Frank Grillo | |
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Born | Frank Anthony Grillo June 8, 1965 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Citizenship |
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Alma mater | New York University |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1992–present |
Spouses |
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Children | 3 |
Frank Anthony Grillo (born June 8, 1965) [2] [3] is an American actor. He is known for playing Brock Rumlow / Crossbones in the superhero franchise Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Sergeant Leo Barnes in The Purge franchise, and Rick Flag Sr. in the DC Universe (DCU). He has also appeared in Warrior (2011), The Grey (2012), End of Watch (2012), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Wolf Warrior 2 and Wheelman (both 2017), and Boss Level (2021).
Grillo's television work includes the lead role in Kingdom (2014–2017) and recurring roles in Battery Park (2000), For the People (2002–2003), The Shield (2002–2003), Prison Break (2005–2006), Blind Justice (2005), The Kill Point (2007), and Billions (2020).
Grillo was born in New York City to a working-class Italian-American family of Calabrian origin. [4] He was raised in the Bronx and in Rockland County, New York. Grillo began wrestling at eight years old, and took up boxing at eighteen. [5] [6] In 1991, he started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which he has studied under Rickson Gracie and holds a brown belt. [7] Grillo graduated from New York University with a business degree and spent a year on Wall Street before being asked to do a Miller Genuine Draft beer commercial. [8] [9] On the podcast The Fighter and the Kid , he stated that he holds Italian citizenship. [1]
Grillo started his acting career by appearing in commercials, for companies such as American Express and Sure deodorant. His first film role was in 1992's The Mambo Kings , and he went on to appear in the films Minority Report (2002), April's Shower (2006), and both iMurders and New Line Cinema's Pride and Glory in 2008. [10] [11] [12]
Grillo was in the 2010 horror film Mother's Day in the role of Daniel Sohapi and the following year, had a supporting role in the 2011 film Warrior as MMA trainer Frank Campana. [11] In 2012, he played Diaz in the survival thriller The Grey with Liam Neeson and as Sarge in End of Watch with Jake Gyllenhaal. [11] In 2013, he starred with Jaimie Alexander in the romantic thriller film Collision and had a bit role in the action film Homefront with Jason Statham. [13]
In 2014, Grillo was cast as HYDRA agent Brock Rumlow in the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier . [14] The same year, he starred as Sergeant Leo Barnes in the sequel The Purge: Anarchy , and reprised his role in 2016's The Purge: Election Year . [15] [16] He also reprised the role of Brock Rumlow/Crossbones in the third installment of the Captain America film series, Civil War , which was released on May 6, 2016. [17]
In October 2013, Grillo started filming for The Crash , starring alongside Academy Award nominee Minnie Driver, Ed Westwick, AnnaSophia Robb, Dianna Agron, John Leguizamo, Mary McCormack, Christopher McDonald and Maggie Q. [18] The film is directed by Aram Rappaport and produced by Hilary Shor, Atit Shah, and Aaron Becker. The Crash was released on January 31, 2017. [19]
In 2015, Grillo starred in the films Demonic and Big Sky . [20] [19] [21] [22] Another film in which he stars, Beyond Skyline , was originally set for release in 2015, and was ultimately released on Netflix in December 2017. [23]
In 2018, Grillo starred opposite Bruce Willis and Johnathon Schaech in the action film Reprisal . Years after its release, the film made it on Netflix's U.S. top five in October 2021. [24]
In 2019, Variety announced that Grillo has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation. [25]
Grillo produced and starred in Boss Level , which was announced in November 2017 and was originally scheduled to be released by Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures on August 16, 2019, but was delayed. It was subsequently bought by Hulu, which released it on March 5, 2021. [26] He also appeared in the sequel Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. [27]
More recently, he has appeared in the films This Is the Night with Naomi Watts, Copshop with Gerard Butler, Ida Red with Melissa Leo, The Yacht with Ruby Rose and A Day to Die with Bruce Willis. [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
In June 2024, set photos revealed that Grillo was set to appear in the DC Universe (DCU) film Superman as Rick Flag Sr., reprising the role in live-action after debuting as the character in the animated series Creature Commandos (2024–present). [33] [34]
Grillo first appeared on television in episodes of Silk Stalkings (1993), and Poltergeist: The Legacy (1996) before being cast as oil tycoon Hart Jessup on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light in 1996 up until 1999. [35] In 2002, he was cast in the series For the People as Det. J.C. Hunter and played Hunter until 2003. One of his more notable television roles was on the crime drama Prison Break where he played Nick Savrinn from 2005 to 2006. [36] During that time, he also appeared on the Blind Justice as Marty Russo. [11]
He was in the first and only season of The Kill Point in 2007, and played the role of Jimmy in the CSI: NY episode "The Things About Heroes," which aired in November 2007. [2] [37] In 2010, he starred in the sci-fi series The Gates opposite Marisol Nichols and Rhona Mitra. The series only lasted one season. [38]
Between 2014 and 2017, Grillo starred in the DirecTV drama series Kingdom as MMA coach Alvey Kulina alongside Nick Jonas and Jonathan Tucker. [39]
Grillo was a season 5 regular on the drama series Billions , starring as artist Nico Tanner opposite Damian Lewis and Maggie Siff. [40] He also reprised the role of Crossbones by voicing the character on the Marvel Cinematic Universe animated series What If... [41]
In 2024, Grillo voiced Rick Flag Sr. in the Max animated series Creature Commandos , the first series and installment of the new DC Universe (DCU) franchise managed by James Gunn and Peter Safran, and a successor to the previous DC Extended Universe (DCEU). [42] Grillo's character, who is the father of DCEU character Rick Flag Jr., is set to appear across all DCU media, and Grillo was announced in May 2024 to be reprising the role in live-action, appearing as a cast regular for the second season of Peacemaker opposite John Cena. [43] [44]
Grillo married his first wife, Kathy, in 1991. They had one son together, born in 1997, and divorced in 1998. [45] [ non-primary source needed ]
Grillo met actress Wendy Moniz in 1996 on the set of Guiding Light. They were married on October 28, 2000 [35] and had two sons together, born in 2004 and 2008. [15] [46] [ non-primary source needed ] They divorced in 2020. [47]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Mambo Kings | Machito | |
1993 | Deadly Rivals | Grogan | |
1996 | Deadly Charades | Vince Carlucci | |
2002 | Simplicity | General | Short film |
The Sweetest Thing | Andy | ||
Minority Report | Pre-Crime Cop | ||
2003 | April's Shower | Rocco | |
2007 | Raw Footage | Ben Chaffin | Short film |
2008 | iMurders | Joe Romano | |
Pride and Glory | Eddie Carbone | ||
2009 | Blue Eyes | Bob Estevez | |
2010 | Edge of Darkness | Agent One | |
Mother's Day | Daniel Sohapi | ||
My Soul to Take | Paterson | ||
2011 | Warrior | Frank Campana | |
The Grey | John Diaz | ||
2012 | Lay the Favorite | Frankie | |
End of Watch | Sergeant "Sarge" Daniels | ||
Disconnect | Mike | ||
Zero Dark Thirty | Red Squadron Commanding Officer | ||
2013 | Gangster Squad | Russo | |
Collision | Scott Dolan | ||
Homefront | Cyrus Hanks | ||
2014 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Brock Rumlow | |
The Purge: Anarchy | Sgt. Leo Barnes | ||
2015 | Demonic | Mark Lewis | |
Big Sky | Jesse | ||
2016 | Captain America: Civil War | Brock Rumlow / Crossbones | |
The Purge: Election Year | Sgt. Leo Barnes | ||
2017 | The Crash | Guy Clifton | |
Stephanie | Eric | ||
Wolf Warrior 2 | Big Daddy | ||
Wheelman | Wheelman | ||
Beyond Skyline | Mark Corley | ||
2018 | Reprisal | Jacob | Direct-to-video |
Donnybrook | Chainsaw Angus | ||
2019 | Avengers: Endgame | Brock Rumlow | |
Point Blank | Abraham "Abe" Guevara | ||
Into the Ashes | Sloan | ||
Black and Blue | Terry Malone | ||
Hell on the Border | Bob Dozier | ||
2020 | Boss Level | Roy Pulver | |
Jiu Jitsu | Harrigan | ||
2021 | No Man's Land | Bill Greer | |
Cosmic Sin | Gen. Eron Ryle | Direct-to-video | |
Body Brokers | Vin | ||
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard | Bobby O'Neill | ||
Ida Red | Dallas Walker | ||
The Gateway | Duke | ||
Copshop | Teddy Murretto | ||
This Is the Night | Vincent Dedea | ||
2022 | Stowaway | Meeser | [48] |
Shattered | Sebastian | ||
A Day to Die | Capt. Brice Mason | Direct-to-video | |
Paradise Highway | Dennis | [49] | |
Operation Seawolf | Cmdr. Race Ingram | [50] | |
Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend | Ferruccio Lamborghini | [51] | |
2023 | Little Dixie | Doc Alexander | [52] |
The Resurrection of Charles Manson | Robert | [53] | |
One Day as a Lion | Pauly Russo | [54] | |
Black Lotus | Saban | [55] | |
Justice League: Warworld | Agent Faraday | Voice [56] | |
MR-9: Do or Die | Roman Ross | [57] | |
King of Killers | Jorg Drakos | [58] | |
2024 | Lights Out | Michael 'Duffy' Duffield | [59] |
Die Alone | Kai | ||
Long Gone Heroes | Gunner | ||
Hounds of War | Ryder | ||
Werewolves | Wesley Marshall | ||
2025 | Superman † | Rick Flag Sr. | |
TBA | Hard Matter † | Benjamin | |
Untitled sixth Purge Film † | Sgt. Leo Barnes |
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Silk Stalkings | Franco LaPuma | Episode: "Ladies Night Out" |
1996 | Poltergeist: The Legacy | Jerry Tate | Episode: "Ghost in the Road" |
1996–1999 | Guiding Light | Hart Jessup | Main role |
1999 | Wasteland | Cliff Dobbs | Recurring role |
2000 | Battery Park | Anthony Stigliano | Main role |
2002 | Hunter: Return to Justice | Detective Terence Gillette | Television film |
2002–2003 | For the People | Det. J.C. Hunter | Main role |
The Shield | Officer Paul Jackson | Recurring role (Season 1–2) | |
2002, 2009 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Frank Barbarossa / Mark Van Kuren | Episode: "Deception", "Transitions" |
2003 | Karen Sisco | Garrison Kick | Episode: "Nostalgia" |
Hunter: Back in Force | Detective Terence Gillette | Television film | |
2004 | The District | Vince Dymecki | Episode: "Breath of Life" |
2005 | Blind Justice | Detective Marty Russo | Main role |
2005–2006 | Prison Break | Nick Savrinn | Recurring role (Season 1) |
2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Gary Sinclair | Episode: "Happenstance" |
Hollis & Rae | Henry Callaway | Television film | |
2007 | Without a Trace | Neil Rawlings | Episode: "Tail Spin" |
Las Vegas | Jeremy Shapiro | Episode: "The Burning Bedouin" | |
The Kill Point | Albert Roman / Mr. Pig | Main role | |
CSI: NY | Jimmie Davis | Episode: "The Thing About Heroes..." | |
2008 | The Madness of Jane | Oliver Cornbluth | Television film |
Blue Blood | Quarry | ||
2010 | The Gates | Nick Monohan | Main role |
2011 | Breakout Kings | Agent Stoltz | Episode: "Queen of Hearts" |
2013 | Mary and Martha | Peter | Television film |
2014–2017 | Kingdom | Alvey Kulina | Main role |
2018 | FightWorld | Himself / Host | Main host |
2020 | Billions | Nico Tanner | Recurring role (Season 5) |
2021, 2023 | What If...? | Brock Rumlow | Voice Recurring role (Season 1); guest (Season 2) |
2023 | Paul T. Goldman | Dan Hardwick | Recurring role [60] |
2024 | Tulsa King | Bill Bevilaqua | Main role (Season 2) |
2024–present | Creature Commandos | Rick Flag Sr. | Voice, main role |
2025 | Peacemaker † | Main role (Season 2) |
† | Denotes series that have not yet been released |
Crossbones is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Mark Gruenwald and Kieron Dwyer, the character first made a cameo appearance in Captain America #359, before he was fully introduced later that month in issue #360 and his name was revealed in issue #362.
Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman is a Swedish actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in the 2010 Swedish film Easy Money and the Johan Falk crime series. Kinnaman is known internationally for his television roles as Detective Stephen Holder in AMC's The Killing, Takeshi Kovacs in the first season of Altered Carbon, and Governor Will Conway in the American version of House of Cards. He has also played Alex Murphy in the 2014 RoboCop remake, and Rick Flag in the Warner Bros. film adaptations of the DC Comics anti-hero team Suicide Squad (2016), as well as its sequel, The Suicide Squad (2021). Since 2019, he has starred as NASA astronaut Ed Baldwin in the Apple TV+ science fiction drama series For All Mankind.
