Introduction
Anson Adams Mount IV (born February 25, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as fictional character Cullen Bohannon in the AMC western drama series Hell on Wheels, Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction, the Marvel Comics superhero Black Bolt in Marvel's Inhumans, and Captain Christopher Pike in season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery. He also appeared in the film Crossroads (2002).
Early life
Mount was born February 25, 1973, in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and grew up in White Bluff, Tennessee. His mother, Nancy Smith, is a former professional golfer. His father, Anson Adams Mount II, was one of the original contributing editors to Playboy magazine. Anson has an older brother, Anson Adams III, and two sisters from his father's first marriage. Mount's great-great-great grandfather was a Confederate cavalry colonel in the Civil War.
Mount attended Dickson County High School in Dickson, Tennessee, Sewanee: The University of the South, and Columbia University.
Career
Stage
In 1998, Anson Mount starred in Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi for which he was honored by the Drama League.
In 2008, Mount made the finalist list for the American Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Center in 2008 for his full length play, Atomic City, and won the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Prize for his one act play Love Liza?
Film
In 2000, Mount made his feature film debut as Tully Coats in the independent film, Tully. He received widespread critical praise for the performance and the film won several film festival awards and numerous Independent Spirit Award nominations.
In 2009, Mount produced and starred in an independent film called Cook County which has earned awards at several major film festivals, including Hollywood, AFI Dallas, Nashville, SXSW, and others.
Television
Mount is widely known for his role as Cullen Bohannan on AMC's hit series Hell on Wheels, which he also served as producer for from 2014-2016.
In 2018, he was cast as Captain Christopher Pike of the Starship Enterprise in the CBS series Star Trek: Discovery. His performance was well-received, which inspired a popular petition for Pike spin-off. In 2019, he reprised his role as Pike in a few Star Trek: Short Treks episodes. In May 2020 it was announced that, in part due to the positive reception from fans, he would star as Pike in a new series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Academic
Anson Mount serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University, he teaches audition technique for graduate actors.
Anson has published non-fiction pieces in Mosaic, The Daily Beast, Cowboys & Indians magazine, and the Calgary Herald.
Personal life
On July 8, 2017, Anson announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend, photographer Darah Trang, and they were married on February 20, 2018. As of 2019 he and his wife live in Connecticut.