External links
- Daniel Sunjata at IMDb
- Daniel Sunjata at the Internet Broadway Database
- Daniel Sunjata at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
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Daniel Sunjata | |
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| Born | Daniel Sunjata Condon December 30, 1971 Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | University of Louisiana, Lafayette (BA) New York University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1998–present |
Daniel Sunjata (born Daniel Sunjata Condon; December 30, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Franco Rivera in the FX television series Rescue Me . [1]
Sunjata was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. He is the adopted son of Bill and Catherine Condon, a police dispatcher and a civil rights worker.[ citation needed ] His adoptive parents are of Irish and Italian-German descent. He is named in honor of the Mandinka king Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire; the name means "hungry lion." [2] He was told his biological mother was a white teenager who had run away from home [3] and his father was African-American. He graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, where he played linebacker for two state championship football teams. After attending Florida A&M University, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a Master of Fine Arts from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. [4] He is of African, German, and Irish descent. [5] [6]
Sunjata played the role of a sailor on shore leave on the first post-9/11 themed episode of Sex and the City . [7] He portrayed poet Langston Hughes in the film Brother to Brother (2004) and James Holt, a fashion designer, in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).[ citation needed ]
He starred as firefighter Franco Rivera on the television program Rescue Me . During the summer of 2007, he also starred in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning as Reggie Jackson. He appeared as a Special Forces Operative in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (2012).[ citation needed ]
In 2003, he won a Theatre World Award for his breakout Broadway performance as a gay Major League Baseball player who comes out to the public in Take Me Out , the Tony award-winning play, which also earned him nominations for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award.[ citation needed ]
In 2010-2011, he played "Nurse Eli" on the TV series Grey's Anatomy and had a relationship with Dr. Miranda Bailey. [8] [ citation needed ]
Beginning in 2013, he played FBI agent Paul Briggs on Graceland , which aired on USA Network. The show was canceled in 2015 after 3 seasons.[ citation needed ] He also starred as Mecca the past lover of Monet in Power Book 2 on Stars for season 2.
From 2024, Sunjata has starred as Detective Adam Karadec in the ABC/Hulu series High Potential . [9]
On April 30, 2009, Sunjata announced that he would narrate Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup , the last in the Loose Change documentary film series that advocates several conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks. [10] [11] Producers of Rescue Me created a subplot of the show for that year's fifth season in which Sunjata's character, Franco Rivera, creates controversy in the firehouse when he tells a journalist that he, like Sunjata in real life, believes 9/11 was an inside job. [12]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Twelfth Night, or What You Will | Valentine | TV movie |
| 2001 | The Feast of All Saints | Christophe Mercier | TV movie |
| 2002 | Bad Company | CIA Agent Carew | |
| 2004 | Brother to Brother | Langston Hughes | |
| Noel | Marco | ||
| Melinda and Melinda | Billy Wheeler | ||
| 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada | James Holt | |
| 2009 | Ghosts of Girlfriends Past | Brad | |
| Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup | The Narrator | ||
| 2010 | At Risk | Detective Win Garano | TV movie |
| The Front | Detective Win Garano | TV movie | |
| Weakness | Alejandro | ||
| 2012 | One for the Money | Ranger | |
| Gone | Powers | ||
| Generation Um... | Charles | ||
| The Dark Knight Rises | Captain Jones | ||
| 2014 | Lullaby | Officer Ramirez | |
| 2017 | Small Town Crime | Detective Whitman | |
| 2021 | Christmas...Again?! | Mike Clybourne | TV movie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | D.C. | Lewis Freeman | Main Cast |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Bomb Squad Officer | Episode: "Remorse" | |
| 2001 | All My Children | Zachary Pell | Regular Cast |
| 2002 | Sex and the City | Louis Leroy, USN | Episode: "Anchors Away" |
| 2002–04 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | CSU Technician Burt Trevor | Recurring Cast: Seasons 3-5 |
| 2003 | Ed | Danny Martin | Episode: "The Case" |
| 2004–11 | Rescue Me | Franco Rivera | Main Cast |
| 2005 | Law & Order | Kenny Tremont | Episode: "Mammon" |
| 2006 | Love Monkey | Diego | Recurring Cast |
| 2007 | The Bronx is Burning | Reggie Jackson | Main Cast |
| 2008 | Great Performances | Christian de Neuvillette | Episode: "Cyrano de Bergerac" |
| 2009 | Lie to Me | Andrew Jenkins | Episode: "Blinded" |
| 2010 | 30 Rock | Chris | Episode: "College" |
| 2010–11 | Grey's Anatomy | Nurse Eli | Recurring Cast: Seasons 7-8 |
| 2012–13 | Smash | Peter Gillman | Recurring Cast: Season 2 |
| 2013–15 | Graceland | FBI Senior Agent Paul Briggs | Main Cast |
| 2016 | Notorious | Jake Gregorian | Main Cast |
| 2017 | Animal Kingdom | Smurf's Criminal Lawyer | Episode: "Betrayal" |
| 2018–20 | Manifest | Danny | Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 |
| 2019 | Happy! | Simon | Recurring Cast: Season 2 |
| 2020 | Prodigal Son | Quinton Vosler | Episode: "Internal Affairs" |
| #FreeRayshawn | SWAT Commander Nick Alvarez | Main Cast | |
| The Twilight Zone | Detective Peter Reece | Episode: "The Who of You" | |
| The Stand | Cobb | Episode: "The End" | |
| 2021–24 | Power Book II: Ghost | Dante "Mecca" Spears | Main Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 4 |
| 2022 | Echoes | Charles "Charlie" Davenport | Main Cast |
| 2023 | The Company You Keep | Robert Renway | Episode: "All In" |
| 2024–present | High Potential | Det. Adam Karadec [13] | Main Cast |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | TOCA Race Driver | Nick Landers/James Randall | Voice |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Twelfth Night | Valentine | |
| 2003 | Take Me Out | Darren Lemming | Theatre World Award Nominated – Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Nominated – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play |
| 2007 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Christian De Neuvillette | |
| 2013 | Macbeth | Macduff | |
| 2014 | The Country House | Michael Astor | |
| 2018 | Saint Joan | Dunois, Bastard of Orleans |
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