John Rhys Coiro (born March 12, 1979) is an American film, television, and
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* St ...
actor. He began acting on
Broadway but is best known for on-screen roles such as Billy Walsh on the television series ''
Entourage
An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collect ...
''.
Early life
Born in
Santo Stefano in Aspromonte Calabria, Italy, to David Coiro and Ann Baynes Coiro, Coiro grew up in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of wh ...
and attended
Princeton High School Princeton High School may refer to:
* Princeton High School (Illinois), Princeton, Illinois
* Princeton Community High School, Princeton, Indiana
* Princeton High School (Minnesota), Princeton, Minnesota
* Princeton Junior-Senior High School, Princ ...
. As a teenager, Coiro began working for a local artist who introduced him to the artistic director of The Passage Theater, June Ballinger. Ballinger got him involved with the State Street theater project in Trenton NJ, modeled after Primary stages' 52nd street project. From there, Coiro spent summers building sets and operating lights at
the New Jersey Shakespeare festival. Inspired by numerous productions, including
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King'' debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best ...
's "Titus Andronicus" at
TFANA, Coiro decided to study theater at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technolog ...
, where he eventually graduated with a BFA. He also spent time studying at
The Moscow Art Theater in Russia.
Career
At age 19, Coiro got his first professional gig as an understudy to three roles in the American premiere of
Conor McPherson
Conor McPherson (born 6 August 1971) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director of stage and film. In recognition of his contribution to world theatre, McPherson was awarded a doctorate of Literature, Honoris Causa, in June 2013 by the Un ...
's off-Broadway play ''
This Lime Tree Bower'' directed by
Harris Yulin
Harris Yulin (born November 5, 1937) is an American actor who has appeared in over a hundred film and television series roles, such as '' Scarface'' (1983), ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), '' Looking for Richard'' ...
at
Primary Stages
Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company. In 2004, Primary Stages moved from its 99-seat home of 17 years at 354 West 45th Street to the 199-seat theater at 59E59 Theaters. In 2014, the ...
. Within a month of graduating from CMU, Coiro landed the role of Eddie the Bellhop in the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
revival of
George S. Kaufman's ''
Dinner at Eight'', directed by
Gerald Guitierrez.
Coiro then moved to Los Angeles and began working in construction, including a stint building a house with
Nick Offerman
Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics ...
. In fact, Coiro received the call that he'd landed his first on-screen acting gig, as
Billy Walsh on ''
Entourage
An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collect ...
'', while digging a hole for a deck in
Echo Park
Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east- central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known ...
. The role of Walsh was originally meant to be a guest star but soon evolved into an iconic character that has defined Coiro's career.
Coiro shared a studio space in Historic Filipino town with then-unknown painter
Jonas Wood
Jonas may refer to:
Geography
* Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands
* Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States
* Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States
People with the name
* Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas
* Jonas, one of ...
. During this period, Coiro formed an underground, traditional Irish music band with artists
Matt Johnson and Greg Santos, that played around East LA. In 2007, following the birth of his first child, Coiro accepted the role of
Sean Hillinger on the 7th season of ''
24''. Coiro was cast in ''
The Last House On The Left'' but had to pull out when the writer's strike abruptly ended and production resumed on ''
24''. The role ended up being given to
Aaron Paul. In 2009 Coiro returned to the stage, starring in a production of
Howard Korder's "Boy's Life" at
Second Stage
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...
in New York opposite
Jason Biggs
Jason Matthew Biggs (born May 12, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Jim Levenstein in the '' American Pie'' comedy film series and Larry Bloom in the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black''. He al ...
. In 2010 Coiro starred in
Slamdance Winner ''
Snow and Ashes'' and in 2011 appeared alongside
Alexander Skarsard in
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...
' remake of ''
Straw Dogs''. In 2014, Coiro was antagonist to
Stevie Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...
's character on the final season of Netflix's first original series, the Norwegian mega-hit ''
Lillyhammer'' and he played one of the original Texas Rangers in The History Channel's Mini-series ''
Texas Rising'', alongside
Ray Liotta
Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primet ...
,
Bill Paxton
William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor and filmmaker. He appeared in films such as '' Weird Science'' (1985), '' Aliens'' (1986), ''Near Dark'' (1987), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''True Lies'' (1994), ''Apollo 13 ...
and
Brendan Fraser. During this show he honed his riding and roping skills. In 2015 Coiro played Armenian gangster Ari Adamian on the final season of USA's ''
Graceland
Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 El ...
''. In 2017 and 2018 Coiro appeared as a series regular in ''
Unsolved'' and in arcs on ''
Ray Donovan
''Ray Donovan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ann Biderman for Showtime. The twelve-episode first season premiered on June 30, 2013.
The pilot episode broke viewership records, becoming the biggest premiere of all ...
'', ''
The Walking Dead'', and ''
S.W.A.T.''
Personal life
Coiro is fluent in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
.
In 2016, Coiro traveled to
Standing Rock
The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...
,
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, South ...
to take part in the
peaceful protest against the North Dakota Access Pipeline.
Coiro is married to director
Kat Coiro
Kat Coiro is an American filmmaker known for directing ''Marry Me'', a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, and Malumaa box-office success for Universal Pictures in 2022. She directed and executive produced '' She-Hulk: Attor ...
, with whom he worked on ''
Life Happens'' and ''
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law''.
They live in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with their three children.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coiro, Rhys
1979 births
Male actors from New Jersey
American male film actors
Italian emigrants to the United States
American male stage actors
People of Calabrian descent
American male television actors
Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni
Living people
People from Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton High School (New Jersey) alumni