With HBO Max having all its success with The Last of Us TV adaptation, Peacock with Twisted Metal, and Prime Video with Fallout, Ubisoft naturally wants to cash in on the trend of live-action video game series, greenlighting an Assassin’s Creed show at Netflix and a Far Cry anthology series at FX, the latter being developed by Fargo, Legion, and Alien: Earth showrunner Noah Hawley alongside Rob Mac.
Rob Mac (previously referred to as Rob McElhenney)is widely recognized for creating and starring in the FX comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and then growing his fame from there. However, he’s been in quite a few projects outside of It’s Always Sunny, including other shows he’s created across networks, along with some lesser-known indie films early in his career.
10. Law & Order
Like many in Hollywood, Rob Mac’s earliest career role was a guest appearance on an episode of Law & Order. In the inaugural episode of Season Eight, titled ‘Thrill,’ Mac portrayed Joey Timon, a psychopathic young man who, along with his friend, chose to ambush and shoot a delivery worker just for the thrill of it. However, the question remained which one of them actually pulled the trigger and committed the murder, spinning this into a very complex case.
While his screentime was rather short throughout the episode, Mac still gave a chilling portrait of a troubled teen wanting to kill for no reason in what would become his most serious role to date, expertly balancing an aloof personality with shrouds of childlike innocence and malicious charm. Law & Order’s ‘Thrill’ also posed an interesting examination into the laws and circumstances regarding confessions given in confidence to priests.
9. Campfire Stories (2001)
Another far cry from the comedic outings you might know Rob Mac for, he starred in the ultra-campy 2001 horror anthology film, Campfire Stories (puns intended). This would be the film to bring Charlie Day and Rob Mac together, where you could say the rest was history for the duo. That’s right, before It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it was Charlie and Mac in a horror movie, which also happens to star Tony Soprano’s daughter, or actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
Campfire Stories begins when Charlie Day and Joshua Harto’s characters, Joe and Teddy, get a flat tire from nearly running over Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s Natalie. The trio then meet an extremely sketchy forest ranger at a campfire in the woods (played by none other than the late punk singer of The New York Dolls, David Johansen), who tells them a series of horrific tales, the final one being where Rob Mac’s character, Ricky, goes from playing a seductive game of truth or dare with his girlfriend and their friends to a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
8. Lost
The creators of Lost must be big fans of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, because Rob Mac got to appear in two episodes of the iconic TV series, recurring as an antagonist character named Aldo. If you recall, Aldo had the infamous on-screen moment of getting tackled by Josh Holloway’s Sawyer while guarding an outpost for the Outsiders group, one of the most memorable scenes of the series. Maybe his time on the set of Lost also helped prepare him for the Far Cry series.
Lost is truly one of the most important TV series ever made, shaping the modern landscape of television projects to come. The worldbuilding and scope of something like Game of Thrones wouldn’t have been possible without the success of Lost, where each new season revealed the deeper mysteries of the island and expanded the character roster and story events significantly, including many jaw-dropping twists. Creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof also became household names in the realm of sci-fi soon after.
7. The Mindy Project
The Mindy Project is a medical and romantic comedy sitcom created by talented writer, actor, and comedian Mindy Kaling. She also plays the show’s protagonist, Dr. Mindy Lahiri, an OB/GYN navigating her work life and personal relationships in New York. One of the nurses at her practice, an ex-con named Morgan Tookers, played by the brilliant Ike Barinholtz, has a cousin named Lou, who’s introduced in the third season and then recurs throughout.
Rob Mac guest-stars as Lou Tookers in four episodes of The Mindy Project, whose backstory is that he’s a hardened criminal and also a big fan of late comedic icon Richard Lewis, who was for notable for his role in Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, even getting a tattoo of Lewis’ face on his neck and stabbing an inmate who heckled his set.
6. The Tollbooth
Before rising to fame in television, Rob Mac starred in a few indie hidden gems in the early 2000s, including this romantic comedy centered around the lives of a Jewish family in New York. The Tollbooth is written and directed by Debra Kirschner and follows dreamer Sarabeth Cohen, played by Marla Sokoloff, who pursues her passion in art while dealing with the demands of her neurotic parents and a complicated love life shared with Rob Mac’s Simon Stanton, a Catholic whom her family doesn’t approve of.
