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John Margaro has played dozens of supporting roles. Now he’s a leading man.

April 27, 2026

For more than a decade, John Magaro, 43, has become a recognizable face, if not a household name, to film fans.

He’s had supporting roles in “Carol,” “The Big Short,” “Sylvie’s Love” and “The Bride!” and prominent parts in acclaimed films like “First Cow,” “Past Lives” and “September 5.” He has also landed TV gigs in “The Umbrella Academy” and “The Agency.”

Now, for the first time, Magaro, who hails from Ohio but moved to New York to pursue acting, is carrying a film. Directed by Cole Webley, “Omaha” is a quiet and dark tale, and he plays a single dad, for whom the economic collapse of 2008 has taken a devastating toll. Depressed and feeling out of options, the nameless father packs his two young children, Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis), into the car to undertake a fateful journey.

John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, and Wyatt Solis star in “Omaha.” (Courtesy of SanctuaryFilms)

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John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, and Wyatt Solis star in “Omaha.” (Courtesy of SanctuaryFilms)

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Magaro spoke recently about “Omaha,” working with directors, his anxiety and the Dire Straits song that inadvertently launched his career.

The film opens May 1 at the Nuart Theatre. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. You do historical research for your period films. Did you need to do any for 2008?

It feels like yesterday. I remember being here in New York and watching them take down the Lehman Brothers sign. And indie films dried up because all those finance guys couldn’t finance as many films, so there were no auditions, and I remember not working, hanging out at Best Buy and playing Guitar Hero because there was nothing else to do.

Q. This is the first time you’ve had to carry a film. Did you feel that responsibility, especially since your co-stars were kids?

It’s different working with kids, especially a six-year-old. Wyatt is a great kid and a lot of fun, but he’s not a “child actor”; he was just who he was. So that sometimes meant letting the words of the script go, finding what we wanted to achieve in the scene, and then basically improvising around that with him. It did allow for a lot of humor that might not have been there otherwise. Molly had a harder role because she was ten and playing someone who was capable of seeing the cracks in her father. So maybe I couldn’t think about carrying the film because I was protective of her, so I never had time to think about myself.

Q. How much do you talk to directors about specific lines or protecting or pushing your character?

With “Omaha,” there was discussion because I didn’t want the dad to just be seen as a bad father, because I don’t think that’s what the screenwriter intended. So I really wanted to show some lightness and the care that he had for these kids and had discussions with Cole about mining as many moments like that as we could.

But I like to surprise my director. I see actors come to set with a million ideas and talk through everything. But it’s hard to have analytical discussions ahead of time. Certain things you have to talk about, but I’ll change some things without telling them. I’d rather just present what I think when we roll. Most directors and writers are open to what they see, if it works. And then we can play with that clay a little bit.

I’m more confident if the director is a good collaborator. With bad directors, I quickly discover that they’re not gonna collaborate. I see actors discover that on day one, but continue to have battles, which wastes time and makes everyone miserable. If I know someone can’t be convinced, you just trust the script and give them a little of what they want, but then do what you think is right. I’ll be a little political about it and usually will find some sort of compromise.

Q. You’ve spoken about your struggles with anxiety when you were younger, but said medication really helped. Does acting help, too?

Acting is like free therapy for me. It’s a way to get out a lot of my anxieties and angst; it’s a place where I can cry comfortably. I’m very lucky that I’m able to do that.

Still, my anxieties were really terrible into my 30s, and while I believed that those crazy feelings were what you needed as an actor, you don’t. I’ve worked with some of the greatest actors, and that’s not how they are. They’re actually quite normal. So I wasn’t serving myself well as an actor.

I had done talk therapy, but my wife was the one who got me to be open to medication. I started taking Lexapro and some other stuff, and it really took the edge off.

Some people can do just it through talk, which is great, but I needed medication. And I’m proud to say that I take it. I think there shouldn’t be a stigma around it. It’s sad that there is, especially for men. Where I grew up, with my dad, you kept these things suppressed and basically suffered in silence. That’s one of the things that drew me to the story in “Omaha” – this is a guy who, if he was just able to ask for help, things could go a lot differently.

Q. I read that as a kid you’d perform Dire Straits’ “Walk of Life” outside your house. That led a neighbor to suggest that your mom enroll you in dance lessons, which led to your acting in community theater.

Yeah, that’s right.

Q. Will you sing it?

Is this going to be posted anywhere?

Q. No.

(Magaro starts singing)

“Here comes Johnny singin’ oldies, goldies / “Be-Bop-A-Lula”, “Baby What I Say” / Here comes Johnny singing, “I Got a Woman” /Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay.”

I can keep going. But yes, then my mom put me in dance class, tap and jazz, and I was terrible. I did it for way too long into high school. I was so awful. Once I was in a class alone, but they still had a recital and taught me a routine. But I never learned it, so at the recital I was just shuffling, making up a whole dance.

Q. That’s the one you don’t want posted anywhere.

Oh man, I kinda would, but I don’t know if it exists anymore.

Anyway, then I found acting, and realized, “This makes more sense to me.”

John Margaro has played dozens of supporting roles. Now he’s a leading man. Orange County Register

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John Margaro has played dozens of supporting roles. Now he’s a leading man.

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