Andre Royo

Last updated
Andre Royo
Andre Royo Harvard University 3.jpg
Royo at Harvard Law School in 2010.
Born (1968-07-18) July 18, 1968 (age 55)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
  • writer
Years active1998–present
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
SpouseJane Choi
Children1

Andre Royo (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins on the HBO crime drama series The Wire , and his appearances on Fringe , Party Down , How to Make It in America , and the 2013 film The Spectacular Now . Royo also appeared as Lucious Lyon's defense attorney Thirsty Rawlings on the FOX drama series Empire .

Contents

Personal life

Royo was born in the borough of the Bronx in New York City on July 18, 1968, [1] and is of African-American and Cuban heritage. According to Royo, in auditions he had been told by some casting directors that he was "not Black enough" or "not Latino enough" for certain parts. [2]

Royo attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx from 1982 until 1986. [3] Royo is married to Jane Choi and they have one daughter named Stella. [4]

Career

Royo made his acting debut in a minor role in the 1998 film L.A. Without a Map . In 1999, he made one-episode guest appearances on the television series Law & Order and Third Watch . Additionally, in the Law & Order episode 'Prince of Darkness', Royo can be seen sitting in the audience of the courtroom, directly behind the defendant. In 2000, he had a small role in John Singleton's remake of the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft . [2] He also appeared in the 2002 movie G , which was based on The Great Gatsby . [5]

Royo is mostly known for his starring role on the HBO crime-drama series The Wire as the drug addict and confidential informant Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, a regular character since the show's first season. Royo's portrayal of this character was so convincing that, during on-location filming, he was once approached by a Baltimore resident and given a small package of heroin, with the man saying to the in-character Royo: "Man, you need this more than I do." Royo has called this incident his "street Oscar." [6]

In 2008, he made a brief appearance in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a soldier in a unit that was sent back in time. That same year, he was introduced as the character Stephen Canfield during the third season of the television series Heroes . In 2008, Royo also played the role of a drug addicted homeless serial killer in the Criminal Minds season 4 episode "Catching Out".

In October 2009, Royo was featured at a Harvard University panel discussion along with fellow actors from The Wire Sonja Sohn and Michael K. Williams. The panel discussed the value of The Wire as a media source at-risk youth can relate to and learn positive life lessons from. In 2010, Royo guest starred on the Starz original series Party Down . Later that year, he was a guest star in the third season premiere as well as the seventh and eighteenth episodes of the Fox television series Fringe , playing a cab driver in the parallel universe. [7]

In 2012, Royo appeared in the NBC police drama Prime Suspect as Santana Cordero, an accused murderer killing witnesses before he was tried. He appears in the 2012 film Red Tails as Antwan "Coffee" Coleman. Royo then starred as a bully's alcoholic father in a Key & Peele sketch. In 2013, Royo portrayed geometry teacher Mr. Aster in the 2013 romantic-comedy drama film The Spectacular Now . Royo was a guest, playing Otis in the episode "Trading Faces" on Paul Scheer's action comedy series NTSF:SD:SUV:: on Cartoon Network's late-night block Adult Swim. He then was a guest voice in the Bob's Burgers episode "Nude Beach" playing himself, and then voiced an exterminator named Marcus in a 2014 episode titled "Tina and the Real Ghost". He appeared in the 2015 drama film Lila & Eve , as a character named Skaketti, alongside Jennifer Lopez and Viola Davis.

In 2015, Royo appeared in Agent Carter series portraying Spider Raymond, who ran the night club "La Martinique", but he became more notorious for being an illegal trader. He also appeared in Showtime's Happyish as Barry, mutual friend of the main characters, Thom and Lee Payne. In Amazon Prime's Hand of God , Royo portrayed San Vincente's Mayor Robert "Bobo" Boston. On Fox's Empire , he played Thirsty Rawlings, a shifty defense attorney.

In 2016 Royo won a Special Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival for his role in Hunter Gatherer.

