Sam Rockwell first appeared in the Episode: "The Child Broker" of the American spy thriller television series ‘The Equalizer’ in 1988. The following year, he made his big-screen debut in the American slasher film ‘Clownhouse’ directed by Victor Salva. The film was embroiled in controversy at the time of its release and received a sort of mixed response from critics. Following his debut, Rockwell went on to star in films like ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ (1990), ‘Strictly Business’ (1991), ‘In the Soup’ (1992), ‘Happy Hell Night’ (1992), ‘Somebody to Love’ (1994), ‘Glory Daze’ (1995), ‘Basquiat’ (1996), ‘Lawn Dogs’ (1997), ‘Jerry and Tom’ (1998), ‘Safe Men’ (1998), ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (1999), ‘The Green Mile’ (1999), ‘Charlie's Angels’ (2000), ‘Heist’ (2001), ‘13 Moons’ (2002), ‘Matchstick Men’ (2003), ‘Piccadilly Jim’ (2004), ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’ (2005), ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ (2007), ‘Frost/Nixon’ (2008), ‘The Winning Season’ (2009), and ‘Everybody's Fine’ (2009). In 2010, he portrayed ‘Justin Hammer’ in the American superhero film ‘Iron Man 2’ directed by Jon Favreau. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and was a major commercial success, grossing over $623.9 million on a $170–200 million budget. The following year, he starred as ‘Doc’ in the American science fiction Western action film ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ directed by Jon Favreau. The film opened to a mixed critical reception and was a financial disappointment.Â
He next starred in films like ‘Seven Psychopaths’ (2012), ‘The Way, Way Back’ (2013), ‘A Case of You’ (2013), ‘Laggies’ (2014), ‘Digging for Fire’ (2015), and ‘Poltergeist’ (2015). In 2017, he played the role of ‘Officer Jason Dixon’ in the crime drama film ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ directed by Martin McDonagh. The film opened to critical acclaim and was a massive box office success, grossing over $160.2 million on a budget of $12–15 million. Rockwell also received several awards, including the ‘Academy Award’ and the ‘British Academy Film Award’ for his performance in the film. He continued to appear in films like ‘Blaze’ (2018), ‘Vice’ (2018), ‘The Best of Enemies’ (2019), ‘Richard Jewell’ (2019), ‘Trolls World Tour’ (2020), and ‘The One and Only Ivan’ (2020). He last appeared in the 2022 American computer-animated heist comedy film ‘The Bad Guys’ directed by Pierre Perifel. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed over $200.8 million on a $69-80 million budget.