James DeMonaco is an American filmmaker. He is best known for creating the Purge franchise, writing all five films in the series and directing the first three, The Purge (2013), Anarchy (2014), and Election Year (2016).
Edward John Drake is an Australian screenwriter and film director based in Los Angeles, California.
The Purge is an American anthology media franchise centered on a series of dystopian action horror films distributed by Universal Pictures and produced by Blumhouse Productions and Platinum Dunes, which are written and in some cases also directed by James DeMonaco, who was inspired by a Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "The Return of the Archons". The films present a seemingly normal, crime-free America in the near future. However, the country is a dystopia which observes an annual event known as "the Purge", in which all crime, including murder, is legal for a 12-hour period.
Boss Level is a 2020 American science fiction action film directed by Joe Carnahan and written by Carnahan and Chris and Eddie Borey, from a story by the Boreys. It stars Frank Grillo as a retired special forces soldier who tries to escape a never-ending time loop that results in his death. Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts and Michelle Yeoh co-star.
Studio 8 is an American entertainment company founded in 2014, by Jeff Robinov, John Graham, and Mark Miner based in Culver City. It specializes in film and television production.
Peacemaker is an American superhero television series created by James Gunn for the streaming service HBO Max, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The first season is the only DC Extended Universe (DCEU) television series and a spin-off from the 2021 film The Suicide Squad. Set after the events of the film, it further explores jingoistic mercenary Christopher Smith / Peacemaker. It was produced by the Safran Company and Troll Court Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and with Gunn as showrunner. The second season is produced by DC Studios and set in the DC Universe (DCU), a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.
Copshop is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Joe Carnahan and written by Kurt McLeod and Carnahan, based on a story by McLeod and Mark Williams. The film stars Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, and Alexis Louder, and is set in a small-town police station that becomes the battleground between a hitman, a novice police officer, and a con artist.
Liam O'Donnell is an American film director, producer, writer and special effects artist.
Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski are an American film screenwriting and executive producing team best known for their work in horror films, and for their collaborations with director David Bruckner, including Siren (2016), The Night House (2020), and Hellraiser (2022).
The DC Universe (DCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe based on characters from DC Comics publications. It was created by James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios. The DCU is a soft reboot of a previous franchise, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), retaining select cast members and narrative elements but disregarding others. In contrast with the previous state of DC Comics adaptations, the DCU features a united continuity and story across live-action films and television, animation, and video games. Concurrent DC adaptations that do not fit this continuity are labeled "DC Elseworlds".
Creature Commandos is an adult animated superhero television series based on the eponymous team from DC Comics. Produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation, it is the first television series and the first installment in the DC Universe (DCU). The series focuses on a black ops team of monsters assembled by Amanda Waller. All seven episodes of the first season were written by series creator James Gunn, with Dean Lorey serving as showrunner and Yves "Balak" Bigerel as supervising director.
The second season of the American superhero television series Peacemaker is based on the eponymous character from DC Comics. It is set in the DC Universe (DCU) and serves as a "soft reboot" of the series, which started as a spin-off from the 2021 DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad. The season continues the story of jingoistic mercenary Christopher Smith / Peacemaker. It is produced by DC Studios with James Gunn as showrunner.
Werewolves is a 2024 American action horror film directed and produced by Steven C. Miller. It stars Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, Ilfenesh Hadera, James Michael Cummings, and Lou Diamond Phillips. The story takes place in the night of a supermoon event that causes humans to turn into werewolves, which first occurred the preceding year, and follows the attempts to control the situation. The film was released theatrically on December 6, 2024, in the United States to mixed reviews.
Hounds of War is a 2024 American action-thriller film directed by Isaac Florentine and written by Jean-Pierre Magro. It stars Frank Grillo, Robert Patrick, and Rhona Mitra in leading roles. The film explores themes of revenge, betrayal, and survival against military warfare. It was released on September 20, 2024, by XYZ Films and Sky Cinema.
Nicholas Cirillo is an American actor and producer.
SC: You don't look 50. FG: I'm actually not really 50. SC: You aren't? FG: It's OK, I don't mind people saying that I'm 50. But, no, I was born in 1965 and IMDb has 1963. Whatever. I'm still old. I just had a birthday.
Yes, I am Italian and that is where my family is from also. In fact many of my relatives still live there. Maybe we are related.