BENNY
SAFDIE

Benny Safdie works as a filmmaker, editor and actor. Born in New York City, he became known for films made with his brother Josh Safdie and has also built a career in front of other directors’ cameras. His work often follows people as their decisions narrow the space available to them.

Good Time (2017), directed by Benny and Josh, follows Connie Nikas after a bank robbery goes wrong. Benny also plays Connie’s younger brother Nick and worked on the film’s editing. The combination of performance and cutting helps shape a story whose urgency comes from both a personal relationship and a city that offers few easy exits.

The brothers’ Uncut Gems (2019) centers on a New York jeweler played by Adam Sandler. Its overlapping demands and mounting risks give the film a restless momentum. Benny’s work as co-director and editor contributes to a portrait of someone who keeps pushing for another chance even as pressure grows around him.

As an actor, Safdie played physicist Edward Teller in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023). The role places him within an ensemble portraying scientific and political disagreements around the atomic bomb. Moving from directing to performance gives him a different relationship to the choices that create tension on screen.

The Smashing Machine (2025), his first solo-directed feature, follows fighter Mark Kerr, played by Dwayne Johnson. The film moves into the world of mixed martial arts while continuing Safdie’s interest in people facing intense professional and personal pressure. His career shows how that interest can be explored through direction, editing and performance.