Why Mr. Davies From Moxie Looks So Familiar
Moxie is a comedy-drama film directed by Amy Poehler and written by Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer. Based on a book of the same name by Jennifer Mathieu, it follows a shy 16-year-old named Vivian Carter (Hadley Robinson) who begins to notice just how sexist and toxic her high school's atmosphere is. Inspired by her mom's (Poehler) past of protesting and fighting the patriarchy, Vivian decides to anonymously publish a zine, titled Moxie!, about these issues, which starts a school-wide rebellion, especially amongst the teen girls. Moxie released on Netflix on March 3.
The cast includes mostly lesser-known actors — with the exception of Poehler — especially with most of the cast being teenagers. One familiar face, however, is the teacher Mr. Davies, who is portrayed by Ike Barinholtz. As a supporting role, Mr. Davies doesn't show up much in the trailer, except for one moment during which he says that the zine "seems like a women's issue" and that he intends to stay out of it. One of the students retorts to him, "If you do nothing, you're part of the problem."
Barinholtz has been acting regularly since the 2000s, providing plenty of appearances that may be the root of why viewers find him so familiar-looking. Here is a breakdown of some of his most notable roles.
Ike Barinholtz was Morgan on the Mindy Project
Ike Barinholtz is arguably most known for his lead role in the recent sitcom The Mindy Project. It was created by The Office writer and cast member Mindy Kaling, who also stars in the series. Kaling portrays the fictional Mindy Lahiri, a gynecologist in New York City, as she navigates her personal and professional lives. A significant amount of the show's drama takes place in her workplace, with her coworkers making up the bulk of the main cast, including her love interest and fellow doctor Danny Castellano (Chris Messina).
Barinholtz plays Morgan Tookers, a quirky nurse at the office who is also an ex-con. He first appears in the second episode of the first season and remains a regular through the full six-season run. Over the show's course, Morgan develops a close friendship with Mindy and becomes involved with a fellow nurse, Tamra. By the show's finale, he and Tamra have married and have a child together.
Ike Barinholtz's TV roles go beyond The Mindy Project
Along with quite a few television guest appearances — on big shows such as Weeds, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the recent reboot of The Twilight Zone – Ike Barinholtz has more significant arcs on a handful of shows
While most of his leading roles have been on animated shows, such as Bless the Harts and The Awesomes, he's also had a few guest roles that viewers may be recognizing him from. He appeared in a three-episode arc of the Quibi comedy-mystery series Mapleworth Murders, about a murder-mystery writer, Abigail Mapleworth (Paula Pell), who seeks out homicide cases in her hometown to solve. He played Richard Belt in the three parts of "The Case of the Case of Wine," in which the owner of a local winery is found dead.
Earlier in his career, he was a leading cast member of the long-running sketch comedy show Mad TV on Fox. (The show was then revived years later on The CW.) Barinholtz was on the show from 2002 to 2007. He then came back for the 20th-anniversary reunion special on The CW, which aired just a few months before The CW announced it would be rebooting the series.
Ike Barinholtz has a growing film career
Along with his plethora of TV appearances, Ike Barinholtz has shown up sporadically in films throughout his career. One of the first of these notable appearances — although maybe not for the best reasons, as the film was widely panned – is in the 2008 parody film Disaster Movie. Barinholtz plays multiple characters, including Wolf, Prince Caspian, and Hellboy.
In 2014, Barinholtz had a supporting role in the comedy Neighbors, starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, about a couple, Mac and Kelly, (Rogen and Rose Byrne) who come into conflict with the fraternity that moves in next door. Barinholtz plays Jimmy Blevins, a close friend of Mac and Kelly. He also returned for the sequel, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, in 2016. Barinholtz also had roles in 2017's Snatched, starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn, as well as 2019's Late Night alongside Emma Thompson and his Mindy Project co-star Mindy Kaling.
In 2018, he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the black comedy film The Oath. It takes place in the near-distant future, in which the U.S. government asks citizens to sign a legal document that would swear their allegiance to the country; the deadline to sign this document is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. A couple, Chris (Barinholtz) and Kai (Tiffany Hadish) decide not to sign the document and to just focus on getting through the holiday with their family. They are then surprised when the government comes to interrogate them about their decision.
At this rate, Barinholtz will likely be in many more things for viewers to recognize him from.