Childhood & Early Life
Rhys Coiro was born John Rhys Coiro, on March 12, 1979, in Santo Stefano, Aspromonte, Calabria, Italy, to David Coiro and Ann Baynes Coiro.
Coiro was raised in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. He graduated from 'Princeton High School.’
In his teenage years, he worked with a local artist. Through him, he met June Ballinger, the artistic director of 'The Passage Theater.'
Under Ballinger's tutelage, he became part of the 'State Street Theater Project' in Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. The project was similar to the ‘52nd Street Project' of ‘Primary Stages.’
During the summers, he was part of the team installing sets and handling lights at the 'The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.'
After watching Julie Taymor's 'Titus Andronicus' at the ‘Theatre for a New Audience' and several other productions, Coiro started studying theater at 'Carnegie Mellon University’ (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. He later graduated with a BFA degree. He then joined 'The Moscow Art Theater' in Moscow, Russia, to continue studying theater.
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Career
His first performance was as an understudy to three roles in the American premiere of 'This Lime Tree Bower,' an ‘Off-Broadway’ play of Conor McPherson.
After a month of graduating from ‘CMU,’ Coiro bagged the role of 'Eddie the Bellhop' in 'Dinner at Eight,' a revival of George S. Kauffman’s production at the ' Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ (Lincoln Center) in Lincoln Square, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
He made his screen debut in 2003, with a minor role as an “Italian activist” in 'Making Revolution.' He also made his TV debut that year. He essayed the role of 'Zorbo Vishanisavik' on the show ‘One on One.’
In 2004, he bagged the role of 'Billy Walsh,' a recurring character in the American comedy–drama series 'Entourage,' which had an eight-season run.
In 2005, he portrayed the guest characters 'Razor,' 'Diablo,' and 'Wolf’ in 'CSI: NY,' 'CSI: Miami,' and 'Six Feet Under,' respectively.
In 2006, he appeared as 'Vincent Bianchi' in two episodes of the comedy–drama 'Ugly Betty,' titled 'Queens for a Day' and 'Fey's Sleigh Ride.'
In 2007, he was seen in two movies: as 'Ace' in 'Look' and as 'Trip' in 'Mama's Boy.' His TV projects that year included 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,' 'Tell Me You Love Me,' 'Raines,' 'Criminal Minds,' and 'Numb3rs' (all guest roles).
The year 2008 was mostly a quiet year for him, except a couple of inconsequential projects and 'Entourage.' The next year, he joined the cast of '24' as ‘FBI’ analyst 'Sean Hillinger,' a regular character, in its seventh season. He was seen in a few movies, too. He appeared as ‘Mr. Shields' in 'The Unborn,' as 'Daniel' in 'Kidnapping Caitlynn,' and as 'Dino' in 'Man Without a Head.' That year, he also returned to the stage and essayed a character in Howard Korder's production 'Boy's Life' at the 'Second Stage Theater,' Manhattan, New York City.
In 2010, he was cast in the guest roles 'Vince Cutler' in 'Burn Notice,' 'Victor' in 'Dark Blue,' and 'Bradford Matinsky' in 'Hawaii Five-0.' Some of his notable movies that year were 'Snow & Ashes' (as 'Blaise’), '30 Days of Night: Dark Days' (as 'Paul’), and 'MacGruber' (as 'Yerik Novikov’). In the ‘History Channel's 2015 miniseries Texas Rising,' he played one of the original 'Texas Rangers.'
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The year 2011 saw him appear in the eighth season of 'Entourage,' which was also its last season. The same year, he also acted in two movies: as 'Norman' in 'Straw Dogs' and as 'Marcus' in 'A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.' He was also seen in the series 'A Gifted Man' (as 'Dr. Zeke Barnes,' a recurring character).
In 2012, he appeared in the movie 'Life Happens' (as 'Marc') and the series 'Person of Interest' (as 'Jordan Hester’).
In 2013, he became part of the main cast of 'Hostages' (as 'Kramer Delaney'). That year, he also guest-starred as 'Bill Norquist' in 'Longmire' and as 'Andrew Briggs' in 'Dexter.' His only movie appearance in 2013 was as 'Ron’ in 'As Cool As I Am.'
The next year, he played the role 'Tommy' in the Norwegian–American 'Netflix' series 'Lilyhammer.' In 2014, he was seen in the movies '4 Minute Mile' and 'This Last Lonely Place.'
He reprised his role in the 2015 movie 'Entourage,' which was based on the series of the same name. That year, he also played 'Ari Adamian,' a recurring character in 'Graceland.'
In 2017, he appeared in two TV series: 'The Mick' (as 'Ip DeLuca,' a guest character) and 'Ray Donovan' (as 'Rob Heard,' a recurring character). That year, he was also seen in the movie 'Valley of Bones' (as 'Nate’).
He played three recurring characters in three different series in 2018, namely 'Charlie' in 'Sideswiped,' 'Jed' in 'The Walking Dead,' and 'Jim Black' in 'Unsolved.'
In 2019, he appeared in two movies: as 'Ray Darrow' in 'Finding Steve McQueen' and as 'Spencer' in 'Hustlers.' He also appeared as 'Billy' in an episode of the series 'I Think You Should Leave,’ titled 'The Bones Are Their Money.'
He is set to play ‘Adam’ in the upcoming TV series ‘Paradise City,' which is under production and is expected to be aired in 2020.
Trivia
Other than English, Coiro speaks Spanish and Italian fluently.
In 2016, he traveled to Standing Rock, North Dakota, U.S., to participate in the peaceful protest against the 'North Dakota Access Pipeline.’
After Coiro moved to Los Angeles, California, he began working with a construction company. He received the offer to essay the role of 'Billy Walsh' in 'Entourage' while digging a hole for a deck in Echo Park.
He founded an underground band that played traditional Irish music, along with Matt Johnson and Greg Santos.
