| Andre Royo | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 18, 1968 Bronx, New York |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1998–present |
Andre Royo (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Bubbles" in The Wire, and has had guest starring appearances in Fringe, Party Down, and How To Make It In America.
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He had a small role in John Singleton's 2000 remake of the film Shaft.[1] He had a brief appearance in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a soldier in a unit that was sent back in time. He has also had roles in Heroes and Kenan and Kel.
He is mostly known for his starring role on the HBO program The Wire as drug addict and confidential informant "Bubbles" (a regular character since the show's first season). Royo's portrayal of this character was so convincing that during on-location filming he was once approached by a real life addict and given heroin, with the compassionate addict declaring that the in-character Royo did "need a fix more than" him. Royo has called this his "street Oscar."[2]
Royo also appeared in the 2002 movie G, which was based on The Great Gatsby.[3]
He was introduced as the character Stephen Canfield during the third season of the television series Heroes. He also played the role of a drug addicted homeless serial killer in the Criminal Minds Season 4 episode "Catching Out".
Royo was also featured at a Harvard University panel discussion in October 2009 along with fellow actors from The Wire, Sonja Sohn and Michael K. Williams. The panel discussed the value of The Wire as a media source at-risk youth can relate to and learn positive life lessons from.
In 2010, Royo guest starred on the Starz original series Party Down. Later that year he was a guest star in the third season premiere as well as the seventh episode and eighteenth episode of the Fox television series Fringe, playing a cab driver in the parallel universe.[4]
Royo was born in the Bronx, New York of African American and Cuban heritage. Allegedly, Royo has often been told by casting directors that he is "not black enough" or "not Latino enough" for certain parts.[1]
Royo attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx from 1982 - 1986 at the same time as Sean Combs.
Royo is married and has a daughter, Stella.