The Tollbooth features Rob Mac’s biggest supporting role in a film; the plot essentially centered around whether he and Sarabeth stay together. The voice of Elsa in Frozen, Idina Menzel, also co-stars as one of Sarabeth’s sisters. The writing is filled with witty jokes that are sure to elicit some laughs, and there are plenty of relatable moments and characters, with the film also touching on more serious LGBTQ+ issues around lesbian relationships and Jewish faith.
5. Latter Days
You may have heard of The Book of Mormon on Broadway, but C. Jay Cox’s Latter Days is the next best thing in the realm of film. Here, Rob Mac co-stars in the smaller role of Mormon missionary Elder Harmon, who is rooming with the main protagonist, Elder Aaron Davis (played by Steve Sandvoss), as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Elder Paul, and Dave Power’s Elder Gilford as they canvass the LA community on a mission to convert people to their church.
Meanwhile, you have Wes Ramsey playing Christian Markelli, a gay neighbor in the Mormon group’s West Hollywood apartment complex who tries to seduce Elder Aaron, believing him to be secretly gay. Rob Mac gives off the same energy as his character in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, leading to some hilarious scene-stealing moments. The storyline between Christian and Aaron is endearing, and there’s a heavier spotlight on AIDS and conversion therapy as well. You also have Khary Payton (or King Ezekiel in The Walking Dead)in an early role as a fellow gay co-worker of Christian’s.
4. Necaxa
FX’s Necaxa was the direct result of the hype and acclaim surrounding Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds’ Welcome to Wrexham. This show is an all-new docuseries telling the equally important story of Mexico’s Necaxa football club, which has 50 percent ownership from a group that includes actress, filmmaker, and television producer Eva Longoria, as well as a minor stake from Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, who are already the co-owners of Wrexham A.F.C.
The series features only minor appearances from Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, and the pair likewise serve as executive producers. Alex Fumero, previously an executive producer on I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, is also the showrunner here. Like its predecessor, Necaxa is a series that’s mainly dedicated to exploring the grit of the players that make up the team and their journey to greatness, as well as reviving their name under new ownership.
3. Mythic Quest
If you’re wondering where Rob Mac fits into the equation of adapting Ubisoft’s flagship Far Cry video game series, then look no further than his work on Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest. Co-created by Rob Mac, Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz, Mythic Quest is a one-of-its-kind workplace comedy centered around a team of game designers at a fictional game studio producing the MMORPG known as Mythic Quest and its newest expansion, Raven’s Banquet.
Rob Mac stars as the studio’s creative director, Ian Grimm, often butting heads with the rest of his development team. Then you have prominent video game voice actor Ashly Burch (also a writer and director here), along with It’s Always Sunny’s Cricket actor, David Hornsby, in the supporting cast. The game assets for Mythic Quest were achieved in partnership with Ubisoft, with Ubisoft Film & Television also serving as one of the production studios behind the series. While it was cancelled at Apple TV+ after only four seasons, the spin-off, aptly titled Side Quest, premiered in 2025 and contains an episode featuring Rob Mac’s Ian Grimm.
2. Welcome To Wrexham
Fans of Ted Lasso might’ve migrated over from Apple TV+ to Hulu and FX with Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds’ docuseries Welcome to Wrexham. In 2021, Mac and Reynolds decided to team up and purchase the Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C., and then launched this series highlighting their journey with the team the following year, which is now renewed for a fifth season.
The creator and star of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia purchasing a football club from Wales alongside Ryan Reynolds was probably not on your bingo card, but the series has been a triumph, giving you an inside look into a real-life sports underdog story as well as examining some of the region’s history. Wrexham A.F.C. is one of football’s oldest clubs that hasn’t had the best streak in recent times, but with the help of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac putting together the correct team of professionals to lead the club, redemption becomes just a goal away.
1. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
While it might be a bit unconventional to refer to sitcoms as masterpieces, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is definitely worthy of such a title. What Rob McElhenney and co-star Glenn Howerton created is a stroke of comedic genius, which is still going strong for well over 17 seasons of television, making it one of the longest-running live-action sitcoms in history.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia follows the dysfunctional lives of Mac, Charlie, Dennis Reynolds, Dee Reynolds, and Frank Reynolds as they manage Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia while getting wrapped up in all sorts of schemes and hilarious situations. Charlie is the illiterate and uneducated funny man with wild ideas, Dennis is a sociopathic womanizer, Mac has one of the funniest backstories and most evolved character arcs of the gang (especially toward the later seasons), Dee is trying hard to be taken seriously, and Danny DeVito’s not-so-fatherly Frank always steals the show. You also have many colorful recurring side characters with storylines just as gold.