Seth Gabel Bio
Seth Gabel, born October 3, 1981, is an American actor whose career has spanned film and television since the late 1990s. He is widely recognized for playing agent Lincoln Lee on the Fox science-fiction series Fringe, Cotton Mather on WGN America’s Salem, and Adrian Moore on the FX drama Nip/Tuck. Beyond his on-screen work, Gabel is a grand-nephew of the actor Martin Gabel and is married into one of Hollywood’s most recognizable families.
Over the course of his career, Gabel has built a reputation for taking on layered, often morally complex characters across network television, cable dramas, and feature films. His television résumé includes long-running arcs on Fringe, Salem, and Billions, while his film work includes appearances in major studio productions such as The Da Vinci Code and Take Me Home Tonight. He continues to work steadily in Hollywood, balancing character-driven dramas with high-profile genre projects.
Early Life and Background
Seth Gabel was born on October 3, 1981, in Hollywood, Florida, and was raised in a Jewish household. He grew up under the surname Cosentino, the family name of his stepfather, who adopted him. Although he has long worked under his birth-name Gabel in his professional career, Cosentino remains a familiar name from his childhood and adolescence in South Florida.
Gabel completed his high school education at University School of Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, graduating in 1999. During his youth in Florida, he met actor Josh Gad, who would later become one of his closest friends. His formative years in the region gave him an early appreciation for performance before he set his sights on a formal training ground.
Path to Acting
Following high school, Seth Gabel enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Tisch is widely regarded as one of the most competitive acting conservatories in the United States, and the program gave Gabel access to a rigorous curriculum that combined classroom training with studio work. It was also at NYU that he met fellow student Bryce Dallas Howard, with whom he would later build a family.
Gabel began booking professional work while still completing his training, making the transition from student roles to on-screen appearances in the late 1990s. His early professional credits came on television, where he built experience through guest spots and recurring arcs. The combination of conservatory-style training and quick entry into the industry helped him establish a foothold in New York and, eventually, Los Angeles.
Seth Gabel Career
Early Career (1999–2006)
Seth Gabel launched his professional acting career in 1999 while still a student in New York. His earliest screen credits included guest appearances on series such as Sex and the City and 100 Centre Street, the latter directed by Sidney Lumet. These small but visible roles allowed him to develop on-camera technique and to make industry connections in both television and film.
Throughout the early 2000s, Gabel accumulated recurring television work, including appearances on United States of Tara, The Closer, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2006, he appeared in the film adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, directed by his future father-in-law Ron Howard. That same year, he married Bryce Dallas Howard, beginning a new chapter in both his personal and professional life.
Breakthrough (2007–2015)
Gabel’s first major breakthrough arrived in 2007 when he was cast as Jeremy Darling on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money. The role positioned him as the charming, rebellious twin son of a powerful and privileged family, opposite Samaire Armstrong as his on-screen sister. The series gave him steady prime-time exposure and helped him move from guest-star status to leading-man billing on a network drama.
Around the same period, Gabel earned critical attention for his portrayal of Adrian Moore on the FX series Nip/Tuck. Adrian, the adopted son of Ava Moore, played by Famke Janssen, was a sexually confused young man caught in a deeply troubling relationship with his mother. The story arc drew significant industry discussion and showcased Gabel’s willingness to take on emotionally raw material.
From 2010 to 2012, Gabel appeared on the Fox series Fringe, initially as a recurring guest star and then as a series regular in the show’s fourth season. Playing agent Lincoln Lee, he became part of one of the era’s most talked-about science-fiction ensembles. He returned briefly for the Fringe series finale to wrap up the character’s storyline.
In 2013, Gabel joined the cast of the CW’s Arrow as a character based on the DC Comics villain Count Vertigo. He followed that with the role of Cotton Mather on the WGN America historical drama Salem beginning in 2014, where he played one of the central figures of the Salem witch trials. In 2015, he was cast as Jeffrey Dahmer in American Horror Story: Hotel, expanding his range into the anthology horror format created by Ryan Murphy.
Notable Works and Milestones
Among Seth Gabel’s most recognized works are his long-running arc on Fringe as Lincoln Lee, his portrayal of Cotton Mather on Salem, and his acclaimed turn as Adrian Moore on Nip/Tuck. On the film side, his appearance in the 2006 Ron Howard blockbuster The Da Vinci Code remains a high-profile credit, as does his starring role in the Universal Pictures coming-of-age film Take Me Home Tonight. He has continued to take on selective guest work, including an episode of Showtime’s Billions in 2019 opposite Damian Lewis.
Seth Gabel Family
Seth Gabel is a grand-nephew of the actor Martin Gabel, who was a notable stage and screen performer of the mid-twentieth century. Through marriage, he is connected to the Howard family of Hollywood: his wife, Bryce Dallas Howard, is the daughter of director Ron Howard, and his sister-in-law is actress Paige Howard. His extended family tree also includes the television personality Arlene Francis, who was a great-aunt, and Peter Gabel, a first cousin once removed.
Personal Life
Seth Gabel met actress Bryce Dallas Howard while both were students at New York University. The two dated for five years before marrying on June 17, 2006, in Greenwich, Connecticut. They have two children, born in 2007 and 2012, and the family has kept much of their personal life out of the public eye. Gabel maintains close ties to his longtime friend Josh Gad, whom he met during his youth in Florida.