Biography
Chris Messina began his career on the off-Broadway stage before becoming a familiar character actor on film and in television, bringing a relatable, everyman quality to his roles despite also being devastatingly handsome, a harder trick to pull off than one might think. Born on August 11, 1974 in Westport, NY. He first became interested in acting as a teenager, and eventually attended Marymount Manhattan College, but dropped out after just one semester. After studying privately with a number of acting coaches in New York City, Messina began appearing in off-Broadway shows, before following in the footsteps of many Manhattan thespians before him and appearing on an episode of "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010). In 1998 Messina broke into film, appearing in the poker drama "Rounders" (1998), the military thriller "The Siege" (1998) and the romantic comedy "You've Got Mail" (1998). Following a few more years of cameo appearances, he landed his first series regular gig, playing Ted Fairwell on the final season of "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-2005). Messina continued to work regularly in independent film as well, co-starring in the romantic comedy "Ira & Abby" (2006), the domestic drama "Towelhead" (2007) which was written and directed by "Six Feet Under" creator Alan Ball, Woody Allen's erotic dramedy "Vicky Christina Barcelona" (2008), and Noah Baumbach's midlife crisis drama "Greenberg" (2010), alongside more mainstream fare like the romantic comedy "Made of Honor" (2008), the box office hit "Julie & Julia" (2009), and the horror chiller "Devil" (2010). In the 2010s, Messina became a much more familiar face on television, thanks to starring roles on series like "Damages" (FX/Audience Network, 2007-2012), "The Newsroom" (HBO, 2012-14), "The Mindy Project" (FOX/Hulu, 2012-17) and "Sharp Objects" (HBO, 2018). He also became a favorite of director Ben Affleck, appearing in his films "Argo" (2012), and "Live By Night" (2016). Messina could next be seen in the DC superhero movie "Birds of Prey" (2020) and on the third season of "The Sinner" (USA Network, 2017-).
