Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes is an Emmy Award-winning actor who is best known for playing Jack McFarland on the hit NBC sitcom Will & Grace. He has also appeared in several stage productions, including Damn Yankees off Broadway and An Act of God on Broadway.

Born June 26, 1970, Hayes was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where he eventually went on to study piano performance at Illinois State University. He left college early and worked as a music director, classical pianist, and composer before moving to Los Angeles and taking up acting.

His first major role was in the indie movie Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss, and he was cast soon after in Will & Grace, which brought him mainstream success. Over the show’s seven seasons, Hayes earned numerous award nominations and won an Emmy.

Throughout his career, Hayes has also acted and provided voice work for many films, most notably The Cat in the Hat, Pieces of April, and The Bucket List. He’s also starred in many television shows, playing the lead in the NBC sitcom Sean Saves the World from 2013 to 2014 and Steve Maryweather in the 2021 Netflix animated series Q-Force.

On stage, Hayes played Mr. Applegate in the 2008 Off-Broadway revival of Damn Yankees and made his Broadway debut in the 2010 revival of Promises, Promises as Chuck Baxter. He returned to the stage as God for a limited engagement in An Act of God in 2016.

In 2023, Hayes returned to Broadway to star as pianist Oscar Levant in the new play Good Night, Oscar on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre.