Nick Sandow

Acting

Nick Sandow

Born 1966-08-03 · The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American character actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019). Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest in the Bronx.He moved to Manhattan around age 19 to study acting under William Esper Studio in the Two-Year Professional Actor Training Program and work in theater. Sandow made his debut appearing in an episode of television series Law & Order in 1992 and worked as a bartender while taking small acting jobs in New York City. He appeared in a number of films, such as Grind (1997), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), Return to Paradise (1998) and On the Run (1999). Sandow performed in the 1999 off-Broadway production of Halfway Home. He played mobster Henry Hill in the 2001 made-for-television crime drama film, The Big Heist. Sandow guest-starred on New York Undercover, Third Watch, NYPD Blue, Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, How to Make It in America and Blue Bloods. He began his directing career in theater on Off-Off-Broadway directing Dark Yellow, Chicken and From Riverdale to Riverhead. In 2011 he directed the immigrant drama film, Ponies based on play with the same name. In 2013, Sandow was cast in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black, as prison administrator Joe Caputo, was originally supposed to have been for a handful of episodes for the show's first season. Instead, his role was expanded during the second season, and Sandow was made a series regular with the start of the third season. He received three Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with the cast. In 2015 he wrote, directed and acted in The Wannabe. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and later got a wider release. In 2017 he received News and Documentary Emmy Awards nomination for producing the documentary series, Time: The Kalief Browder Story. In 2021 he was regular cast member in the short-lived CBS crime drama series, Clarice.

Acting credits

The Accidental Husband poster
5.6

Emma, a radio host, is about to be married to Richard, her perfect match. But right before her wedding, she learns she's already married to Patrick, a charming but irresponsible fireman. Furthermore, Patrick has a secret: he has arranged this little trick because Emma advised Patrick's ex-fiancée to end their relationship. However, Patrick may find that the trick is on him, for he soon begins to fall in love with his uptight adversary.

The Accidental Husband

2008

Swimfan poster
5.3

Ben Cronin has it all: the admiration of his many friends, a terrific girlfriend, and he's on the fast-track to an athletic scholarship. Ben's rock-solid, promising future and romance are turned upside-down with the arrival of Madison Bell. Madison, the new girl in town, quickly sets her sights on the impressionable Ben. While their first few meetings are innocent enough, the obsessive and seductive Madison wants more ... much more.

Swimfan

2002

Grind poster
5.0

When a drag-racing, hard-luck parolee moves in with his brother in hopes of that ever-elusive fresh start in life, he's sure to be warm for the form of his brother's bored young wife. Things only get worse when he tries to turn a quick buck in a one-time insurance fraud operation.

Grind

1997

Return to Paradise poster
6.5

Lewis, Sheriff and Tony are three friends vacationing in Malaysia. Sheriff and Tony eventually leave to pursue careers in New York, but Lewis stays behind to work with orangutans. Two years later, Sheriff and Tony learn that, because of their past actions, Lewis has been arrested for drug possession. With Lewis facing a death sentence, the friends are left with a difficult decision: return to Malaysia and split Lewis' sentence, or let him die.

Return to Paradise

1998

The Sitter poster
5.6

Noah, is not your typical entertain-the-kids-no-matter-how-boring-it-is kind of sitter. He's reluctant to take a sitting gig; he'd rather, well, be doing anything else, especially if it involves slacking. When Noah is watching the neighbor's kid he gets a booty call from his girlfriend in the city. To hook up with her, Noah takes to the streets, but his urban adventure spins out of control as he finds himself on the run from a maniacal drug lord.

The Sitter

2011

Spinning Gold poster
5.5

A biopic of 1970s record producer Neil Bogart, co-founder of Casablanca Records.

Spinning Gold

2023

Resurrecting the Champ poster
6.3

Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.

Resurrecting the Champ

2007

The Lovebirds poster
6.5

THE LOVEBIRDS intertwines six stories about love, friendship and survival. The film stars an international cast of American and Portuguese actors who create a colorful mix of off-beat characters that lead us through a complex labyrinth of emotions. Set in the old Romanesque city of Lisbon during the course of one night where love is the art of survival. Written by Anonymous

The Lovebirds

2008

Dust poster
5.5

Two parallel tales of redemption, a century apart. In the New York storyline, Edge hunts for Angela's gold to pay back a debt, and gradually grows closer to her. In the Macedonian story, the brothers end up fighting for opposite sides of a revolution, with the religious Elijah taking up sides with the Ottoman sultan and gunslinger Luke joining "the Teacher" , a Macedonian rebel.

Dust

2001

One Night Stand poster
5.6

In Los Angeles, Max Carlyle makes a good living directing commercials and has a happy home life with his wife, Mimi, and two children. When Carlyle travels to New York City to visit his friend Charlie, who has been diagnosed with AIDS, he has repeat run-ins with a beautiful woman, Karen, and eventually sleeps with her. Though he goes home the next day and doesn't return until a year later, Carlyle's infidelity still lingers.

One Night Stand

1997

Patti Cake$ poster
6.6

Straight out of Jersey comes Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, an aspiring rapper fighting through a world of strip malls and strip clubs on an unlikely quest for glory.

Patti Cake$

2017

Connie and Carla poster
5.9

After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in the Windy City, gal pals Connie and Carla skip town for L.A., where they go way undercover as singers working the city's dinner theater circuit ... disguised as drag queens. Now, it's not enough that they become big hits on the scene; things get extra-weird when Connie meets Jeff -- a guy she'd like to be a woman with.

