| Robert Duncan McNeill | |
| Birth Date: | 9 November 1964[1] [2] |
| Years Active: | 1981–present |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 3 |
| Birth Place: | Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Education: | Juilliard School |
Robert Duncan McNeill (born November 9, 1964)[1] [2] is an American director, producer, and actor. As an actor, he is best known for his role as Lieutenant Tom Paris on the television series . He has also served as an executive producer and frequent director of the television series Chuck, Resident Alien, The Gifted, and Turner & Hooch.
McNeill and his first wife, Carol, had three children together before their 2015 divorce.[3] In 2005, McNeill directed his then teenaged daughter, Taylor, when she had a small role in the episode "The Pleiades" of the series Summerland.[4] His son Kyle is a singer songwriter.[5] McNeill married Rebecca Jayne Sims in Vancouver, Canada, on March 7, 2021.[6]
McNeill grew up in Atlanta, and began his career acting in local and regional productions before becoming a student at Juilliard School in New York City.[7] [8] He enjoyed early success as a professional actor, winning the role of Charlie Brent on All My Children[1] [9] and starring in the feature film Masters of the Universe.[1] [10] He starred in an episode of the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone, "A Message From Charity".[11]
He appeared with Stockard Channing in the Broadway production of Six Degrees of Separation[12] before returning to Los Angeles to pursue roles on television. He appeared in the music video for "Material Girl" as one of several tuxedoed gentlemen dancing with Madonna. [13] He also featured in guest roles on numerous TV series, including L.A. Law; Quantum Leap; and Murder, She Wrote. He was a featured cast member on the short-lived 1992 series Going to Extremes,[14] [15] Another guest role that same year was in "The First Duty", an episode of , in which he played Nick Locarno, a Starfleet Academy cadet and squad leader who pressures fellow cadets, including Wesley Crusher, into covering up their wrongdoings. He would later become a Trek regular in 1995 on , on which he played Tom Paris, a Starfleet officer with a backstory similar to Locarno's.[16] In 2023, he reprised the role of Nick Locarno in season 4.
Other credits include Zebulon in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Paper Mill Playhouse and Judas in Godspell at the Lamb's Theatre.
McNeill began his directing career with several episodes of Voyager.[17] He then wrote, produced, and directed two award-winning short films, The Battery and 9mm of Love,[1] [18] and began to direct other episodic television shows. While he has since performed as a guest star on television shows such as The Outer Limits and Crossing Jordan, McNeill is now focusing on his directing career, helming episodes of Dawson's Creek, Everwood, , Dead Like Me, The O.C., One Tree Hill, Las Vegas, Summerland, and Supernatural. His directing credits for 2006–2007 include episodes of Desperate Housewives, Medium, Standoff, The Nine, The Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency, What About Brian, and My Boys. In 2007, he directed the season 5 premiere of Las Vegas, the pilot of Samantha Who? (which features his costar Tim Russ) and then signed on as a producer-director of the NBC show Chuck, helming numerous episodes, including the first episode of a television show to be broadcast entirely in 3D. In 2010, McNeill directed an episode of V.[19] [20] As of 2019 he has directed two episodes of the Fox series The Orville and The Gifted. In 2021, McNeill directed several episodes of the Disney+ series Turner & Hooch.
