rapp, Annie Baker, Brooke Berman, John Belluso, Noah Haidle, Molly Smith Metzler, Jessica Goldberg, Julia Jordan, Bess Wohl, and Lisa Kron, among others. In 2011, Michael won an OBIE award and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel award for his work in the play “In the Wake” at the Public Theater.

His voice can occasionally be heard on “This American Life” and “RadioLab”.