Dividing his time between big-budget studio films and edgy,
heartfelt independent features, DANNY NUCCI has emerged as one
of the most versatile and exciting actors working in motion
pictures.
Born in Austria, Nucci grew up in a small town outside of Venice,
Italy for his first seven years. His family moved to the United
States, settling in Queens, NY, where he learned to speak English.
Nucci's professional career began at 14, when he landed a job on
the famed soap "General Hospital." After accumulating a lengthy
resume of guest appearances on televisions shows, including the
kids show "Pryor's Place" and "Family Ties," Nucci won a role in
the 1995 teen science-fiction film "Explorers" with Ethan Hawke.
Nucci suffered a temporary emotional set back when he did not make
the cast of Rob Reiner's "Stand by Me" (1986) after being called
back several times. Devastated, he took a five year hiatus from
feature films in order to polish his skills on the small screen.
He appeared on "Hotel," "The Twilight Zone," "Growing Pains,"
"Magnum, P.I," and "Tour of Duty," and in numerous television
films (including a stint as Keanu Reeves' younger brother in
1986's "Brotherhood of Justice"), as well as garnered three Young
Artist Award nominations. Nucci's performance in the 1987 CBS
Schoolbreak Special, "An Enemy Among Us," was so powerful that
the network showed the telefilm during primetime. He then played
Gabriel Ortega on "Falcon Crest" from 1988 to 1989--earning his
fourth Young Artist Award nomination for his performance--before
returning to features as Chris Young's sidekick in the 1991
coming-of-age story, "Book of Love."
In 1993, Nucci was reunited with "Explorers" co-star Ethan Hawke
in Frank Marshall's "Alive," the true story of a Uruguayan rugby
team that is stranded in the Andes after a plane crash. Work in
several television films and independent features ensued,
including 1993's "A Matter of Justice," and "Ray Alexander: A
Taste for Justice" and "Blind Justice," both in 1994.
Nucci first captured moviegoers' attention in Tony Scott's box-
office smash "Crimson Tide," playing a young sonar officer
teamed with Denzel Washington. Nucci's performance so impressed
producer Jerry Bruckheimer that he cast the actor as Lt.
Sheppard, the Navy SEAL assigned to guard Sean Connery in the
action smash "The Rock." He had another small role as an
ill-fated deputy in the international hit "Eraser" with Arnold
Schwarzenegger, and had starring roles in the romantic comedy
"The Big Squeeze," playing a soft-spoken gardener and "That Old
Feeling," in which he portrayed a photographer stalking Bette
Midler and Dennis Farina.
In 1997, Nucci appeared in probably his most recongnizable role,
the spirited young Fabrizio de Rossi, Jack Dawson's (Leonardo
DiCaprio) doomed bestfriend in James Cameron's shipwreck epic
"Titanic," the biggest worldwide hit in cinematic history.
Nucci followed "Titanic" with two very different independent
films. The first, "The Unknown Cyclist," is a drama about lovers,
brothers, friendship and family. On the other hand, "Sugar" is a
raucous comedy/pseudo-documentary chronicling the hysterical
heterosexuality of a good-hearted-yet-out-of-control knife
salesman. He also starred in the 1998 thriller "Love Walked In"
and the ensemble film "Friends and Lovers" in 1999.
Nucci had a regular role on David E. Kelley's short-lived
television spy series "Snoops." After the show's cancellation,
television producer Jonathan Axelrod (who is married to Nucci's
"Alive" costar, Illeana Douglas) tapped Nucci to star in the
CBS sitcom "Some of My Best Friends." Based on the 1997
independent film "Kiss Me, Guido," the show featured Nucci as
Frank Zito, a big-hearted wannabe actor from Queens who
unknowingly moves in with a gay roommate played by Jason Bateman.
Though called "pretty darn funny" by the New York Times, the
series was ultimately cancelled. Nucci immediately bounced back
with the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries "Firestarter 2: Rekindled,"
the sequel to Mark Lester's blockbuster adaptation of the Stephen
King novel. The four part series, which aired in March 2002,
gained such a following that the network decided to develop it
into a regular series. He will next be seen opposite girlfriend
and "Snoops" costar Paula Marshall in Monika Mitchell's "Break a
Leg."
Born on September 15, 1968 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia in Austria,
Nucci enjoys writing music and playing the saxophone.
![[Danny Nucci]](danny.jpg)