Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sunjata
Daniel Sunjata Condon (born December 30, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Franco Rivera in the FX television series Rescue Me.[1] Sunjata has received acclaim for his more recent role as Adam Karadec in the ABC television series High Potential.
Early life and education[edit]
Sunjata was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. He is the adopted son of Bill and Catherine Condon, a police dispatcher and a civil rights worker.[citation needed] His adoptive parents are of Irish and Italian-German descent. He is named in honor of the Mandinka king Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire; the name means "hungry lion."[2] He was told his biological mother was a white teenager who had run away from home[3] and his father was African-American. He graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, where he played linebacker for two state championship football teams. After attending Florida A&M University, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a Master of Fine Arts from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[4][5][6]
Sunjata played the role of a sailor on shore leave on the first post-9/11 themed episode of Sex and the City.[7] He portrayed poet Langston Hughes in the film Brother to Brother (2004) and James Holt, a fashion designer, in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).[citation needed]
He starred as firefighter Franco Rivera on the television program Rescue Me. During the summer of 2007, he also starred in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning as Reggie Jackson. He appeared as a Special Forces Operative in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (2012).[citation needed]
In 2003, he won a Theatre World Award for his breakout Broadway performance as a gay Major League Baseball player who comes out to the public in Take Me Out, the Tony award-winning play, which also earned him nominations for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award.[citation needed]
From 2010–2011, Sunjata played "Nurse Eli" on the TV series Grey's Anatomy and had a relationship with Dr. Miranda Bailey.[8][citation needed]
Beginning in 2013, he played FBI agent Paul Briggs on Graceland, which aired on USA Network. The show was canceled in 2015 after 3 seasons.[citation needed]
He also starred as Dante "Mecca" Spears, the past lover of Monet, in Power Book II: Ghost on Starz for season 2.
Since 2024, Sunjata has starred as Detective Adam Karadec in the ABC/Hulu series High Potential.[9]
On April 30, 2009, Sunjata announced that he would narrate Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup, the last in the Loose Change documentary film series that advocates several conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks.{broken link}[10][11] Producers of Rescue Me created a subplot of the show for that year's fifth season in which Sunjata's character, Franco Rivera, creates controversy in the firehouse when he tells a journalist that he, like Sunjata in real life, believes 9/11 was an inside job.[12]
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1998
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Valentine
TV movie
2001
The Feast of All Saints
Christophe Mercier
TV movie
2002
Bad Company
CIA Agent Carew
2004
Brother to Brother
Langston Hughes
Noel
Marco
Melinda and Melinda
Billy Wheeler
2006
The Devil Wears Prada
James Holt
2009
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Brad
Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup
The Narrator
2010
At Risk
Detective Win Garano
TV movie
The Front
Detective Win Garano
TV movie
Weakness
Alejandro
2012
One for the Money
Ranger
Gone
Powers
Generation Um...
Charles
The Dark Knight Rises
Captain Jones
2014
Lullaby
Officer Ramirez
2017
Small Town Crime
Detective Whitman
2021
Christmas...Again?!
Mike Clybourne
TV movie
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2000
D.C.
Lewis Freeman
Main Cast
Bomb Squad Officer
Episode: "Remorse"
2001
All My Children
Zachary Pell
Regular Cast
2002
Sex and the City
Louis Leroy, USN
Episode: "Anchors Away"
2002–04
CSU Technician Burt Trevor
Recurring Cast: Seasons 3-5
2003
Ed
Danny Martin
Episode: "The Case"
2004–11
Rescue Me
Franco Rivera
Main Cast
2005
Law & Order
Kenny Tremont
Episode: "Mammon"
2006
Love Monkey
Diego
Recurring Cast
2007
The Bronx is Burning
Reggie Jackson
Main Cast
2008
Great Performances
Christian de Neuvillette
Episode: "Cyrano de Bergerac"
2009
Lie to Me
Andrew Jenkins
Episode: "Blinded"
2010
30 Rock
Chris
Episode: "College"
2010–11
Grey's Anatomy
Nurse Eli
Recurring Cast: Seasons 7-8
2012–13
Smash
Peter Gillman
Recurring Cast: Season 2
2013–15
Graceland
FBI Senior Agent Paul Briggs
Main Cast
2016
Notorious
Jake Gregorian
Main Cast
2017
Animal Kingdom
Smurf's Criminal Lawyer
Episode: "Betrayal"
2018–20
Manifest
Danny
Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2
2019
Happy!
Simon
Recurring Cast: Season 2
2020
Prodigal Son
Quinton Vosler
Episode: "Internal Affairs"
SWAT Commander Nick Alvarez
Main Cast
The Twilight Zone
Detective Peter Reece
Episode: "The Who of You"
The Stand
Cobb
Episode: "The End"
2021–24
Power Book II: Ghost
Dante "Mecca" Spears
Main Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 4
2022
Echoes
Charles "Charlie" Davenport
Main Cast
2023
The Company You Keep
Robert Renway
Episode: "All In"
2024–present
High Potential
Det. Adam Karadec[13]
Main Cast
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2002
TOCA Race Driver
Nick Landers/James Randall
Voice
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1998
Twelfth Night
Valentine
2003
Take Me Out
Darren Lemming
Theatre World AwardNominated – Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayNominated – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play
2007
Cyrano de Bergerac
Christian De Neuvillette
2013
Macbeth
Macduff
2014
The Country House
Michael Astor
2018
Saint Joan
Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Awards and nominations[edit]
Year
Awards
Category
Recipient
Outcome
2005
Satellite Award
Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series
"Rescue Me"
Won
2008
NAACP Image Awards
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
"The Bronx Is Burning"
Nominated
2025
5th Astra TV Awards#Supporting
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
"High Potential"
Nominated
^ "Thanks to his darker side, Sunjata shines in 'Rescue Me' | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. June 21, 2005. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
^ "Daniel Sunjata". www.skiddnet.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
^ Finn, Robin (May 28, 2003). "PUBLIC LIVES; Such a Realistic Portrayal, the Guys Ask Him Out". The New York Times. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
^ "NYU Graduate Acting Alumni". Gradacting.tisch.nyu.edu. 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
^ "Daniel Sunjata: 'My Ambiguous Ethnicity has Helped Me' | EURweb". EURweb. February 14, 2013. Archived from the original on February 19, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
^ "Daniel Sunjata biography and filmography | Daniel Sunjata movies". Tribute.ca. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
^ "31 Famous Actors Who've Guest-Starred on 'Sex and the City'". www.backstage.com. October 6, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
^ "Daniel Sunjata to Join Cast of ABC's Grey's Anatomy | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. November 15, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
^ Cordero, Rosy; Andreeva, Nellie (May 16, 2023). "ABC Picks Up Kaitlin Olson-Led High Potential Series From Drew Goddard". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
^ "The Truth About Daniel Sunjata's Truther-ism". The Chicagoist. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
^ Gil, Billy. "Microcinema Gets Rights to 'Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'" (Archived 2009-08-29 at the Wayback Machine), Home Media Magazine, May 4, 2009.
^ "The Sinister Theory of 9/11 on 'Rescue Me' - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
^ Cordero, Rosy; Andreeva, Nellie (May 16, 2023). "ABC Picks Up Kaitlin Olson-Led 'High Potential' Series From Drew Goddard". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
Archived URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sunjata
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