Theatre Malina made his acting debut in the
Broadway production of
Aaron Sorkin's
A Few Good Men, and later in the play's run moved into a major role. Malina had contacted Sorkin initially at the suggestion of his parents when he first went to New York City, as they knew Sorkin was a high-school classmate and friend of Malina's cousins. The cousins, in turn, had spoken highly of Malina to Sorkin, who suggested he audition for the play. Malina has joked in interviews that Sorkin's casting him in subsequent productions may owe to the fact that he once performed the
Heimlich maneuver on Sorkin, saving his life, when the writer began to choke while eating a hamburger at a bowling match with the cast of the play. He has since appeared in many Sorkin film and TV projects. In March 2023, Malina took over the lead role of Hermann Merz in the Broadway production of
Tom Stoppard's
Leopoldstadt. In 2024 he performed in London in
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank at the
Marylebone Theatre.
Film and television Malina's first job in the film business was as a
production assistant on the
Chevy Chase comedy
Fletch Lives, an ill-received sequel to Chase's hit movie
Fletch. Malina played two different characters over four episodes on the talk-show satire
The Larry Sanders Show. He appeared first in 1993 as Robert Brody, a fictional reporter for the real-life magazine
Entertainment Weekly, to whom actor
John Ritter gives a scathing interview after having his appearance in the show cancelled to make room for musician
Warren Zevon to play a second song (episode: "Off Camera"). Five years later, Malina returned in a recurring role as Kenny Mitchell, a sleazy network executive who pushes Larry Sanders out of the show in favor of
Jon Stewart. From 1998 to 2000, Malina starred as character Jeremy Goodwin on Sorkin's
Sports Night, a show that attracted him from the moment Sorkin sent him the pilot script. The critically acclaimed show was unable to find a large fan base and was canceled after two seasons, with some critics saying the show's troubles were exacerbated by having to share Sorkin's time with his concurrent project on rival network NBC,
The West Wing. Following the panned
Hank Azaria vehicle Imagine That – where both he and Azaria were described as "talent going to waste" – Malina played
Will Bailey on
The West Wing from 2002 to 2006. His character initially was perceived by the public as an attempt to replace departing series star
Rob Lowe, although Malina said in numerous interviews that the two actors and characters were too dissimilar to be viewed as anything but a change. He stole some of
Bradley Whitford's letterhead stationery and used it in an elaborate prank. At the suggestion of co-star
Janel Moloney, Malina sent a $200
Valentine's Day bouquet to season-six newcomer
Jimmy Smits that included a card crafted on Whitford's stolen letterhead stating: "Jimmy, You are a delight. I enjoyed every moment we've had together. Be my Valentine." Partially as a response, Whitford scripted Malina's character to say "I can't act. I'm a terrible actor," when he wrote an episode of
The West Wing, and after the end of the show both have continued to jokingly mock each other on social media and in interviews. Following the end of
The West Wing, Malina campaigned for the leading role of Danny Tripp in Sorkin's next TV project,
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but the role went instead to Whitford. When the show was cancelled in its first season, Malina was teased by some in the industry who suggested he was Sorkin's
good luck charm, but he pointed to Sorkin's upcoming film ''
Charlie Wilson's War'' as evidence his friend could succeed without him. In 2007, Malina became one of the four stars of the short-lived ABC dramedy
Big Shots. His character, Karl Mixworthy, was a pharmaceutical company executive juggling a wife and a mistress, Malina is a co-creator and producer of
Bravo's cable TV series
Celebrity Poker Showdown. In private life, he is an avid poker player, having played with Sorkin while on Broadway, and organized a cast-and-crew game that lasted the full duration of
Sports Night and occasionally delayed the start of shooting.
Philanthropy In 2004, Malina was a participant in the first-ever national television advertising campaign supporting donations to
Jewish federations. The program featured "film and television personalities celebrating their Jewish heritage and promoting charitable giving to the Jewish community" and included
Greg Grunberg,
Marlee Matlin,
Kevin Weisman, and
Jonathan Silverman. ==Personal life==