The Biography

Erik Jensen (born July 20, 1970) is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director. Jensen was born and raised in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He graduated from Apple Valley High School in Minnesota in 1988. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from Carnegie Mellon University. An actor, writer, and director, Erik Jensen regularly appears on the ABC Network Television series For Life as ADA Dez O'Reilly. Notably, he appeared as Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx Is Burning, and as conspiracy talk show host Frank Cody in Mr. Robot, as well as Dr. Stephen Edwards on The Walking Dead. Jensen appeared alongside Aasif Mandvi in Ayad Akhtars' Disgraced at Lincoln Center. He also appeared as rock critic Lester Bangs in the one-man play How to Be a Rock Critic (based on the writings of Lester Bangs) which he co-wrote with his wife Jessica Blank. How to Be A Rock Critic received a completion commission from Center Theatre Group and was produced at the Kirk Douglas Theater, ArtsEmerson, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company before being produced Off-Broadway at The Public Theater. In 2017 he co-directed the film Almost Home with Jessica Blank based on her novel of the same name. Now In 2020, Jensen and Blank's co-written plays, Coal Country and The Line, both premiered at The Public Theater. In 2022/2023, Jensen appeared on Broadway as Bruno Bischofberger opposite Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope in Anthony McCarten's 'The Collaboration'. Jensen and Blank have cited the works of Anna Deavere Smith, Emily Mann, and Studs Terkel as influences