D.J. Cotrona
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Donald Joseph Cotrona (born May 23, 1980) is an American actor, known for his role in the film '' G.I. Joe: Retaliation'' (2013) and as Seth Gecko in the El Rey Network horror television series ''
From Dusk till Dawn ''From Dusk till Dawn'' is a 1996 American action horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino from a concept and story by Robert Kurtzman. Starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, and ...
''.


Early life

Cotrona was born in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. His mother, Sheree, is a teacher, and his father, Donald, works for a recycling company. Cotrona has partial Italian ancestry. He was studying to be a lawyer at
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
; however, after doing a summer internship at a law firm, he realized he did not like working with lawyers. In his sophomore year, he switched to acting; during his spring break, he went to visit a friend in Los Angeles and never returned to college.


Career

After a few guest starring roles, Cotrona was being considered for the role of
Ryan Atwood Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...
on the television series ''
The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...
'' but that role went to
Benjamin McKenzie Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (born September 12, 1978) is an American actor and commentator. He is best known for his starring television roles as Ryan Atwood on the teen drama ''The O.C.'' (2003–2007), Ben Sherman on the crime drama ''Southlan ...
. Shortly thereafter Cotrona was cast as the male lead in another of
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
's new dramas of 2003, the
Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...
produced ''
Skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...
''. Cotrona played Adam Roam, the son of the Los Angeles District Attorney. His character becomes involved with Jewel Goldman (
Olivia Wilde Olivia Jane Cockburn ( ; born March 10, 1984), known professionally as Olivia Wilde, is an American actress and filmmaker. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' ( ...
), whose father runs a pornography company. With their fathers' feud looming over them they pursue their "
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
" relationship. ''Skin'' was cancelled after three episodes aired due to poor ratings and the controversial story lines. The eight episodes of the series were shown on SOAPnet in 2005. Cotrona appeared in the
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
horror film ''
Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
'', which was directed by Jim Gillespie. He also starred in the 2006
Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...
film ''
Love is the Drug "Love Is the Drug" is a 1975 song from English rock band Roxy Music's fifth studio album ''Siren'', released as a single in September 1975. Co-written by Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay, the song originated as a slower, dreamier track until the b ...
''. In 2005, Cotrona again landed a lead role in a TV series, playing Sean Mathers, a flower shop worker with a dark past who is part of a group of lottery winners, in the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
series '' Windfall''. The series would end up being shown in the summer of 2006 rather than as a mid-season replacement for the 2005-06 TV season. Cotrona was cast in the role of
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
for
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
' planned film '' Justice League: Mortal''; however, after issues resulting from the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and other production concerns, the film was cancelled. In 2010, Cotrona appeared in the film '' Dear John''. In February he was cast as Detective John Stone in the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
''187 Detroit'', which also stars
Michael Imperioli Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...
,
Shaun Majumder Shaun Vincent Majumder (born January 29, 1972) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his role on ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes,'' where he worked from 2003 until 2018. He won a Gemini Award for his work on the series in 2006. Early ...
, and
Erin Cummings Erin Lynn Cummings is an American actress and online film pundit. She has appeared in the television series, ''Charmed'', ''Dante's Cove'', ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', ''Cold Case'', ''Dollhouse'', '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', and ''Detr ...
among others. When ABC ordered the series it was renamed ''
Detroit 1-8-7 ''Detroit 1-8-7'' is an American police procedural drama series about the Detroit Police Department's leading homicide unit, created by Jason Richman for ABC. It featured an ensemble cast of actors including Michael Imperioli and James McDaniel. ...
''. His character was killed in " Stone Cold", the sixteenth episode of the series. Cotrona played
Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
, one of the leading roles, in the sequel '' G.I. Joe: Retaliation'' (2013). In March 2014, the horror television series ''
From Dusk till Dawn ''From Dusk till Dawn'' is a 1996 American action horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino from a concept and story by Robert Kurtzman. Starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, and ...
'' developed by
Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
based on his own cult horror film of the same title, was aired on the newly launched
El Rey Network El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures. Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...
. Cotrona played Seth Gecko in the series, being part of the main cast until the series ended in 2016. He has since appeared in the promotional 30-minute short film for ''
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands ''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands'' is a third-person tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris in collaboration with Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Belgra ...
'', which aired in February 2017.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotrona, D. J. 1980 births Living people Northeastern University alumni People from Wallingford, Connecticut Male actors from New Haven, Connecticut 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors