Chris Messina

Chris Messina Biography

Chris Messina (born August 11, 1974) is an American film, television and stage actor. He has appeared in such films as Ira and Abby, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Argo, Julie & Julia, Away We Go, Monogamy, Greenberg, Like Crazy, The Giant Mechanical Man, Ruby Sparks, Celeste and Jesse Forever, and You've Got Mail. In television, he is known for his role as Chris Sanchez on the legal drama Damages and his co-leading role as Danny Castellano in the comedy The Mindy Project.

Life and career

Messina was born in Northport, New York. He started his career as an off-Broadway actor. He has appeared in episodes of the television series Law & Order, Third Watch, and Medium. He had a recurring role in the fifth and final season of the HBO drama Six Feet Under, playing Claire's (Lauren Ambrose) love interest Ted Fairwell. His film credits include Rounders, The Siege, You've Got Mail and Towelhead.

Messina starred as Ira in Ira and Abby, a 2007 film directed by Robert Cary and written by and co-starring Jennifer Westfeldt. In 2008 Messina starred in Woody Allen's film Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Messina starred in an HBO pilot Anatomy of Hope, directed by J. J. Abrams. Simon Callow also starred, but the pilot was not picked up to series. In October 2007, Daily Variety named him as one of 10 actors to watch. His 2009 film appearances include Julie & Julia and the Sam Mendes-directed film Away We Go. Messina also appeared in 2010 in Greenberg, directed by Noah Baumbach. He also starred in Devil, under the direction of John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, for producer M. Night Shyamalan and Universal Pictures. In April 2010, Monogamy, starring Messina and Rashida Jones, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film, directed by Dana Adam Shapiro, won the jury prize for best New York narrative.

Messina joined the cast of Damages for its fourth and fifth seasons. He is also recurring on HBO's Aaron Sorkin series The Newsroom. Messina is a series regular on the Fox comedy The Mindy Project, playing Dr. Danny Castellano.

Personal life

Messina has two children with producer Jennifer Todd: Milo Messina, born May 31, 2008, and Giovanni Messina, born October 15, 2009.

Works

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Rounders	Higgins
	The Siege	Corporal
	You've Got Mail	Fox salesperson
2000	Turn It Up	Baz
2001	Ordinary Sinner	Silvio
2005	Road	Larry
	The Crooked Corner	Nephew
	Bittersweet Place	Seymour
2006	Ira and Abby	Ira Black	Best Actor (Chris Messina), Vallarta Film Festival (2006).
2007	Security	Zelly	Short film
2007	Towelhead	Barry	Supporting role. Film also known as Nothing is Private.
2008	Humboldt County	Max
	Made of Honor	Dennis
	Vicky Cristina Barcelona	Doug
2009	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men	Subject #19
	Julie & Julia	Eric Powell
	Away We Go	Tom Garnett
2010	An Invisible Sign	Ben Smith
	Monogamy	Theo
	Devil	Detective Bowden	Lead role
	Greenberg	Philip Greenberg
2011	Like Crazy	Mike Appletree
2011	The Trouble with Bliss	NJ	Supporting role
2012	The Giant Mechanical Man	Tim
	Denise	Brad	Short Film
	Ruby Sparks	Harry	Supporting role
	Celeste and Jesse Forever	Paul
	28 Hotel Rooms		Also executive producer.
	Argo	Malinov	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (2012). Nominated " Critics Choice Awards for Best Acting Ensemble (2013) Nominated " Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble (2012). Nominated " San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Performance (2012). Nominated " Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble (2012)
	Fairhaven	Dave	Also writer and executive producer.
2013	Showing Up	Himself	Documentary composed of interviews with actors discussing the audition process.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Law & Order	Tommy Bell	1 episode "Rebels". Apparent first screen role. His character, a college student, is murdered at a biker bar within the first few minutes. The remainder of the show focuses on finding his killer.
1996	Law & Order	Kevin Turner	1 episode "Homesick"
2000	Third Watch	Charlie	1 episode "History"
2001	Big Apple	Ricky	1 Episode "A Ministering Angel"
2003	Law & Order	Don Cushman	1 episode "Suicide Box"
2005	Six Feet Under	Ted Fairwell	6 episodes
2007	Medium	Casey Edward Frank	1 episode "The Whole Truth"
2009	Anatomy of Hope	Dr. Gary Kaplan	Lead role in a TV Pilot. Was not picked up to series.
2011–2012	Damages	Chris Sanchez	16 episodes, Season 4 regular; season 5 guest
2012–present	The Newsroom	Reese Lansing	Recurring character
2012–present	The Mindy Project	Dr. Danny Castellano	Series regular

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Run	Theater and Production	Notes
1997	The American Clock	Sidney Margolies/ Charley/ Ralph/ Walter	October 19, 1997- unknown	Signature Theatre Company at The Peter Norton Space
1999	The Group	Director	August 9, 1999- August 20, 1999	All Seasons Theatre Group at The Ensemble Studio Theatre
1999	Refuge	Nat	November 18, 1999- December 12, 1999	Playwright's Horizon Studio Theater
2000	The Hologram Theory	Joe Buck	March 27, 2000- April 9, 2000	McGinn/Cazale Theater
2000	The Light Outside	Frankie	November 5, 2000- Dec, 16, 2000	The Flea Theater
2001	Tamicanfly	C.J.	January 17, 2001- February 4, 2001	McGinn/Cazale Theater
	Blur	Joey D'Amico	May 17, 2001- June 24, 2001	Manhattan Theater Club at New York City Center Stage II
	Good Thing	Bobby	December 16, 2001- January 6, 2002	The New Group at The Theater at St. Clements Church
2002	This Thing of Darkness	Abbey/ Reef	May 30, 2002- June 16, 2002	Atlantic Theater Company at Linda Gross Theater
	Faster	Skram	September 8, 2002- October 13, 2002	Rattlestick Theater
	Far Away	Todd	November 11, 2002- January 18, 2003	New York Theater Workshop
2003	Salome by Oscar Wilde: The Reading	The Young Syrian (Captain of the Guard)	April 30, 2003- June 12, 2003	Ethel Barrymore Theater	Broadway debut for Messina
2003	St. Scarlet	Director	June 13, 2003- July, 12, 2003	Ontological Theater at St. Mark's Church
2004	Motel Blues: Management	Mike	March 25, 2004- April 11, 2004	Apartment 929 at Greenwich Street Theatre
	The Cherry Orchard	Trofimov	August 11, 2004- August 22, 2004	Williamstown Theatre Festival at Adams Memorial Theater
	Late Night, Early Morning		October 21, 2004- October 31, 2004	2004 Tribeca Theatre Festival

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chris_Messina" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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