When Cosmo Pfeil left his comfort zone this year and how the pivot is paying off
Cosmo Pfeil is an American artist known for his double involvement in Hollywood as an actor and an assistant director. Known for roles in Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories, the humanitarian, nurse, and filmmaker has also gained popularity because of his marriage to American Primeval actress Betty Gilpin.
Source: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Cosmo Pfeil is best known for playing Private Nate Mountain in Company K.
- Pfeil has been married to three-time Emmy-nominated actress Betty Gilpin since 2016, and they have two children.
- Cosmo Pfeil is an actor and an established assistant director and director in American film and television, with work such as Acceptable Limits.
Profile summary
Full name | Cosmo Colyer Pfeil |
Common name | Cosmo Pfeil |
Gender | Male |
Date of birth | 9 December 1977 |
Age | 47 years as of November 2025 |
Zodiac sign | Sagittarius |
Place of birth | Shoreham, Vermont, United States |
Residence | Bedford–Stuyvesant, New York, United States Saint James Place, Brooklyn, New York, United States |
Nationality | American |
Ethnicity | White |
Sexuality | Straight |
Religion | Christian |
Height in feet | 5'7" |
Height in centimetres | 170 |
Weight in pounds | 156 |
Weight in kilograms | 71 |
Eye colour | Brown |
Hair colour | Brown |
Siblings | 2 |
Marital status | Married |
Spouse | Elizabeth Folan Gilpin |
Children | 2 |
Higher education | University of North Carolina, Instituto Forester Internacional |
Profession | Actor, assistant director, humanitarian |
Net worth | $200,000–$500,000 |
Cosmo Pfeil's early life and family background
Cosmo Colyer Pfeil was born on 9 December 1977 in Shoreham, Vermont, in the United States. He is 47 years old as of November 2025, and his zodiac sign is Sagittarius. Despite his highly visible personal and professional life, little is known about his upbringing and family background.
Between 1996 and 2000, he attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he achieved a bachelor’s degree program in Fine and Studio Arts. He has also completed a Spanish Language and Literature program at the Instituto Forester Internacional.
Source: Original
Exploring Cosmo Pfeil's career journey
Pfeil's professional life features a mix of two passions, acting and compassion for others through humanitarian work. Beyond these career paths, he has also built a solid résumé behind the camera.
Until 2015, Cosmo Pfeil was an actor, assistant director, and cinematographer, with credits in the writing and makeup departments. He served as a first and second assistant director on several projects, including Take Shelter in 2011 and Providence in 2015.
Pfeil made his directorial debut on 13 October 2012 with the documentary Acceptable Limits, for which he also served as a cinematographer. The docu-film is centred around the health and environmental effects of an ageing nuclear fuel processing facility in East Tennessee.
Cosmo Pfeil's on-screen career
According to his IMDb profile, Pfeil's earliest acting credits are recorded in 2004. He began his acting career in the early 2000s with roles in Company K, Shotgun Stories, and The Northern Kingdom, where he met his now-wife, Betty Gilpin.
Film/TV series | Role | Release date |
Person of Interest | Devil Dog | 2013 |
The Good Wife | Gary Kuharski | 2012 |
The Northern Kingdom | Glen | 2009 |
Grand Gorge: No God But Me | Marcus | 2008 |
Boo!! | Young man | 2008 |
Pose Down | Chance Abel | 2007 |
Descent | Brock | 2007 |
Shotgun Stories | Norman | 2007 |
Happy Now | The lifeguard | 2004 |
Company K | Pvt. Nate Mountain | 2004 |
Cosmo Pfeil's directing success
Pfeil's primary success behind the camera is as an assistant director. Have a look at Cosmo Pfeil's movies with his technical production roles.
Film/TV series | Role | Release date |
Acceptable Limits | Cinematographer, director | 2012 |
Providence | First assistant director | 2015 |
Take Shelter | Second assistant director | 2011 |
Shotgun Stories | Makeup artist | 2007 |
The big pivot: Why did Cosmo Pfeil shift focus?
Cosmo Pfeil has remained guarded about his reasons to shift focus from writing and acting to production. According to a 2022 New York Times report, he is a registered nurse. Although he is based in New York, USA, details of his practice at any hospital remain scanty.
Cosmo currently works as the director of operations for Give Love Haiti - Eco-Sanitation, a humanitarian company offering Haitians affordable sanitation solutions, as per his LinkedIn profile.
Between 2006 and 2017, he was a senior sales specialist for MindBody, Inc. Like his current job title, Pfeil was the director of operations for CanDo.org and One-Truck.org in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His expertise behind the camera plays into his work, filming live and edited content of humanitarian projects and missions.
Is Cosmo Pfeil Betty Gilpin's husband?
The multi-talented humanitarian has been married to GLOW actress Betty Gilpin since 2016. The pair met while filming The Northern Kingdom. In the film, Carissa, played by Gilpin, is the sister of the character Glen, who is played by Pfeil.
Source: Getty Images
In her book, All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns, Betty shared details of her family's interactions with Cosmo as they dated. Her father, Jack Gilpin, a veteran American actor, had high praise for Cosmo's innovation, fashioning slippers out of paper grocery bags and blue duct tape.
Gilpin also described their interests and personality differences in an excerpt quoted by People, she said,
He knew every tree type by leaf and liked to cook obscure organs with peppers that made my eyes rain. He could talk for an hour straight about the make of a table leg or a hawk’s itinerary.
She continued,
As for me, when a printer is out of ink, I fantasise about throwing the printer away. Thinking about how the wind works makes me crave a deep nap... His name is, of course, Cosmo.
FAQs
- Who is Cosmo Pfeil? Cosmo Pfeil is an American filmmaker known for his work as both an actor and an assistant director.
- What is Cosmo Pfeil's height? The Acceptable Limits director is 5 feet 7 (170 centimetres) tall.
- What is Cosmo Pfeil's age? He was born on 9 December 1977, making him 47 years old as of November 2025.
- Is Cosmo Pfeil on Instagram? Despite his work in the limelight, the actor and director maintains a generally private life and has an inactive presence on social media platforms such as Instagram.
- How many children does Cosmo Pfeil have? Cosmo and his wife, Betty Gilpin, have two daughters born between 2020 and 2024.
- How did Cosmo Pfeil make his money? His earnings have been made through his work in the entertainment and humanitarian industries.
Cosmo Pfeil's professional life plays out in a steady arc, from an actor to a filmmaker, and a surprising pivot to nursing and humanitarian work. As of 2025, his work as a humanitarian takes centre stage. He has worked as the director of operations for NGOs such as Give Love Haiti, CanDo.org, and One-Truck.org.
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She is an avid painter, filmmaker and visual artist. Despite being a part of a well-known Hollywood family, Stella has remained largely private. Read on for details of her life as a member of one of Hollywood's royal families.
Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