He appears alongside Octavia Spencer in the Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told , where he portrays an attorney.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998 L.A. Without a Map Music Store Clerk
2000 Shaft Tattoo
2001 Perfume Posse Member
2002 G Tre
2004 Planet Brooklyn Junie
2005 All the Invisible Children SammySegment: "Jesus Children of America"
2008 August Dylan Gottschalk
2009 21 and a Wake-Up Dr. Jim West
2010 Super Hamilton
2012 Red Tails Antwan "Coffee" Coleman
2012 Freelancers Daniel Maldonado
2012 Hellbenders Stephen
2012 The Collection Wally
2013 The Spectacular Now Mr. Aster
2014 Of Mind and Music Kenny
2014 Aftermath Rob
2015 Lila & Eve Detective Skaketti
2016 Hunter Gatherer Ashley Douglas
2017 Billy Boy Mr. Adams
2018 Beautiful Boy Spencer
2018 Prospect Oruf
2022 To Leslie Royal

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999 Law & Order Gil FreemanEpisode: "Hunters"
1999 Third Watch DiopEpisode: "Anywhere But Here"
2000 Wonderland Psychiatric patientEpisode: "Pilot"; uncredited
2002–07 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Riley / Luther Pinkston2 episodes
2002–08 The Wire Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins 40 episodes
2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Felix SantosEpisode: "Loss"
2004 The Jury Naadia AzharEpisode: "Bangers"
2005 Cuts George3 episodes
2005 CSI: Miami Julio PenaEpisode: "Vengeance"
2008 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Sumner2 episodes
2008 Heroes Stephen Canfield2 episodes
2008 Criminal Minds Armando SalinasEpisode: "Catching Out"
2009 Numbers Tim PynchonEpisode: "Arrow of Time"
2009 CSI: NY Big Willie BrownEpisode: "Blacklist (Featuring Grave Digger)"
2010 Party Down ScottEpisode: "Joel Munt's Big Deal Party"
2010 The Whole Truth Eric SantiagoEpisode: "Judicial Discretion"
2010–11 Fringe Henry Arliss Higgins3 episodes
2011 Memphis Beat RonnieEpisode: "Ten Little Memphians"
2011 How to Make It in America KevinEpisode: "In or Out"
2012 Prime Suspect Santana CorderoEpisode: "Stuck in the Middle with You"
2012 Key & Peele Bully's DadEpisode: "Victory"
2013 Elementary ThaddeusEpisode: "Déjà Vu All Over Again"
2013 NTSF:SD:SUV:: OtisEpisode: "Trading Faces"
2013In SecurityLyle6 episodes
2013–14 Bob's Burgers Andre Royo / Marcus (voice)2 episodes
2014–16 Kingdom Hotel Owner2 episodes
2014–17 Hand of God Mayor Robert "Bobo" Boston20 episodes
2015 Agent Carter Spider RaymondEpisode: "Now is Not the End"
2015 Happyish Barry5 episodes
2015 Drunk History King Oliver Episode: "New Orleans"
2015–19 Empire Thirsty Rawlings53 episodes
2016 Masters of Sex Sammy Davis Jr. Episode: "The Pleasure Protocol"
2017 Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories IsaiahEpisode: "Angel Man"
2020 Interrogation Charlie Shannon5 episodes
2021 Truth Be Told Demetrius10 episodes
2021 With Love Laz Zayas [8] 5 episodes

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References

  1. ↑ "Famous birthdays July 18; and: Minneapolis Aquatennial with a twist". Twin Cities. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  2. 1 2 Salomon, Andrew (February 21, 2008). "Getting a fix". Backstage . Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  3. ↑ "FY 2012-13 - Mount Saint Michael Academy" (PDF). MtSaintMichael.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-12-15.
  4. ↑ "Andre Royo Biography". TV Guide.
  5. ↑ "HBO: The Wire: Cast and Crew: Character Bio: Bubbles". HBO.com.
  6. ↑ Margaret Talbot (2007). "Stealing Life". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
  7. ↑ Ausiello, Michael (September 21, 2010). "Exclusive: 'Fringe' extends Andre Royo's stay". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  8. ↑ Del Rosario, Alexandra (June 28, 2021). "Amazon's 'With Love' Adds Andre Royo As Recurring; Gissette Valentin To Recur In 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
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