Frank Grillo

American actor (born 1965) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frank Grillo

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).

Quick Facts Born, Citizenship ...
Frank Grillo
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Grillo in 2019
Born
Frank Anthony Grillo

(1965-06-08) June 8, 1965 (age 59)
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Italy[1]
Alma materNew York University
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present
Spouses
  • Kathy Grillo
    (m. 1991; div. 1998)
  • (m. 2000; div. 2020)
Children3
Close

Grillo's television work includes the lead role in Kingdom (2014–2017) as well as 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), Billions (2020), and Tulsa King (2024).

Early life

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]

Career

Summarize
Perspective

Film

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Grillo (second from right) with his co-stars from Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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]

Television

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Nick Jonas, Joanna Going, Matt Lauria, Grillo and Jonathan Tucker at the premiere of the drama series Kingdom in October 2014

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]

Personal life

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]

Filmography

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Grillo at San Diego Comic-Con in 2013

Film

More information Year, Title ...
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
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Key
Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Television

More information Year, Title ...
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)
Close
Key
Denotes series that have not yet been released

References

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