Daniel Sunjata

Daniel Sunjata
Born Daniel Sunjata Condon
(1971-12-30) December 30, 1971
Evanston, Illinois
Alma mater
Occupation Actor
Years active 1998–present
Home town Chicago, Illinois

Daniel Sunjata (born Daniel Sunjata Condon;[1] December 30, 1971) is an American actor who performs in film, television and theater. He is best known for his role as Franco Rivera in the FX television series Rescue Me.

Personal life

Sunjata was born and grew up in Chicago, the adopted son of Bill and Catherine Condon, a police dispatcher and a civil rights worker. His parents are of Irish and Italian-German descent. He is named in honor of the African king Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire; the name means "hungry lion."[2] He was told his biological mother was a white teenage runaway and his father was black.[3] He graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, where he played linebacker for two state championship football teams. He completed his undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received a master's degree in fine arts from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.[4]

Career

Sunjata played the role of a sailor on shore leave on the first post-9/11 themed episode of Sex and The City. He has portrayed Langston Hughes in the film Brother to Brother and James Holt, a fashion designer in The Devil Wears Prada.[5]

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).[5]

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.[5]

Views on the September 11 attacks

On April 30, 2009, Sunjata announced his participation as narrator in Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup, which was the last in a series of documentaries, collectively known as Loose Change, that argue that the September 11 attacks were planned by the United States government.[6]

Sunjata has stated that he believes "absolutely, 100 percent" in this theory.[7] Producers of Rescue Me, inspired by Sunjata's views, created a subplot of the show that year (the show's fifth season) in which Sunjata's character, Franco Rivera, stirs up controversy in the firehouse when he announces these same views to a journalist.[7]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Twelfth Night, or What You Will Valentine Television movie
2001 The Feast of All Saints Christophe Mercier Television movie
2002 Bad Company Officer Carew
2004 Melinda and Melinda Billy Wheeler
2004 Noel Marco
2004 Brother to Brother Langston Hughes
2006 The Devil Wears Prada James Holt
2009 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Brad
2009 Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup Narrator
2010 At Risk Detective Win Garano Television movie
2010 The Front Detective Win Garano Television movie
2010 Weakness Alejandro
2012 One for the Money Ranger
2012 Gone Powers
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Captain Jones
2014 Lullaby Officer Ramirez

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 D.C. Lewis Freeman 7 episodes
2000 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Bomb Squad Officer Episode: "Remorse"
2001 All My Children Zachary Pell Unknown episodes
2002 Sex and the City Louis Leroy, USN Episode: "Anchors Away"
2002–04 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit CSU Technician Burt Trevor 15 episodes
2003 Ed Danny Martin Episode: "The Case"
2004–11 Rescue Me Franco Rivera 93 episodes
Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series
2005 Law & Order Kenny Tremont Episode: "Mammon"
2006 Love Monkey Diego 4 episodes
2007 The Bronx is Burning Reggie Jackson 8 episodes
Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
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 8 episodes
2012–13 Smash Peter Gillman 4 episodes
2013–15 Graceland Paul Briggs 38 episodes
2016 Notorious Jake Gregorian Main Cast

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2002 TOCA Race Driver Nick Landers/James Randall Voice

Theater

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

References

  1. ↑ "Daniel Sunjata profile". Filmreference.com. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Daniel Sunjata". www.skiddnet.com. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ Finn, Robin (May 28, 2003). "PUBLIC LIVES; Such a Realistic Portrayal, the Guys Ask Him Out". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  4. ↑ "NYU Graduate Acting Alumni". Gradacting.tisch.nyu.edu. 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Daniel Sunjata at the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ Gil, Billy. "Microcinema Gets Rights to 'Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'", Home Media Magazine, May 4, 2009.
  7. 1 2 Stelter, Brian. "The Political Suspicions of 9/11", The New York Times, February 1, 2009.

External links

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