Description
JOE PERRINO BIOGRAPHY
Joe Perrino (born April 30, 1982) is an American actor.
Life and career
Joe Perrino is an American film, television and stage actor, best known for his roles in the feature film Sleepers and the television series The Sopranos. Perrino was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He got his start in acting when a casting director approached him and asked Perrino to try out for the film Sleepers. Despite his lack of prior acting experience, Perrino agreed, and after months of auditioning, he won the sought after role of Lorenzo Shakes Carcaterra, one of the lead roles in the film. Perrino held his own acting alongside veteran actors Robert De Niro and Kevin Bacon and earned rave reviews, including Entertainment Weekly noting his superb performance. Perrino was also nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film, and named a Breakthrough Star by People Magazine. Perrino went on to work with Anna Paquin, playing her love interest Ross Epstein in Tony Goldwyn’s A Walk on the Moon. He then played a gang leader Blade in The Mighty, starring Sharon Stone, and moved onto the indie film The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, playing Mazzo, a terminally ill cancer patient dealing with his last days on earth. The film also starred Elijah Wood, Rachel Leigh Cook and Janeane Garofalo. After a hiatus from acting, Perrino returned to appear in the last season of The Sopranos, playing Jason Gervasi, a young mobster. Next in Assassination of a High School President, Perrino played high school delinquent Dutch Middleton, starring Bruce Willis as the principal. Perrino had begun studying with veteran acting teacher Alice Spivak and is one of the founding members of On The Road Repertory Theatre Company. He starred in an OTR production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, directed by Ms. Spivak. As of 2015, Perrino is shooting a new series Four Kings as one of the leads, together with Rob Iler. He is also in rehearsal for an upcoming OTR production of Lyle Kessler’s Orphans. In 2017, Perrino began work on the STARZ network’s hit crime series POWER in its 5th season as Vincent Ragni, a boss in the Italian syndicate. What was initially scheduled as a 5 episode arc turned into a 2 season run. According to POWER creator Courtney A. Kemp, Perrino made such a favorable impression that the storyline was retooled to keep Perrino’s character alive.
