Michael Mercurio (born January 8, 1982) is an American actor who has appeared in film, theatre, and television, often portraying idiosyncratic characters.
Mercurio was born in Columbus, Ohio. His family moved to
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
when he was 5 years old. When he was a teenager, they relocated to
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Ridgewood High School. During that period, his primary interest was art, but that changed in his early 20s, when he moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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to study acting. He completed an acting conservatory and was offered a scholarship with the Chicago Actor's Studio.
While living in Chicago, Mercurio made his off-Broadway theatre debut with StageLeft Theatre in Jorge Aviles' ''Nicas'', playing the lead role as a gay man who returns to Nicaragua to confront his past. Mercurio received excellent reviews, and shortly thereafter was offered his first film role in the low-budget ''Angel in Chains'' (2004), in which he portrayed an outlaw biker.
In 2004, he moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, where he accepted roles in a string of independent and short films, to broaden his acting range in an effort to avoid being typecast. He played a compulsive gambler, in the independent movie ''Fixing Rhonda'' (2008). Other movie projects followed, including ''God Complex'' (2009), in which he played a computer programmer who questions his ethical obligations, and other films such as ''Psycho Killer Reflections on God'', ''Adoration'', ''Jarhead'' and ''Brainstorm''.
In 2010, Mercurio played a disenchanted former soldier who has been recruited to build a bomb for a domestic terrorist, in the independent suspense-thriller ''
Elevator
An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...
'', written and produced by Marc Rosenberg (''Dingo,'' ''
December Boys
''December Boys'' is a 2007 Australian drama film directed by Rod Hardy and written by Marc Rosenberg and adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by Michael Noonan. It was released on 14 September 2007 in the United Kingdom and the United ...
'') and directed by Stig Svendsen ('' The Radio Pirates''). ''Elevator'' was released in January 2012.
In addition to his screen work, Mercurio is a former member of
The Actors' Gang
The Actors' Gang is an experimental theatre and nonprofit group based at the Ivy Substation in Culver City, California. It was founded in 1981 by a group of actors, including Tim Robbins, now a member of the board and Artistic Director of the tr ...
theatre in Los Angeles, which was founded by acclaimed actor
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...
. He is also an artist known for his unusual blend of sculpture and canvas, utilizing surrealistic dark themes.
Mercurio’s biological father Rick Frank (1942 - 1998) was best known as co-founder and drummer of the band
Elephant's Memory
Elephant's Memory (also billed as Elephants Memory, without the apostrophe) was an American rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live performance ...
, which performed with various artists, including
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
under the name Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band. Mercurio’s mother, Kathy Wollard, is the author of the popular ''How Come?'' syndicated newspaper column and Web site. His stepfather, Evan Morris, was an author and syndicated newspaper columnist, best known for the column ''The Word Detective''.Evan Morris Obituary , The Word Detective /ref>
Filmography
References
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101015212558/http://movies.broadwayworld.com/article/Shirley_Knight_Begins_Production_for_ELEVATOR_20100930 Shirley Knight Begins Production for Elevator - TalkMoviesWorld.com]
Michael Mercurio mini-bio on FlickPeek