Frank Grillo

Frank Anthony Grillo (born June 8, 1965) 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).

Early life

Grillo was born in New York City to a working-class Italian-American family of Calabrian origin. 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. In 1991, he started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which he has studied under Rickson Gracie and holds a brown belt. 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. On the podcast The Fighter and the Kid, he stated that he holds Italian citizenship.

Career

Film

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.

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. In 2012, he played Diaz in the survival thriller The Grey with Liam Neeson and as Sarge in End of Watch with Jake Gyllenhaal. 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.

In 2014, Grillo was cast as HYDRA agent Brock Rumlow in the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 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. 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.

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. 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.

In 2015, Grillo starred in the films Demonic and Big Sky. Another film in which he stars, Beyond Skyline, was originally set for release in 2015, and was ultimately released on Netflix in December 2017.

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.

In 2019, Variety announced that Grillo has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation.

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. He also appeared in the sequel Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson.

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.

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).

Television

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. 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. During that time, he also appeared on the Blind Justice as Marty Russo.

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. In 2010, he starred in the sci-fi series The Gates opposite Marisol Nichols and Rhona Mitra. The series only lasted one season.

Between 2014 and 2017, Grillo starred in the DirecTV drama series Kingdom as MMA coach Alvey Kulina alongside Nick Jonas and Jonathan Tucker.

Grillo was a season 5 regular on the drama series Billions, starring as artist Nico Tanner opposite Damian Lewis and Maggie Siff. He also reprised the role of Crossbones by voicing the character on the Marvel Cinematic Universe animated series What If...

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). 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.

Personal life

Grillo married his first wife, Kathy, in 1991. They had one son together, born in 1997, and divorced in 1998.

Grillo met actress Wendy Moniz in 1996 on the set of Guiding Light. They were married on October 28, 2000 and had two sons together, born in 2004 and 2008. They divorced in 2020.