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Erik Jensen is an actor, writer, and director.
As an actor, Jensen regularly appears on the ABC series For Life (2020) as ADA Dez O'Reilly, starring opposite Nicholas Pinnock. He portrayed conspiracy theorist Frank Cody in multiple seasons of Sam Esmail's Mr. Robot (2015) and played Dr. Stephen Edwards in Season Five of The Walking Dead (2010). He acted alongside Catherine Keener in the Amazon series Modern Love (2019) and appeared in David Fincher's Mindhunter (2017) on Netflix. His notable guest roles include appearances on 30 Rock (2006), The Americans (2013), The Blacklist (2013), all three Law & Order franchises, and CSI. For his critically acclaimed portrayal of New York Yankee Thurman Munson in The Bronx Is Burning (2007), Jensen gained 26 pounds, acting opposite John Turturro and Daniel Sunjata.
On stage, Jensen received acclaim for his "breathtaking" (Billboard) solo performance as gonzo rock journalist Lester Bangs in "How To Be A Rock Critic," co-written by Jensen and directed by his wife and frequent collaborator Jessica Blank. This play was performed at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and The Public Theater in New York. Other theater credits include Tracey Scott Wilson's "The Good Negro" at The Public Theater, directed by Liesl Tommy, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Disgraced" by Ayad Akhtar at Lincoln Center. His early theater work includes productions by Terrence McNally and Arthur Kopit at the Manhattan Theater Club.
Beyond performing, Jensen is an accomplished playwright and screenwriter. The New Yorker recognized him as "among the foremost practitioners of documentary theater in the U.S." Together with Jessica Blank, he co-authored the award-winning play "The Exonerated," which ran Off-Broadway for nearly two years and featured stars such as Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, and Delroy Lindo. The play, based on interviews with over 40 wrongly convicted death row inmates, is regarded as a defining work in documentary theater. It garnered numerous honors including the Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Ovation, Fringe First, and Herald Angel Awards, along with nominations for the Hull-Warriner and John Gassner Playwriting Awards. The production also received accolades from Amnesty International, the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Death Penalty Focus, and Court TV, and was named Best Play of the Year by The New York Times. Its 2005 film adaptation was directed by Bob Balaban. Jensen and Blank’s book on the creation of "The Exonerated," titled "Living Justice," was published by Simon & Schuster in 2005 and earned a Kirkus starred review.
Following "The Exonerated," Jensen and Blank created "Aftermath," a New York Times Critic’s Pick documentary play based on interviews with Iraqi civilian refugees in Jordan. It enjoyed sold-out runs Off-Broadway at New York Theater Workshop and toured extensively through Europe. Their third play, "How To Be A Rock Critic," inspired by Lester Bangs' writings, received rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, The New Yorker, and Bangs’ contemporaries Greil Marcus and Jim DeRogatis. The play sold out at venues including Kirk Douglas Theatre, South Coast Rep, ArtsEmerson, Steppenwolf, and The Public Theater, with Jensen starring as Bangs and Blank directing. As television writers, Jensen and Blank have collaborated with executive producers such as Tom Fontana (Oz, City on a Hill), Ed Burns (The Wire, Generation Kill), and David Simon. They wrote and adapted the pilot "The Negotiator" for Gaumont TV and have developed projects with Fox TV Studios, 20th Century TV, Avenue Pictures, Sunswept Entertainment, Virgin Produced, and Radical Media.
Their documentary play "Coal Country," a New York Times Critics’ Pick, about the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, premiered at The Public Theater to critical acclaim. Directed by Jessica Blank with original music by three-time Grammy winner Steve Earle, the play received the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and nominations for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Director (Jessica Blank) and Outstanding Music in a Play (Steve Earle). When the run was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jensen and Blank created "The Line," a new play based on interviews with NYC medical first responders during the pandemic. Starring Santino Fontana, Arjun Gupta, John Ortiz, Alison Pill, Nicholas Pinnock, Jamey Sheridan, and Lorraine Toussaint, "The Line" streamed live on The Public Theater’s YouTube channel and was extended twice. Also a New York Times Critics’ Pick, it earned praise nationwide, with The New York Times calling it "harrowing" and the Los Angeles Times highlighting its emotional impact.
Jensen co-created the sci-fi graphic novel "The Reconcilers" (2010) with R. EmeryBright and Pil Pilegaard, which received enthusiastic reviews from Ain't It Cool News. A passionate Dungeons & Dragons player, he co-hosts the podcast "BardQuest Empire" alongside actor and writer Fajer Al Kaisi.
Jensen and Blank adapted and co-directed the feature film Almost Home (2018), based on Blank’s novel of the same name; it was released by Vertical Entertainment in 2019. Their second feature, How To Be A Rock Critic, adapted from their play, is currently in development with Likely Story. They reside in Brooklyn with their daughter, Sadie.