In May 2020, McNeill and Voyager co-star Garrett Wang started the podcast The Delta Flyers where they discuss episodes of Voyager.[21]
| Year | Title | Credit | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Sharky's Machine | Teen on bus | Uncredited role | |
| 1987 | Masters of the Universe | Kevin Corrigan | ||
| 1997 | Trekkies | Himself | ||
| 1998 | The Battery | Director and Executive Producer | Short film | |
| 2000 | 9mm of Love | Director, Writer, and Executive Producer | ||
| 2002 | Infested | Eric | ||
| 2011 | FedCon XX: The SciFi Experience | Himself | Documentary | |
| Year | Title | Credit | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Ein Fenster in Manhattan | Eric | TV movie | |
| The Twilight Zone | Peter Wood | "A Message from Charity" | ||
| ABC Weekend Specials | Erik Mason | Season 9, Episode 2 | ||
| 1985–1988 | All My Children | Charlie Brent | ||
| 1989 | Mothers, Daughters and Lovers | Actor | TV movie | |
| 1990 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Richard | Season 7, Episode 2 | |
| Quantum Leap | Greg Truesdale | episode "Good Night, Dear Heart" | ||
| Lucky Chances | Craven Richmond | miniseries | ||
| 1991 | L.A. Law | Mike Riley | Season 6, Episode 2 | |
| 1992 | Cadet First Class Nicholas Locarno | "The First Duty" | ||
| Homefront | Bill Caswell | 4 episodes | ||
| 1992–93 | Going to Extremes | Colin Midford | 17 episodes | |
| 1993 | Spies | Sam the coast guard | TV movie | |
| 1994 | Murder, She Wrote | Danny Kinkaid | Season 11, Episode 4 | |
| Sisters | Andrew Simms | Season 5, Episode 4 | ||
| Wild Oats | Actor | Season 1, Episode 1 | ||
| One More Mountain | Milt Eliot | TV movie | ||
| Second Chances | Pete Dyson | 3 episodes | ||
| 1995–2001 | 172 episodes | |||
| 1999 | Monster! | Co-Producer | TV movie | |
| Early Edition | Police Chief Joe Frawley | Season 3, Episode 21 | ||
| 2000 | The Journey of Allen Strange | Director | Season 3, Episode 13 | |
| 2001–03 | Dawson's Creek | 7 episodes | ||
| 2001–04 | 4 episodes as director | |||
| 2002 | Crossing Jordan | Matt | Season 2, Episode 1 | |
| The Outer Limits | Commander Ellis Ward | "The Human Factor" | ||
| Everwood | Director | Season 1, Episode 10 | ||
| 2003–04 | One Tree Hill | 2 episodes | ||
| Dead Like Me | 2 episodes | |||
| 2004 | The Days | 2 episodes | ||
| 2004–05 | Summerland | 4 episodes | ||
| 2004–07 | Las Vegas | 4 episodes | ||
| 2005–2006 | The O.C. | 2 episodes | ||
| Desperate Housewives | 2 episodes | |||
| 2005–13 | Supernatural | 2 episodes | ||
| 2005 | Eyes | Season 1, Episode 5 | ||
| Medium | Season 2, Episode 9 | |||
| 2006 | Standoff | Season 1, Episode 9 | ||
| My Boys | Season 1, Episode 5 | |||
| The Danny Comden Project | TV movie | |||
| Jump | ||||
| 2007 | Samantha Who? | Season 1, Episode 1 | ||
| The Knights of Prosperity | 2 episodes | |||
| The Nine | Season 1, Episode 12 | |||
| What About Brian | Director and Producer | 7 episodes as director, 3 episodes as producer | ||
| In Case of Emergency | Director | Season 1, Episode 2 | ||
| 2007–12 | Chuck | Executive Producer (2010–2012) Co-Executive Producer (2010) Supervising Producer (2008–2009) Producer (2007–2008) Director (2007–2012) | Operative (#5.13) | 73 episodes |
| 2010 | V | Director | Season 1, Episode 12 | |
| 2012 | Smash | Season 1, Episode 14 | ||
| Breaking In | Season 2, Episode 6 | |||
| White Collar | Season 4, Episode 4 | |||
| 2012–13 | 666 Park Avenue | Director and Co-Executive Producer | 3 episodes as director, 19 episodes as co-executive producer | |
| 2013 | The Mentalist | Director | 3 episodes | |
| 2013–18 | Blue Bloods | 2 episodes | ||
| 2014–18 | Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce | Director and Executive Producer | 14 episodes as director, 19 episodes as executive producer | |
| 2014 | Suburgatory | Director | 1 episode | |
| 2014 | Warehouse 13 | 1 episode | ||
| 2014 | Mind Games | 1 episode | ||
| 2015 | Red Band Society | 1 episode | ||
| 2016 | Heartbeat | Director and Executive Producer | Directed "Pilot", 10 episodes as executive producer | |
| 2017 | Salvation | Director | 1 episode | |
| 2017–2019 | The Orville | 2 episodes | ||
| 2018–2019 | The Gifted | Director and Executive Producer | 3 episodes as director, 16 episodes as executive producer | |
| 2019 | The Resident | Director | 1 episode | |
| 2019 | A Million Little Things | 1 episode | ||
| 2021-present | Resident Alien | Director, Executive Producer and Writer | 6 episodes as director, 25 episodes as executive producer, 1 episode as writer | |
| 2021 | Turner & Hooch | Director and Co-Executive Producer | 4 episodes | |
| 2021–2023 | Tom Paris, Nicholas Locarno | 3 episodes | ||
| 2022 | So Help Me Todd | Director | Episode: "Second Second Chance" | |
| 2023 | True Lies | Episode: "Public Secrets" | ||
| 2024 | Episode: "Gemma & Isabel" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Tom Paris | Voice role | |
| 2015 | Star Trek Online | ||