For his performance on Ozark, Pelphrey received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
[3] Pelphrey's first notable role was Jonathan Randall, the son of Reva Shayne and her late former husband, Richard Winslow, on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light.
In 2015 Pelphrey landed the recurring role of Kurt Bunker, a former neo-nazi trying to reintegrate into society, on Cinemax's action drama Banshee.
To prepare for this role he started lifting weights and did research by reading books on the neo-Nazi movement in America.
[6] In 2017, he appeared in Iron Fist as Ward Meachum and portrayed Ben Davis on the third season of the Netflix crime drama Ozark which was released on March 27, 2020.
[10] Pelphrey starred in In God's Hat at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, in New York City, through August 7, 2010.