1979–2003: Work in background roles, film debut and television appearances

Bell at the premiere of Saw 3D on October 27, 2010.

Bell played background roles in the late 1970s and early 1980s in over 30 films, including Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979), while also performing on off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway.^[8][10][11] Bell said that other actors at the Actors Studio thought doing stand-in and background work was "stupid or degrading", but he believed otherwise.^[12] In 1982, he had an uncredited scene in the Sydney Pollack film, Tootsie, playing a waiter at the Russian Tea Room that Pollack used as a tracking shot. He told Movieline, "You know, when you're talking about Tootsie, it's the tip of the iceberg, because those other twenty-nine films I did aren't even on IMDb."^[13]

He worked on The Verdict (1982) for two weeks as a courtroom reporter in the trial. He recollected it being a "great opportunity" watching Sidney Lumet and Paul Newman, while also learning the technical aspect of acting.^[13] For every role he plays, starting with the initial reading of the script to the final shot of a production, he keeps a journal of various questions about and motivations for his character. "I write all kinds of stream-of-consciousness things that help me."^[9] He would have his first speaking role in the 1983 film Svengali playing a waiter with three lines.^[13] The same year Bell had a small speaking role as a reporter in the drama Sophie's Choice. In the mid-1980s, Bell said "I was doing off-Broadway plays three nights a week, working on my craft. And a director at the Actors Studio said, 'You know, Tobin you've been doing that for a while. I think you should go to Hollywood and play bad guys'."^[12] Bell moved to Los Angeles and was cast in his first feature film, Mississippi Burning in 1988, as "tough and street smart" FBI Agent Stokes.^[12]

In 1993, Bell was cast in another Pollack film, The Firm as an assassin called "The Nordic Man".^[5] The same year, he played Mendoza in In the Line of Fire, where he attempts to taunt an undercover Clint Eastwood into proving his loyalty by murdering his partner, played by Dylan McDermott. He went on to appear in an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld titled "The Old Man" playing a record store owner.^[14] He appeared in two episodes of NYPD Blue playing different characters in 1993 and 1996.^[15][16] In 1994, Bell played a hospital administrator in the second episode of the first season of ER and went on to appear in an episode of another medical drama Chicago Hope, playing a terminally ill inmate on death row.^[13] That same year, he portrayed Ted Kaczynski in the made-for-television film Unabomber: The True Story.^[17] In 1997, Bell guest starred in an episode of La Femme Nikita and Nash Bridges. The following year, he guest starred in an episode of Stargate SG-1 and a two-part episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.^[18] Bell made a one-scene appearance in the 2001 episode Army of One of The Sopranos playing Major Carl Zwingli.^[19] In 2003, he was cast as the villain Peter Kingsley Group during the second season of 24.^[20]

2004–2010: Saw breakthrough role and becoming a horror icon

Bell's breakthrough role came in 2003 when he was cast as John Kramer / Jigsaw in the horror film, Saw. The film is about John Kramer who is an engineer-turned-serial killer that wants others to appreciate the value of life by placing them in twisted "games" of physical and psychological torture.^[21] The film was James Wan's directorial debut and was shot in 18 days on a budget of $1.2 million. Bell spent two weeks lying on a floor and had very few lines, but his role was pivotal to the film. He credits two reasons he joined the film; the opportunity to work with Danny Glover for the first time and thought very highly of the film's ending.^[17] Lionsgate acquired the worldwide distribution rights for the film days before its release at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.^[22] While initially getting a direct-to-video release, test screenings that March turned out positive prompting Lionsgate to release it theatrically that Halloween.^[23] It became a box office success, grossing $103 million worldwide.^[24] Even though Bell would join the first film with no intention of a second film being made, as a result of the financial success, six direct sequels were released on every October from 2005 to 2010.^[17]

The following year, Bell starred in Saw II, which he said was because "the character of John Kramer was not fully defined and he had an opportunity as an actor to take him to the next level".^[17] In 2006's Saw III his character was killed off, however he later signed on for up to five sequels.^[25][26] He would return to Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI and Saw 3D where Jigsaw is featured in flashbacks, some focusing on his origin.^[27][28] He explained, "Saw doesn't happen in a straight line so, you know, in Hollywood everything's possible. It just depends on if you can do it well you can do it. There's a certain thing that we've done in Saw where it's like pieces of a puzzle. It happens out of sync. So that's how it's done."^[28] He provided his voice and likeness for the Jigsaw character in the 2009 Saw video game and its 2010 sequel, Saw II: Flesh & Blood.^[29][30]

Bell at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.

For his role as Jigsaw, Bell received MTV Movie Awards nominations in 2006 and 2007 for "Best Villain".^[31][32] He won "Best Butcher" in the Fuse/Fangoria Chainsaw Awards and was given the "Best Villain in a Film Series" title at the 2010 Chiller-Eyegore Awards.^[33][34] The Saw franchise went on to become one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time making, as of 2021, over $1 billion worldwide.^[23][35] The character Jigsaw has been labeled a horror icon.^[36][21]

2014–present: Later work and return to the Saw franchise

In March 2014, Bell played the antagonist Seth in Victor Salva's horror film Dark House. The following month he was featured in an episode of Criminal Minds, playing a farmer from West Virginia.^[11] In the comedy Manson Family Vacation Bell plays a guy who is one of Charlie Manson's followers and lives on his old property in Death Valley.^[11] It premiered at South by Southwest in March 2015 to positive reviews with Variety pointing out Bell's "creepy gravitas" take on the role.^[37]

In March 2016, Bell joined the soap opera Days of Our Lives for a five-episode arch playing Yo Ling, who is revealed to be John Black's long lost father.^[38] From 2016 and 2017, he guest starred as the voices of the villain Doctor Alchemy and the malicious speed god and main antagonist Savitar on the third season of The Flash, in which he was uncredited throughout the season until his last episode.^[39] He reprised his role in the ninth season for its season and series finale "A New World: Part Four".^[40] Bell was cast in April 2017 in a short film, My Pretty Pony based on Stephen King's short story My Pretty Pony.^[41] In October 2017, seven years after Saw 3D was released and marketed as the final Saw film, Bell reprises his role as Jigsaw in the standalone film Jigsaw.^[42] It grossed $103 million worldwide.^[43] Bell was also featured in other horror films released in October 2017, including the television film The Sandman, the Mexican film Belzebuth and Italian film Gates of Darkness.

Bell guest starred in a September 2019 episode of Creepshow, alongside Giancarlo Esposito in the segment "Gray Matter" that is based on King's short story of the same name.^[44] In May 2021, he played Dr. Lasher in an eight-part found footage fictional podcast series, The Gloom. The series is about a string of unsolved crimes committed by a group of teens in the 1990s while an investigative journalist uncovers a supernatural cover-up that is tied to her past.^[45] In March 2023, he played Von in the indie psychological thriller ReBroken.^[46] Bell played Kramer once again in Saw X, released in September 2023.^[47] The film received positive reviews, with Bell's performance and his return as a main character being praised by critics.^[48]

Film

Television

Video games

Podcasts