Michael Mercurio

Michael Mercurio (born January 8, 1972) is an American actor who has appeared in film, theatre, and television, often portraying psychologically disturbed characters.

Mercurio was born in Columbus, Ohio. His family moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was 5 years old. When he was a teenager, they relocated to Ridgewood, New Jersey, where Mercurio attended Ridgewood High School from 1986 until 1988. During that period, his primary interest was art, but that changed in his early 20s, when he moved to Chicago to study acting. He completed an acting conservatory and was offered a scholarship with the Chicago Actor's Studio.

While living in Chicago, Mercurio made his off-Broadway theatre debut with StageLeft Theatre in Jorge Aviles' Nicas, playing the lead role as a gay man who returns to Nicaragua to confront his past. Mercurio received excellent reviews, and shortly thereafter was offered his first film role in the low-budget Angel in Chains (2004), in which he portrayed an outlaw biker.

In 2004, he moved to Los Angeles, where he accepted roles in a string of independent and short films, to broaden his acting range in an effort to avoid being typecast. He played a compulsive gambler, in the independent movie Fixing Rhonda (2008). Other movie projects followed, including God Complex (2009), in which he played a computer programmer who questions his ethical obligations, and other films such as Psycho Killer Reflections on God, Adoration, Jarhead and Brainstorm.

In 2010, Mercurio played a disenchanted former soldier who has been recruited to build a bomb for a domestic terrorist, in the independent suspense-thriller Elevator, written and produced by Marc Rosenberg (Dingo, December Boys) and directed by Stig Svendsen (The Radio Pirates). Elevator is expected to be released in January 2012.

In addition to his screen work, Mercurio remains active in the theatre, most notably as a member of The Actors' Gang theatre in Los Angeles, which was founded by acclaimed actor Tim Robbins. He is also an artist known for his unusual blend of sculpture and canvas, utilizing surrealistic dark themes.

Mercurio’s biological father, Rick Frank, died in 1998. Frank was best known as co-founder and drummer of the band Elephant's Memory, which performed with various artists, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono under the name Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band. Mercurio’s mother, Kathy Wollard, is the author of the popular How Come? syndicated newspaper column and Web site. His stepfather, Evan Morris, is an author and syndicated newspaper columnist, best known for the column The Word Detective.