Elias Koteas

Early life

Koteas was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father who worked as a mechanic for the Canadian National Railways, and a milliner mother. His parents are both of Greek descent, from the Mani Peninsula, and he is a fluent Greek speaker. Koteas attended Vanier College in Montreal before leaving to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1981, of which he is a 1983 graduate. He was a member of the Academy's 1983–84 Production Company. He also attended the Actors Studio in New York City, where he studied acting under Ellen Burstyn and Peter Masterson. He went to Centennial Regional High School in Greenfield Park, Quebec and graduated from there.

Career

While at the AADA, Koteas played Father Rangier in the school's production of The Devils adapted by John Whiting from the Aldous Huxley novel. He was also Paris in The Golden Apple, a musical by John Latouche and Jerome Moross. Koteas played the supporting role of Specialist Pete Deveber in Gardens Of Stone (1987). He is best known for playing the lead role of Thomas Daggett in the American film The Prophecy, as well as the sports-crazed vigilante Casey Jones in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films.

Koteas went on to play the demonically-possessed serial killer Edgar Reese in the Denzel Washington thriller Fallen. He also appeared in John Hughes' Some Kind of Wonderful, Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster, Exotica, Ararat, Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line and David Cronenberg's Crash. Koteas also made an appearance in Season 4 of The Sopranos as Dominic Palladino, and in the Season 2 finale of House, in which Koteas plays a man who shoots Dr. Gregory House. The same year, he portrayed D.A. Mike Randolf in the courtroom drama Conviction. Koteas also appeared in The Greatest Game Ever Played, a Disney biography about a young golfer, as well as the thrillers Skinwalkers (2006), Zodiac (2007), and Shooter (2007). In May/September 2008, he played the role of Joe, a bank robber, in the season 4 finale and season 5 premiere of CSI: NY. He also appeared in The Killing on AMC.

In 2010, he played major roles in Let Me In, the Matt Reeves re-adaptation of Let the Right One In, and Defendor, a Canadian superhero film starring Woody Harrelson.

Koteas played Canadian Forces Colonel Xavier Marks on the short-lived series, Combat Hospital.

He also appears in Winnie Mandela, a 2011 film about Winnie Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela.

In August 2013, it was reported that Koteas had joined the NBC Chicago Fire spin-off Chicago P.D. as a series regular. Koteas plays Alvin Olinsky, a longtime undercover detective in the Intelligence Unit. The character was in uniform with Detective Voight (played by Jason Beghe) and together they share a secret over a fellow cop's death.