Connie and Carla

2004

The Wannabe poster
5.1

Based on true events, The Wannabe, a story about Thomas, a man obsessed with Mafia culture during the 1990s in New York City. When Thomas’s failed attempts to fix the trial of infamous mobster John Gotti gets him rejected by the people he idolizes most, he sets off on a drug infused crime spree with his girlfriend and longtime mob groupie, Rose, by brazenly robbing the local Mafia hangouts.

The Wannabe

2015

Living Out Loud poster
6.0

Judith Moore is suddenly single after discovering her husband of fifteen years, a successful doctor, has been having an affair with a younger woman. Judith stews, plans, plots and fantasizes, but she can't decide what to do with her life until she goes out to a night club to see singer Liz Bailey, who is full of advice on life and love. While out on the town, Judith is suddenly kissed by a total stranger, which opens her eyes to new possibilities... which is when she notices Pat, the elevator operator in her building.

Living Out Loud

1998

Meadowland poster
5.8

In the hazy aftermath of an unimaginable loss, Sarah and Phil come unhinged, recklessly ignoring the repercussions. Phil starts to lose sight of his morals as Sarah puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations, falling deeper into her own fever dream.

Meadowland

2015

No Looking Back poster
5.5

Charlie returns to his old town where he meets his ex-girlfriend again and tries to get her back.

No Looking Back

1998

Hand Gun poster
4.9

Jack is in the midst of a major robbery, which leaves him injured and his accomplices dead. Jack manages to hide the $500,000 from the robbery before he makes his way to his death bed.

Hand Gun

1994

The Big Heist poster
5.3

Based on the 1986 book "The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It", by Ernest Volkman and John Cummings, this TV movie tells the story about the 1978 Lufthansa Heist at JFK Airport in New York - the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil. The heist was also the subject of the much better-known 1990 film "Goodfella"s, directed by Martin Scorsese. It was also the subject of another made-for-television film: "The 10 Million Dollar Getaway" from 1991.

The Big Heist

2001

Frame Of Mind poster
5.3

A New Jersey police detective comes across new evidence in the Kennedy assassination.

Frame Of Mind

2009

Arresting Gena poster
5.5

A directionless teenager (Aesha Waks) becomes involved with a headstrong runaway (Summer Phoenix) and her drug-dealing brother (Sam Rockwell).

Arresting Gena

1997

A Brooklyn State of Mind poster
5.3

Al Stanco has lived all of his life in Brooklyn and does some work for the local crime lord, Danny Parente. New to the neighbourhood is Gabriela, a filmmaker shooting a documentary on the real Brooklyn. Al and Gabriela become friendly but the relationship is strained when he discovers her true goal is to expose Parente's criminal activities. When Al sees the evidence Gabriela has uncovered, which implicates Parente in the death of many locals (including Al's own father), he seeks revenge in a dangerous confrontation with his boss.

A Brooklyn State of Mind

1998

New Port South poster
4.6

A group of teenagers wish to rebel against the administrators and teachers (the system) in their suburban Chicago high school called New Port South

New Port South

2001

Plan B poster
4.5

A bookkeeper who thinks she killed three mobsters is subsequently promoted by her boss to be a hitman.

Plan B

2002

Stella's Last Weekend poster
6.4

Brothers Jack and Oliver reunite to put their beloved dog to sleep. While their zany mother plans a party to celebrate Stella's life, things go awry when the brothers discover they love the same girl.

Stella's Last Weekend

2018

Behind the camera

The Wannabe poster
5.1

Based on true events, The Wannabe, a story about Thomas, a man obsessed with Mafia culture during the 1990s in New York City. When Thomas’s failed attempts to fix the trial of infamous mobster John Gotti gets him rejected by the people he idolizes most, he sets off on a drug infused crime spree with his girlfriend and longtime mob groupie, Rose, by brazenly robbing the local Mafia hangouts.

The Wannabe

2015

The Wannabe poster
5.1

Based on true events, The Wannabe, a story about Thomas, a man obsessed with Mafia culture during the 1990s in New York City. When Thomas’s failed attempts to fix the trial of infamous mobster John Gotti gets him rejected by the people he idolizes most, he sets off on a drug infused crime spree with his girlfriend and longtime mob groupie, Rose, by brazenly robbing the local Mafia hangouts.

The Wannabe

2015

No artwork available
NR

It explores Vivien Leigh’s struggle with bipolar disorder in the 1960s, as she prepares to lead the Broadway production of John Gielgud’s Chekhov adaptation of “Ivanov.” Joseph Penn, WWII veteran and blue-collar florist encounters Leigh on a delivery. At the same time, the star attends a local psychiatric facility for electroconvulsive therapy. Amidst the backdrop of madness, Leigh and Penn become each other’s sources of truth, beauty, and love.

Vivien & the Florist

Ponies poster
NR

Based on the acclaimed play that the Independent of London hailed as "a bracingly uncensored exploration of the tensions and treacheries in a beleaguered male subculture", PONIES is about three men in a treacherous subset of society, and uses the gambling parlor as a backdrop for a provocative modern morality tale. Ultimately, these men-immigrants, Americans, human beings-are forced to protect from one another their most valuable commodity: the right to stay on American soil.

Ponies

2012

Houses poster
NR

A director fumbles through a self-inspired play in an attempt to reclaim his creative integrity.

Houses

2015