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David Krumholtz is returning to acting, just months after saying he would be taking an “indefinite break” from the profession.
The 48-year-old actor, known for his work in films including Oppenheimer and Supergirl, is set to star in the upcoming HBO miniseries The Trial of Louise Woodward.
The limited series is based on the real-life 1997 incident in which an 18-year-old British au pair was accused by her American host family of shaking a baby to death.
Krumholtz will play criminal defense attorney Harvey Silverglate, with Catriona Chandler in the title role and Hugh Laurie as the trial’s presiding judge.
The news comes after Krumholtz said in August while announcing his hiatus that acting had “lost its gleam.”
In a series of posts on Threads, the actor said he had been left feeling “fed up” and “frustrated” and that he’d been weighing up his decision for a while.
“I kinda sorta put my acting career on hold the other day,” he wrote. “It’s been something I’ve been petrified to do for years. Specifically, the fear was that I’d go broke and not be able to handle being out of the game. But I sent the definitive email. And gotta say, a huge wave of relief washed over me.”
He added: “Not sure what I’m going to do for money instead, or how I’m going to do it, but I just removed a humongous burden, one that I truly didn’t fathom the weight of until it was gone. Frustrated, fed up, fried.”
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His post generated an outpouring of love from his peers, to whom he clarified: “I’m not quitting entirely. Just taking a bit of a step back and an indefinite break. The stress of the moment has me wondering if there’s a higher calling to pursue. Thanks for the very kind thought. Means the world.”
He later deleted his comments.
Krumholtz has earned a reputation as a respected character actor throughout his career. He began acting at the age of 13 after following his friends to an open Broadway audition in 1992, and won a role in Conversations with My Father opposite Judd Hirsch and Tony Shalhoub.
Two years later, he became a film and TV star, appearing in the Santa Clause franchise as head elf Barnard, Ang Lee drama The Ice Storm (1998) and romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (2000) starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.
In 2023, he starred in Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture-winning Oppenheimer, playing physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi, and this year, he appeared in the box office flop Supergirl, playing the lead character’s father, Zor-El.