Richard Speight Jr. was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Barbara and Richard Speight. He has two older sisters, Barby and Lindy. Richard attended Montgomery Bell Academy and the University of Southern California’s School of Theater, graduating cum laude. While at USC, he met and befriended writer and director Stephen Chbosky. Richard appeared in Chbosky’s senior showcase piece.

Richard’s earlier work included the film, Ernest Goes to Camp and a regular role on the NBC Saturday morning sitcom, Running the Halls. He appeared in the films Thank You for Smoking, Speed 2: Cruise Control and The Last Big Attraction. Richard had a starring role in Jason Reitman’s short film, In God We Trust. His newer productions include La Musica Provata, The Week, Mucho Dinero, Brick Madness, The Evil Gene, and Bad, Bad Men.

On TV Richard has starred in commercials for such brands as Got Milk?; IBM; Pepsi; and Disney. He played Sgt. Warren “Skip” Muck in the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning World War II miniseries, Band of Brothers, produced for HBO by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. He has also appeared in several television series, such as The Agency; ER; Jericho; Party of Five and JAG. He co-directed and co-starred in the independent feature, North Beach. Richard is credited for writing additional dialogue during the filming of Open Water 2: Adrift, in which he co-starred.

Richard wrote and co-directed America 101. The 11-minute comedy short stars Band of Brothers veteran, Rick Gomez; and co-stars Amy Gumenick and Jayden Lund (both veterans of Supernatural). The short feature involves “one man’s life as the lesson of the day, as he takes [the viewer] on a frenetic ride through his personal vision of the American experience.”

Outside of film and TV, Richard plays the guitar and bass, and is a published novelist and short-story writer.
Richard had a recurring role on the drama Supernatural from 2007 to 2014, where he played ‘The Trickster’/Loki (later revealed to be the Archangel Gabriel).