Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series Silicon Valley (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He has voiced Penn Zero in the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero (2014–2017), Harold Hutchins in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), Sam Coleman in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Terry in the Hulu adult animated sci-fi series Solar Opposites. Middleditch also appears in ads for Verizon Wireless. Early life Middleditch was born on March 10, 1982, in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. His parents are British. He was cast in a play in eighth grade which he said "changed everything" for him. He discovered improv in grade school from performing with Theatresports. His first job was acting in Canadian Heritage Plays for his hometown. He studied theatre at the University of Victoria before moving to Toronto, where he auditioned for and enrolled in George Brown Theatre School, but never began his course. He instead opted to make sketches on his own and worked at a New Balance store for an income. He relocated to Chicago, where he took classes at The Second City and iO Theater, while also performing regularly. He was a founding member in 2005 of The Improvised Shakespeare Company. Due to immigration issues, he worked various cash jobs until Charna Halpern sponsored him to get his work visa. While performing on a Second City cruise, he got an audition for Saturday Night Live. Though he did not get cast, the routine he used in his audition landed him a network holding deal and he moved to New York City. Career While living in New York City, Middleditch began acting in commercials. In 2007 a sketch video for Chicken McNuggets he made with Fernando Sosa in Chicago was purchased by McDonald's and used as a commercial. He appeared in the 2009 romantic comedy Splinterheads, portraying the lead role of Justin Frost. On March 25, 2010, he joined a CBS pilot, Hitched, written by Josh Schwartz and directed by Rob Greenberg. On May 5, 2011, Middleditch made his first appearance in Jake and Amir, in the episode "Jake and Amir: Doobs". On May 31, 2011, Middleditch joined the cast of the Paramount Pictures' comedy film Fun Size,