Frank Anthony Grillo (born June 8, 1965 in New York City, New York) is an American actor who was previously specialized in tough-guy roles due to his New York accent and physicality, but has become a rising star and leading man in recent years.
He is best known for his roles as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Leo Barnes in two of the sequels to The Purge (Anarchy and Election Year), and the lead role of Alvey Kulina in Kingdom.
Film Roles
- 1992 - The Mambo Kings as Machito
- 2002 - Minority Report as Pre-Crime Cop
- 2003 - The Sweetest Thing as Andy
- 2010 - Edge of Darkness as Agent One
- 2010 - My Soul to Take as Paterson
- 2011 - Warrior as Frank Campana
- 2012 - The Grey as John Diaz
- 2012 - End of Watch as Sarge
- 2012 - Zero Dark Thirty as Red Squadron Commanding Officer
- Marvel Cinematic Universe as Brock Rumlow / Crossbones:
- 2014 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- 2016 - Captain America: Civil War
- 2019 - Avengers: Endgame
- 2021 - What If...?
- 2014 - The Purge: Anarchy as Leo
- 2016 - The Purge: Election Year as Leo
- 2017 - Wheelman
- 2021 - Boss Level
- 2021 - Cosmic Sin as Gen. Eron Ryle
- 2021 - Copshop as Theodore "Teddy" Murretto
- 2023 - Justice League: Warworld as Agent Faraday
Television Roles
- 1996–1999 - Guiding Light as Hart Jessup
- 2002-2003 - The Shield as Officer Paul Jackson
- 2005-2006 - Prison Break as Nick Savrinn
- 2005 - Blind Justice as Marty Russo
- 2007 - The Kill Point as Mr. Pig
- 2010 - The Gates as Nick Monohan
- 2014–2017 - Kingdom as Alvey Kulina
- 2020 - Billions as Nico Tanner
- 2024–present - Creature Commandos as Rick Flag Sr.
Tropes Associated with Frank Grillo
- Celebrity Resemblance: Of the late Peter Falk, the late Dick Miller and the late Fred Ward rolled into one, due to Falk, Miller, Ward and Grillo have similar craggy facial appearances, Grillo's voice having New York-accented gravelly voice as Falk's and Miller's, but with the gruffness of Miller's and Ward's, while also having the intense eyes, a sly grin and grizzled physicality of Ward.
- Grillo's character Paterson from My Soul to Take, complete with brown trench coat and somewhat raspy and gruff voice, loosely resembles Falk's famed television character Columbo (which is a property of Universal, whose subsidiary Rogue Pictures distributed this film).
- Grillo's character as John Diaz in The Grey is a cross of a character played by Falk due to his voice pattern, syntax and vocal delivery and Ward's character Lonnie Reece from another survival thriller Southern Comfort due to them being the Hot-Blooded members of a Dwindling Party.
- Due to his tough guy acting and physicality, Grillo had recently gain recognition in action film roles such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge: Election Year, similar to Ward in the 1980s in his roles as such as Uncommon Valor and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins for the same reasons as Grillo's.
- In particular, Grillo's role as Leo Barnes in The Purge has led to comparisons with the Punisher, and some fans had called for him to be cast as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However since Grillo already played Crossbones in the MCU, he was not in the running to play Frank Castle, which was eventually played by Jon Bernthal, who he share some physical resemblance.
- In addition to the bullet just above, Grillo's action roles and his role in Gangster Squad can also draw comparisons to Falk's Oscar nominated performance as mob hitman 'Kid Twist' Reles in Murder, Inc.
- Grillo had played a character associated with the sport of Mixed Martial Arts in Warrior and the television series Kingdom and in real life engages in the similar sport of boxing, which is funny as Ward himself had also participated in boxing, getting his nose broken four times, while Miller earned a prize title as a middleweight boxer.
