After graduating from Goddard, Macy originated roles in a number of plays by collaborator David Mamet, such as
American Buffalo and
The Water Engine. While in Chicago in his twenties, he did a TV commercial. He was required to join
AFTRA in order to do the commercial, and received his SAG card within a year, which for an elated Macy represented an important moment in his career. Macy spent time in
Los Angeles before moving to
New York City in 1980, where he had roles in over fifty
Off Broadway and
Broadway plays. One of his earliest on-screen roles was as a theater critic congratulating
Christopher Reeve in 1980's
Somewhere In Time, under the name W.H. Macy, so as not to be confused with the actor
Bill Macy. Another memorable early performance was as a turtle named Socrates in the direct-to-video film
The Boy Who Loved Trolls (1984). , May 2003 He had a minor role as a hospital orderly on the sitcom
Kate & Allie in the fourth-season episode "General Hospital", and played an assistant district attorney in "
Everybody's Favorite Bagman", the first produced episode of
Law & Order. In both appearances, he was billed as W. H. Macy. He has appeared in numerous films that Mamet wrote or directed, such as
House of Games (1987),
Things Change (1988),
Homicide (1991),
Oleanna (1994) (reprising the role he originated in the
play of the same name),
Wag the Dog (1997),
State and Main (2000) and
Spartan (2004). Macy's leading role in
Fargo (1996) helped boost his career and recognizability, though at the expense of nearly confining him to a narrow
typecast of a worried man down on his luck. Other Macy roles of the 1990s and 2000s included
Benny & Joon (1993),
The Client (1994),
Above Suspicion (1995), ''
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), A Civil Action (1998), Pleasantville'' (1998),
Gus Van Sant's remake of
Psycho (1998),
Happy, Texas (1999),
Mystery Men (1999),
Magnolia (1999),
Panic (2000),
Jurassic Park III (2001),
Focus (2001),
Welcome to Collinwood (2002),
Seabiscuit (2003),
The Cooler (2003),
Cellular (2004),
Sahara (2005), ''
Everyone's Hero (2006) and Bobby'' (2006). He had a recurring role on
ER (1994–2009) and
Sports Night (1999–2000). Both roles earned him an Emmy nomination for
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Macy wrote and starred in
Door to Door in 2002, winning an Emmy for writing and acting. In a November 2003 interview with
USA Today, Macy stated that he wanted to star in a big-budget
action film "for the money, for the security of a
franchise like that. And I love big action-adventure movies. They're way cool." He serves as director-in-residence at the
Atlantic Theater Company in New York, where he teaches a technique called
Practical Aesthetics. A book describing the technique,
A Practical Handbook for the Actor (), is dedicated to Macy and Mamet. In 2007, Macy starred in
Wild Hogs, a film about middle-aged men reliving their youthful days by taking to the open road on their
Harley-Davidson motorcycles from
Cincinnati to the
Pacific Coast. Despite being critically panned, with a 14% "rotten" rating from
Rotten Tomatoes, it was a financial success, grossing over $168 million. The film also reunited him with his
A Civil Action costar,
John Travolta. In 2009, Macy completed filming on
The Maiden Heist, a comedy that co-starred
Morgan Freeman and
Christopher Walken. In June 2008, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Macy and his wife,
Felicity Huffman, would each receive a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in the upcoming year. On January 13, 2009, Macy replaced
Jeremy Piven in David Mamet's
Speed-the-Plow on Broadway. Piven suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the play in December 2008 after he experienced health problems.
Norbert Leo Butz covered the role from December 23, 2008, until Macy took over the part.
Dirty Girl, which starred Macy along with
Juno Temple,
Milla Jovovich,
Mary Steenburgen and
Tim McGraw, premiered September 12, 2010, at the
Toronto International Film Festival. In summer 2010, Macy joined the
Showtime pilot Shameless as the protagonist,
Frank Gallagher. The project ultimately went to series, and its first season premiered on January 9, 2011. Macy has received high critical acclaim for his performance, eventually getting an Emmy nomination for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014. In the 2012 film
The Sessions, Macy played a priest who befriends a man with a severe disability who seeks to find personal fulfillment through a sex surrogate. He made his directorial debut with the independent drama
Rudderless, which stars
Billy Crudup,
Anton Yelchin,
Felicity Huffman,
Selena Gomez and
Laurence Fishburne. In 2017, he directed
The Layover, a road trip comedy starring
Alexandra Daddario and
Kate Upton. In 2015, he had a small role as Grandpa in the drama film
Room, which was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. The film reunited him with his
Pleasantville costar,
Joan Allen. In 2024, he played Trevathan in the film
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. ==Personal life==