Quick Facts
Biography
Lucas Papaelias (born September 18, 1976) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist known for his roles in School of Rock (2003) and the TV series The Knick (2014-2015).
Early life
Lucas Papaelias was born on September 18, 1976. He is a graduate of State University of New York College in Geneseo, New York.
Career
Acting
Papaelias made his acting debut in 2001, appearing in the role of "Art Bilson" in the episode "Brother's Keeper" of the TV series Law & Order. In the following year, he was seen as "Tim Moore" in the episode "Das Boots" of the TV series NYPD Blue.
In 2003, he landed his most memorable role of Neil in director Richard Linklater's musical comedy School of Rock (starring Jack Black and Adam Pascal).
In 2007, he was an original cast member in TONY-award-winning musical Once. Once is a musical based on the 2007 film of the same name by Irish director John Carney. The music and lyrics were by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. Papaelias played the character of "Svec".
In addition, he also appeared onstage in 2007 Broadway production of the play Cyrano de Bergerac. The play, written by Edmond Rostand, is a fictionalization following the broad outlines of the life of Cyrano de Bergerac. Kevin Kline played the lead role, with Jennifer Garner playing Roxane and Daniel Sunjata as Christian. A version of the production was broadcast on PBS's Great Performances in 2009.
After appearing in a few movies and TV series such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006), two episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2006 and 2008), Art Machine (2012), and an episode of Blue Bloods (2013), Papaelias landed the recurring role of "Eldon Pouncey" in the TV series The Knick. He was seen in 12 episodes starting from Method and Madness (aired 8 August 2014) to Not Well at All (aired 4 December 2015).
His most recent role was that of "Jackson" in the episode "Screen" of TV series High Maintenance.
Music
Papaelias plays guitar and sings, and performs original pop songs & instrumental blues under the name LPfunK. He cites his musical influences as Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Interpol, Funkadelic, and Neil Young. He once provided vocals and played guitar for a band called Cool Hand.
In 2006, he provided the music score for director Robert Lawton's romance-comedy Sex & Sushi. He also acted in the movie, playing the character of "Keith Jacobs". In the following year, in 2007, he and Ray Rizzo and playwright Adam Rapp provided music for Adam Rapp's play Essential Self-Defense. For their work in the musical, the three were nominated for the 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play.
In 2011, he with Deborah C. Smith wrote and produced a rock musical titled PYRAMIDICA: Songs of Freedom. The musical was successfully crowd-funded on indiegogo.com.