David Krumholtz has spent more than three decades building one of Hollywood’s most reliable character-actor careers. While he has rarely been the biggest name on a cast list, he has repeatedly delivered performances that audiences remember long after the credits roll. Whether he’s playing a mathematical genius, a wisecracking elf, or a historical figure, Krumholtz has a knack for making even supporting roles stand out.
His filmography spans comedy, drama, science fiction, and crime television, giving him an impressive range of memorable characters. While some became fan favorites, others helped define entire periods of his career. For new or older fans of the actor, here are seven of David Krumholtz’s most memorable characters in movies and television.
1. Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause Franchise (1994–2022)
No character in David Krumholtz’s career has had the staying power of Bernard the Elf. He is probably best known by younger audiences as the sarcastic head elf Bernard from The Santa Clause and its first sequel, The Santa Clause 2. Bernard isn’t the warm, twinkly kind of elf, but impatient, authoritative, and operates the North Pole like a man who doesn’t have time for questions. This edge is exactly what made the character so memorable. Although he did not appear in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause because of scheduling conflicts and a belief that the character was devalued, he reprised the role two decades later in the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses.
2. Michael Eckman in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
David Krumholtz joined the cast of Gil Junger’s directorial debut, 10 Things I Hate About You, in a supporting role as Michael Eckman. He plays a geek, who’s close friends with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, Cameron James. While he helps Cameron to pursue his love interest, Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), Krumholtz’s character woos her friend, Mandella (Susan May Pratt). Krumholtz’s character is the engine of the film’s comic plot, orchestrating half the schemes, delivering some of the sharpest lines, and getting beaten up at prom for his trouble. With the film eventually becoming a cult classic, Krumholtz’s character stays memorable to both new and older fans of the film.
3. Goldstein in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Goldstein may not be the lead character of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, but he is undoubtedly one of its funniest. David Krumholtz turned the role into a fan favorite through impeccable comic timing and unforgettable dialogue. He co-starred alongside John Cho and Kal Penn, who led the cast. To date, Krumholtz’s Goldstein character remains one of the highlights of the cult comedy franchise.
4. Charlie Eppes in Numb3rs (2005–2010)
From 2005 to 2010, across six seasons, David Krumholtz starred on the CBS television show Numb3rs, portraying Charlie Eppes. His character was a genius who used mathematics to help his FBI agent brother, Don Eppes (Rob Morrow), solve crimes. Six seasons is a rare achievement for any actor, and carrying a network procedural as its lead requires a very different skill set than stealing scenes in a film. For someone who had established a reputation as a character actor, Krumholtz made a math professor compelling week after week. Beyond the audience ratings, critics praised Krumholtz’s performance. Charlie Eppes remains the role that most people bring up first when his name comes up.
5. Harvey Wasserman in The Deuce (2017–2019)
David Krumholtz had a prominent recurring role as adult filmmaker Harvey Wasserman in the first two seasons of the HBO drama series The Deuce. He was later promoted to a series regular for the third season. The drama series charts the rise of the pornography industry in 1970s and ’80s New York, and Krumholtz navigated Harvey’s arc from opportunist to something more complicated over three seasons. It’s arguably the most sustained dramatic work of his career.
6. Monty Levin in The Plot Against America (2020)
In 2020, David Krumholtz appeared as a series regular playing Monty Levin in the HBO miniseries The Plot Against America. The miniseries, based on Philip Roth‘s alternate-history novel, imagines a version of America where Charles Lindbergh wins the 1940 presidential election. It’s heavy, politically charged material, and Krumholtz’s work across the series added emotional texture to a story that could easily have collapsed under its own ambition.
7. Isidor Isaac Rabi in Oppenheimer (2023)
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer brought David Krumholtz to a new audience and gave him the chance to portray a genuine historical giant. Isidor Isaac Rabi was one of the most respected physicists of the 20th century, a Nobel laureate and close friend of Oppenheimer. Krumholtz portrayed him with a quiet moral authority that grounded many of the film’s most emotionally loaded scenes. Holding your own in an ensemble that includes Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Matt Damon is no easy feat.
Follow Us
