In the 1970s, Stoltz joined a repertory company that performed ten plays at the
Edinburgh Festival. He returned to the United States in 1979, when he entered USC as a drama student. He dropped out to pursue film and television roles. In 1978, he was cast as Steve Benson in the television adaptation of
Erma Bombeck's
The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank. Director
Cameron Crowe and Stoltz became friends when the latter appeared in his first feature film,
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Crowe wrote it and Stoltz had a minor role. According to Stoltz, Crowe promised Stoltz roles in all of his future films. Stoltz was cast in each of Crowe's next four films,
The Wild Life (1984),
Say Anything... (1989),
Singles (1992) and
Jerry Maguire (1996). In 1985, Stoltz received a
Golden Globe nomination for starring performance as
Rocky Dennis in
Mask. Among his other roles in the 1980s, he appeared in the 1987 film
Some Kind of Wonderful, written and produced by
John Hughes. Stoltz was originally cast as
Marty McFly in
Back to the Future. His view of the movie clashed, however, with that of the director,
Robert Zemeckis. While the film was to become a sci-fi comedy (and box office smash hit), Stoltz had read the script from a more serious angle, apparently focusing on the tragic consequences of going back to live a life that was not one's own. Five weeks into shooting, Zemeckis replaced Stoltz with
Michael J. Fox. In 1989, Stoltz starred as the lead character of the sequel
The Fly II. The movie was a hit, grossing approximately $38.9 million worldwide. In the 1990s, Stoltz worked in stage, film and television, appearing in studio and independent films such as
Memphis Belle (1990),
The Waterdance (1992),
Pulp Fiction (1994),
Grace of My Heart (1996) and
Anaconda (1997), and produced the films
Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993),
Sleep with Me (1994) and
Mr. Jealousy (1997). He continued to appear on the New York stage, both on Broadway (
Three Sisters,
Two Shakespearean Actors,
Arms and the Man,
Our Town) and off-Broadway (
The Importance of Being Earnest,
The Glass Menagerie,
Sly Fox). He was nominated for a
Tony Award as Featured Actor for his performance as George Gibbs in the 1989 Broadway revival of
Thornton Wilder's
Our Town. A performance of this production was featured on
Great Performances: Live from Lincoln Center, which received a 1989 Emmy nomination. On television, he had a recurring role as
Helen Hunt's character's ex-boyfriend on
Mad About You (five episodes, 1994–1998), spent a year on
Chicago Hope (1994) and did some television and cable films such as
Inside (1996) (directed by
Arthur Penn) and
The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999), with
Helen Mirren. Stoltz received the Indie Supporter Award at the 1998
Los Angeles Film Festival. In 2000, he starred with
Gillian Anderson in
The House of Mirth (2000), based on the novel by
Edith Wharton. From 2001 to 2002, he had a recurring role as the English teacher-poet August Dimitri in
ABC's
Once and Again, wherein
Julia Whelan's character, a teenager, fell in love with his character. He directed an episode of the show in 2002. In 2003, he played his first leading TV role in
Out of Order, which was canceled after five episodes. At the same year, he also played Otto in
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, alongside
Jonathan Lipnicki. In 2004, he appeared in
The Butterfly Effect as a
child molester; the following year, he guest-starred in the
NBC sitcom Will & Grace as
Debra Messing's love interest. He was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy for his direction of the cable movie
My Horrible Year! (2001). He also directed a short film entitled
The Bulls He has contributed essays to the books
City Secrets--New York as well as
Life Interrupted by
Spalding Gray and appears on the children's CD
Philadelphia Chickens. Beginning in 2007, Stoltz directed episodes of the drama series
Quarterlife, which began airing as
webisodes and were then picked up to air on
NBC in 2008. Stoltz played a
serial killer in need of medical attention in three episodes of the fifth season of ''
Grey's Anatomy. He has also directed two episodes of Grey's Anatomy''. Stoltz starred as
Daniel Graystone, inventor of the
Cylons, in the science fiction television series
Caprica, a prequel set 58 years before the
Battlestar Galactica series. He became a regular director of the series,
Glee, directing a total of 12 episodes, including "Nationals", in which the Glee club finally wins the championship. In the 2011 film
Fort McCoy Stoltz played the leading role of a conflicted barber of German heritage forced to suppress his American patriotism after moving his family to a post–
World War II military base housing a
German POW camp. Starting in 2014, Stoltz became the producing director of the CBS political drama series
Madam Secretary. The following year he became one of its four executive producers, alongside
Morgan Freeman and
Barbara Hall and has directed more than 10 episodes, as well as starring alongside
Téa Leoni in several episodes as her brother, Will Adams. ==Personal life==