Danny Strong

Emmy-winning writer of Recount and Game Change, co-creator of Empire, creator of Dopesick, and now a Broadway book writer.

After the show

Strong kept acting after Buffy, most visibly as Doyle McMaster on Gilmore Girls (2003 to 2007, plus the 2016 revival) and as Danny Siegel on Mad Men (2010 to 2013). Later roles included Justified, Girls and Todd Krakow on Billions (2017 to 2023).

His bigger second act came as a writer. His first produced screenplay, HBO’s Recount (2008), about the 2000 Florida election, won an Emmy and a Writers Guild Award. He followed it with HBO’s Game Change (2012), which won an Emmy and a Peabody, and Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013). He co-wrote The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (2014) and Part 2 (2015).

With Lee Daniels he co-created Fox’s Empire (2015 to 2020), which he also executive produced, wrote and directed episodes of. He made his feature directing debut with Rebel in the Rye (2017), about J.D. Salinger. In 2021 he created, wrote and executive produced Hulu’s opioid crisis drama Dopesick starring Michael Keaton, and directed its final two episodes.

On February 13, 2021, after Charisma Carpenter’s statement about Joss Whedon’s conduct on Buffy and Angel, Strong posted on Twitter: “Sending love and support to @AllCharisma @amber_benson @RealMichelleT @SarahMGellar and all who have gone public,” adding, “I truly admire your bravery in speaking out.”

Lately

Strong voiced Jonathan again in October 2023 for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, the Audible drama written and directed by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden.

He has moved heavily into theatre. He wrote a new book for the first full Broadway revival of Chess, starring Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher and directed by Michael Mayer, which opened at the Imperial Theatre on November 16, 2025. He also wrote the book for Galileo, a rock musical with music and lyrics by Michael Weiner and Zoe Sarnak that premiered at Berkeley Rep in 2024. The Broadway production, starring Raúl Esparza and again directed by Mayer, is scheduled to begin previews at the Shubert Theatre on November 10, 2026, and open December 6, 2026.