Daniel Sunjata Biography

Daniel Sunjata (born Daniel Sunjata Condon; December 30, 1971) is an American actor who performs in film, television and theater. He is best known for his role as Franco Rivera in the FX television series Rescue Me. Sunjata's latest role is as Paul Briggs in USA Network's 2013 series Graceland.

Early life

Sunjata was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is the adopted son of a police dispatcher and a civil rights worker. His ethnicity is half black and half white [Irish, German, and African - American].

Sunjata graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, where he played linebacker for two state championship football teams. He completed his undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He then received a master's degree in fine arts from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Sunjata played the role of a sailor on shore leave on the first post-9/11 themed episode of Sex and The City. He has portrayed Langston Hughes in the film Brother to Brother and James Holt, a fashion designer in The Devil Wears Prada. He starred as firefighter Franco Rivera on the television program Rescue Me. During the summer of 2007, he also starred in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning as Reggie Jackson. He appeared as a Special Forces Operative in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

In 2003, he won a Theatre World Award for his breakout Broadway performance as a gay Major League Baseball player who comes out to the public in Take Me Out, the Tony award-winning play, which also earned him nominations for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award.

9/11 conspiracy theories

On April 30, 2009, Sunjata announced his participation as narrator in Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup, which was the last in a series of documentaries, collectively known as Loose Change, that argue that the September 11 attacks were planned by the United States government. Sunjata has stated that he believes "absolutely, 100 percent" in this theory.

Producers of the show Rescue Me, inspired by Sunjata's views, created a subplot of the show that year (the show's fifth season) in which Sunjata's character, Franco Rivera, stirs up controversy in the firehouse when he announces these same views to a journalist.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Twelfth Night, or What You Will	Valentine	TV movie
2001	The Feast of All Saints	Christophe Mercier
2002	Bad Company	Officer Carew
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Billy Wheeler
	Noel	Marco
	Brother to Brother	Langston Hughes
2006	The Devil Wears Prada	James Holt
2009	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	Brad
	Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup	Narrator
2010	Patricia Cornwell's At Risk and The Front	Detective Win Garano	TV movie
	Weakness	Alejandro
2012	One for the Money	Ranger
	Gone	Powers
	The Dark Knight Rises	Captain Jones
2013	Lullaby		Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	D.C.	Lewis Freeman	7 episodes
2000"2004	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	CSU Technician Burt Trevor / Bomb Squad Officer	16 episodes
2001	All My Children	Zachary Pell	Unknown episodes
2002	Sex and the City	Louis Leroy, USN	Episode: "Anchors Away"
2003	Ed	Danny Martin	Episode: "The Case"
2004"2011	Rescue Me	Franco Rivera	Main Cast; 93 episodes
2005	Law & Order	Kenny Tremont	Episode: "Mammon"
2006	Love Monkey	Diego	4 episodes
2007	The Bronx is Burning	Reggie Jackson	8 episodes; Nominated " Image Award Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
2008	Great Performances	Christian de Neuvillette	Episode: Cyrano de Bergerac
2009	Lie to Me	Andrew Jenkins	Episode: "Blinded"
2010	30 Rock	Chris	Episode: "College"
2010"2011	Grey's Anatomy	Nurse Eli	8 episodes
2012"2013	Smash	Peter Gillman	4 episodes
2013-present	Graceland	Paul Briggs	Main Cast

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Take Me Out	Darren Lemming	Theatre World Award Nominated " Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Nominated " Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play

Video Games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	TOCA Race Driver	Nick Landers/James Randall	Voice