Daniel Sunjata as Franco Rivera | Rescue Me on FX
Daniel Sunjata
Franco Rivera
Daniel Sujata portrays "Franco Rivera," who is determined to move up the firehouse ranks. Franco's no-nonsense attitude has the firehouse regimented like never before. A stubborn mistake on the job, however, puts his future as leader in jeopardy.
Career Highlights
Sunjata recently joined the cast of the hit series Grey’s Anatomy and also just wrapped production on the romantic comedy One for the Money co-starring Katherine Heigl (releasing January 2012).
In 2006, Sunjata portrayed fashion designer “James Holt” in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, starring Meryl Streep & Anne Hathaway. Sunjata also co- starred in the Woody Allen film Melinda and Melinda, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past alongside Jennifer Garner and Matthew McConaughey, Bad Company alongside Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock, and the Chazz Palminteri film Noel co-starring Penelope Cruz and Susan Sarandon. He also portrayed “Langston Hughes” in the 2004 Rodney Evans film Brother to Brother.
In 2009, Sunjata portrayed the famous “Reggie Jackson” in the ESPN TV series, The Bronx is Burning, which documented the New York Yankees attempt to win the 1977 World Series. Sunjata’s other television credits include notable appearances on Love Monkey, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Sex and the City, and he co-starred in the WB’s series D.C. and Showtime’s film The Feast of All Saints. Sunjata’s repertoire is not only limited to film and television though. He was nominated for a Tony award for his role as Darren Lemming in Take Me Out, the 2003 Tony® Award-winning play by Richard Greenberg. He has also appeared in Henry VIII at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Twelfth Night at the Guthrie Theater and Cyrano de Bergerac at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
In 2010, Sunjata was seen starring alongside Andie MacDowell in At Risk and The Front - two movies adapted from the novels of America’s #1 best- selling crime-writer Patricia Cornwell. Each movie followed Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano (Sunjata) and his ambitious supervisor, district attorney Monique Lamont (MacDowell), as they investigate cases. In 2003, People Magazine listed Sunjata as one of The 50 Most Beautiful People and in 2009 TV Guide listed him as one of the “Sexiest Stars on TV.”
Born in Evanston, IL, Sunjata was raised in Chicago and graduated from Mount Carmel High School. He did his undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University and the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and received his Masters degree in Fine Arts from New York University.