Editing James Spader (section)

== Acting career ==
[[File:The Blacklist - James Spader (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Spader features in ''The Blacklist'' as Raymond Reddington]]
Spader's first major film role was in the film ''[[Endless Love (1981 film)|Endless Love]]'' (1981), and his first starring role was in ''[[Tuff Turf]]'' (1985). He rose to stardom in 1986, when he played the rich, arrogant playboy Steff in ''[[Pretty in Pink]]''. He co-starred in ''[[Mannequin (1987 film)|Mannequin]]'' (1987) and the film adaptation of ''[[Less than Zero (film)|Less than Zero]]'' (1987), in which he played a drug dealer named Rip. Supporting roles in films such as ''[[Baby Boom (film)|Baby Boom]]'' (1987) and ''[[Wall Street (1987 film)|Wall Street]]'' (1987) followed until his breakthrough in ''[[Sex, Lies, and Videotape]]'' (1989), in which he played a sexual [[voyeur]] who complicates the lives of three [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]] residents. For this performance he received the Best Actor Award at the [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="imdb-awards" />

Spader's roles in the early 1990s included a young, affluent widower opposite [[Susan Sarandon]] in the romantic drama ''[[White Palace (film)|White Palace]]'' (1990), a yuppie who meets the mysterious [[Rob Lowe]] in the Noir drama ''[[Bad Influence (1990 film)|Bad Influence]]'' (1990), [[John Cusack]]'s best friend in the drama ''[[True Colors (1991 film)|True Colors]]'' (1991), and a poker-playing drifter in ''[[The Music of Chance (film)|The Music of Chance]]'' (1993). In 1994, he starred as [[Egyptology|Egyptologist]] [[Daniel Jackson (Stargate)|Daniel Jackson]] in the sci-fi film ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]''. In 1996, he played car accident fetishist James Ballard in the controversial Canadian film ''[[Crash (1996 film)|Crash]]'' and assassin Lee Woods in ''[[2 Days in the Valley]]''. In 1997, Spader guest starred in the ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode "[[The Apology (Seinfeld)|The Apology]]", as an angry recovering alcoholic who refuses to apologize to [[George Costanza|George]] for making fun of him. In 2000, he played a drug-addicted detective tracking a [[serial killer]] in ''[[The Watcher (2000 film)|The Watcher]]''. In 2002, he starred as a [[sadomasochism|sadomasochistic]] boss in ''[[Secretary (2002 film)|Secretary]]''.

From 2004 to 2008, Spader starred as [[Alan Shore]] in the series ''[[Boston Legal]]'', in which he reprised his role from the television series ''[[The Practice]]'' (2002). Longtime writer-producer [[David E. Kelley]] said there was resistance when he first tried to cast Spader in the role, "I was told that no one would ever welcome James Spader into their living room". During a TV Game Changers interview Kelley noted, "People will watch him (Spader) in the movies, but they will never let him in their own home."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/james-spader-casting-pushback-boston-legal-1052384|title=David E. Kelley Reveals Why James Spader Almost Didn't Star in 'Boston Legal'|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=January 7, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

He won the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series|Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series]] in 2004 for his portrayal on ''The Practice'' and won it again in 2005 and 2007 for ''Boston Legal''.<ref name="imdb-awards">{{cite web | title = Awards for James Spader | publisher = Internet Movie Database | url = https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000652/awards | access-date = September 17, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/james-spader |title=James Spader Emmy Award Winner|website=Emmys.com}}</ref><ref>[http://www.emmys.com/award_history_search?person=james+spader&program=&start_year=1949&end_year=2010&network=All&web_category=All&winner=All James Spader] at the Primetime Emmy Award Database</ref> With the 2005 win, he became one of only a few actors to win an Emmy Award while playing the same character in two series. Even rarer, he won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the same character in two series. He also won the [[Satellite Award]] for Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical for ''Boston Legal'' in 2006.<ref name="imdb-awards" />

In October 2006, Spader narrated "China Revealed", the first episode of [[Discovery Channel]]'s documentary series ''[[Discovery Atlas]]''. He also did [[voice-over]] in several television commercials for [[Acura]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Acura Targets 'Alpha' Driver In New Ads |work=Marketing Daily |first=Karl |last=Greenberg |url=http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=49536 |date=October 13, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429074439/http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=49536 |archive-date=April 29, 2007 }}</ref> He starred in ''[[Race (Mamet play)|Race]]'', a play written and directed by [[David Mamet]], which opened on December 6, 2009, at the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]] on Broadway.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.backstage.com/bso/production-listings/new-york-production-listings-1003987293.story |title=New York Production Listings|work=[[Backstage (magazine)|Backstage]]|date= June 24, 2009}}</ref> The show closed on August 21, 2010, after 297 performances.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/james-spader-rips-into-mamets-race/|title= James Spader Rips Into Mamet's 'Race'|work=[[The New York Times]]|date= May 12, 2009}}</ref> In March 2011, he was named to star in the film ''By Virtue Fall'', written and to be directed by [[Sheldon Turner]]. {{as of|2011|6}}, the movie was in pre-production.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/james-spader-carla-gugino-ryan-172370/|title= James Spader, Carla Gugino, Ryan Phillippe Join Cast of 'By Virtue Fall'|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>

Spader guest-starred as [[Robert California]] in "[[Search Committee]]", the [[The Office (American TV series) season 7|season 7]] finale of ''[[The Office (American TV series)|The Office]]''. He then joined the cast as a regular member for the [[The Office (American TV series) season 8|eighth season]]. While the original plan was just to do a guest appearance, executive producer Paul Lieberstein later said, "Those two scenes became a season".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://downriversundaytimes.com/2012/03/16/celebrity-extra-139/|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavsky|first=Cindy|work=Downriver Sunday Times|date=March 16, 2012|access-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref>

Spader starred in the television series, ''[[The Blacklist]]'', which premiered on [[NBC]] September 23, 2013 and which had its series finale on July 13, 2023, a total of ten seasons. He portrayed Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the [[FBI]]'s most wanted fugitives.

He also played the villainous robot [[Ultron (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Ultron]] in ''[[Avengers: Age of Ultron]]'' (2015), and will reprise the role in the upcoming [[Disney+]] series ''[[Vision Quest (miniseries)|Vision Quest]]'' (2026).<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 23, 2024 |title=James Spader Returning as Ultron for Marvel's Vision Series |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/marvel-sets-james-spader-ultron-vision-quest-1235982271/ |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>