Stanton trained at NYU's Tisch School of the ArtsGraduate Acting Program and began his acting career in Joseph Papp's production of the play Measure for Measure at the Delacorte Theater in 1985. He was in the resident company of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1989 to 1991. His Broadway credits include James Graham’s Ink, George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, John Guare's A Free Man of Color, Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart and Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia. Two-dozen Off Broadway credits include David Lindsay-Abaire's Fuddy Meers, A. R. Gurney's A Cheever Evening and Caryl Churchill's Owners and Traps. He won an Obie Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for his performance in David Ives's All in the Timing in 1994. He directed the premiere of Ives's play Don Juan in Chicago Off-Broadway in 1995. In 2008 and 2009, he appeared in Off-Broadway productions of Love Child, a 22-character farce for two actors, with his co-writer, Daniel H. Jenkins. In March and April 2012, he appeared in the Eugene O'Neill play Strange Interlude at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, in the role of Charles Marsden; he returned in January 2016 to play Mr. Puff in Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Critic and Moon in Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound on a double-bill, winning the company's Emery Battis Award for his performances.
Film and television roles
Stanton made a brief appearance in the 1988 thriller The House on Carroll Street. In 1992, he appeared in the films A League of Their Own and Bob Roberts. In 1993, he appeared in his first major supporting role, playing Henry Mitchell in Dennis the Menace for writer-producer John Hughes. He played John Chapman in the 1994-95 television show The Cosby Mysteries. He later appeared in a variety of films, including Don't Drink the Water, Striptease, Washington Square, Red Corner, Next Stop Wonderland, Mercury Rising, The Quiet American, Head of State, The Stepford Wives,Find Me Guilty, Confessions of a Shopaholic, two sequels to Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles, playing Armand Montgomery, father to Freddie Highmore's Arthur, and Jason Bourne. Stanton appeared in episodes of the television shows Law & Order, ', ', Frasier, Ed, Third Watch, Damages, NYC 22, The Good Wife, and Orange Is the New Black. He also played Anthony “Robi” Frobisher, boss to mass killer Mr. Mercedes, in David E. Kelley’s 2017 television adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
Filmography
Films
The House on Carroll Street - Dionysus
' - Lloyd-Smith
Love or Money - Dudley
A League of Their Own - Western Union Delivery Man
Bob Roberts - Bart Macklerooney
Dennis The Menace - Henry Mitchell
The Cosby Mysteries - Medical Examiner John Chapman
Don't Drink the Water - Mr. Burns
Striptease - Erb Crandal
Washington Square - Arthur Townsend
Hudson River Blues - Jeff
Red Corner - Ed Pratt
Next Stop Wonderland - Robert
Mercury Rising - Dean Crandell
Happy Accidents - Fetishist
The Quiet American - Joe Tunney
Head of State - Advisor
The Stepford Wives - Ted Van Sant
Find Me Guilty - Chris Newberger
The Convention - Good Samaritan
Gigantic - James Weathersby
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Derek Smeath
Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard - Armand Montgomery
' - Armand Montgomery
True Story - Jeffrey Gregg
Jason Bourne - Government Lawyer
Television
Law & Order - Jed Knox
The Cosby Mysteries - Medical Examiner John Chapman