Clifton Collins Jr.

Nurturing an impressive body of work, Clifton Collins, Jr. is one of Hollywood’s most versatile talents and his career continues to evolve with exciting and challenging projects. “Collins is mesmerizing…” and “Mr. Collins eloquent performance…” are just a few of the accolades he received for his portrayal of Perry Smith in the director Bennett Miller’s Academy Award nominated film “Capote.” Clifton was also received an Alma Award nomination for Best Actor.

Clifton’s passion for the art of acting keeps him drawn to both studio and independent features. As one of Hollywood busiest actors, Clifton has starred in films that embrace both comedy and drama. Clifton just wrapped filming a role in Terrence Malick’s feature KNIGHT OF CUPS opposite Christian Bale and can next be seen in the $100 million sci-fi Warner Brothers / Legendary Films feature “Pacific Rim” directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Clifton alongside Charlie Hunnam, Idis Ilba and Charlie Day as well as the Taylor Hackford directed feature “Parker” in which he stars opposite Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. Previously, Clifton starred alongside Amy Adams and Emily Blunt in the Sundance hit “Sunshine Cleaning.” The film opened to the best per screen average of any film opening in 2009 and matches the per screen openings of films such as “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Sideways,” ”About Schmidt” and “The Wrestler.” Clifton also starred alongside an all-star cast in the Summer Blockbuster “Star Trek,” in which he plays the Romulan Ayel. His was recently seen starring in “Crank 2: High Voltage,” the Miramax film “Extract” alongside Ben Affleck, “Brothers” alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman and “Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day.”

Clifton’s other notable film credits include “Traffic” directed by Steven Soderbergh where Clifton played the unforgettable assassin ‘Frankie Flowers’ opposite Benecio Del Torro, “Rules of Attraction” directed by Roger Avary for Lion’s Gate and “Tigerland” directed by Joel Schumacher. Even at the beginning of his career, Clifton found himself working with some of the town’s bright young filmmakers including the Hughes Brothers’ in “Menace to Society” and “Dead Presidents”, John Singleton’s “Poetic Justice”, Kevin Reynolds’ “187,” Antoine Fuqua’s “The Replacement Killers,” “Still Waters” and the award-winning independent film, “Little Chenier.”

No stranger to the small screen, in 2010 Clifton shot a starring role in NBC’s drama “The Event,” an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker, (Jason Ritter) an ordinary man who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée, and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. The series ended after 26 episodes in early 2011. He received and Emmy nomination for his role in highly acclaimed miniseries “Thief” in which he starred alongside Andre Braugher. He has also recurred on some of primetime’s highest rated shows including “24,” “The Shield” and “Alias.” Clifton can next be seen starring opposite Radha Mitchell in the new ABC 1 hour drama series “Red Widow”, created by Melissa Rosenberg. The series centers on a woman who whose organized criminal husband was killed, and she has to continue his work to protect her family.

Clifton directed the video for Zac Brown Band’s single “Chicken Fried,” which debuted on CMT to rave reviews. The video was nominated for two CMT Awards (Group Video of The Year and USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year) and won the CMT USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year award! It was awarded a Bronze for over all Video and Editing at the Telly Awards. Clifton has also directed the music videos for the Zac Brown Bands follow up single “Whatever It Is,” which is currently #1 on CMT, as well as Jamey Johnson’s “High Cost of Living.”

From an early age, Clifton Collins Jr. was encouraged to pursue his artistic talents by his actor-grandfather who allowed Clifton the opportunity to surround himself in the acting community. Born to a Mexican mother and a German father, Collins realized his diverse background coupled with strong intellect would provide for a unique quality rarely seen on screen.
Clifton currently resides in Los Angeles.