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Sam Richardson (born January 12, 1984, in Detroit, Michigan) is an American actor, writer, producer, and comedian of Ghanaian and African-American heritage.1 He is best known for his work as Richard Splett in the HBO political comedy Veep, as co-creator and star of the Comedy Central series Detroiters, and for his Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Edwin Akufo in Ted Lasso. In Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), he played Basement Cop Tyson.2
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Richardson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 12, 1984. His mother is Ghanaian and his father is African-American. Growing up, he traveled to Ghana annually with his family; his maternal grandfather was a chief and local political leader there. His aunt, Barbara-Rose Collins, became the first Black woman from Michigan elected to the United States Congress in 1990.3
He attended University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, graduating in 2002, then studied theater at Wayne State University.1 He subsequently joined The Second City improvisational company, performing at its Detroit and Chicago locations, where he developed a wide range of characters spanning physical comedy, sight gags, and impressions of public figures.
Richardson relocated to Los Angeles after his Second City years. His early screen credits included six episodes of The Office (NBC, 2012-2013, including the series finale) and a guest appearance in Arrested Development.1 Studio comedy roles followed: We're the Millers (2013), Horrible Bosses 2 (2014), and Paul Feig's spy comedy Spy (2015), in which he played a CIA analyst named John.
His profile rose sharply with Veep (HBO, 2014-2019), where he played Richard Splett, a political handler first introduced in four season 3 episodes before being promoted to a series regular from season 4 onward.1 Splett's cheerful obliviousness became one of the show's running gags and Richardson's most sustained ensemble performance. He and the Veep cast received Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2015, 2016, and 2017, with the ensemble winning in 2018.4
Richardson co-created, co-wrote, and executive-produced Detroiters (Comedy Central, 2017-2018) alongside Tim Robinson, playing Sam Duvet, one of two struggling advertising men producing low-budget local TV commercials in Detroit.1 The show, rooted in the commercial culture of their home city, ran for two seasons.
Beyond Veep and Detroiters, Richardson maintained a busy film career through the late 2010s and early 2020s: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Office Christmas Party (2016), Game Over, Man! (2018), a voice role as Lee the Office Nerd in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Good Boys (2019), and Promising Young Woman (2020). He appeared in five episodes of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (Netflix, 2019-2023).
In 2021 he took on the lead role of Finn Wheeler, a postal worker trapped in a snowbound lodge, in the horror-comedy Werewolves Within, a film adaptation of the Ubisoft VR game on which he also served as a producer. He appeared as Charlie in the sci-fi action film The Tomorrow War the same year. In 2022 he played Gilbert, a devoted witch-lore scholar, in Hocus Pocus 2.
He starred as Aniq Adjaye, a central protagonist, in The Afterparty (Apple TV+, 2022-2023), a comedy murder mystery series that restructured each episode as a different genre.
Richardson received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in both 2022 and 2023 for his recurring role as the brash billionaire Edwin Akufo in Ted Lasso (Apple TV+), winning the award in 2023 for the episode "International Break."5
He voiced Norville Rogers (Shaggy) in the animated series Velma (Max, 2023-2024), and appeared in Star Trek: Section 31 (Paramount+, 2025).1 He has also contributed voice performances to Bob's Burgers, Krapopolis, and Poker Face, and joined the ensemble of the Romain Gavras thriller Sacrifice (with Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy) as of 2024.
Richardson played Basement Cop Tyson in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, a police officer the team encounters during their investigation.2 The film was directed by Paul Feig, with whom Richardson had already worked on Spy earlier that same year. Several other actors in Ghostbusters 2016 (including Neil Casey, Karan Soni, Milana Vayntrub, and Eugene Cordero) had also appeared in Feig's sci-fi comedy series Other Space (Yahoo! Screen, 2015), reflecting the ensemble of performers Feig regularly drew from;6 Richardson himself was not in Other Space.
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Sam Richardson (actor)," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Richardson_(actor). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), dir. Paul Feig. Columbia Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures. Cast credits. ↩ ↩2
"Barbara-Rose Collins," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara-Rose_Collins. ↩
E! Online, "Veep Wins Best Comedy Ensemble at the 2018 SAG Awards" (January 21, 2018), https://www.eonline.com/news/907572/veep-wins-best-comedy-ensemble-at-the-2018-sag-awards-and-star-matt-walsh-totally-blows-his-speech. ↩
"Sam Richardson," Television Academy, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/sam-richardson. ↩
"Other Space," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Space. ↩
