Johnny Messner

Biography:

Messner was born in Syracuse, New York, on April 11, 1970. He has Spanish, Italian, and German ancestry. While his father was serving in the US Air Force, primarily in Germany and England, he spent 13 years living in Europe. Playing on teams at military posts during this period, he fell in love with sports. He has a sister and a brother. He majored in sports broadcasting at San Diego State University for a short time before deciding to leave. He returned to New York shortly afterward to continue his acting career. He has multiple tattoos, including one of his father and another of the Italian actress Monica Bellucci. As an actor, Messner is most likely best known for his roles in the movies Tears of the Sun, The Whole Ten Yards, and Hostage, as well as the television shows Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Cold Case, and Guiding Light (where he collaborated with friend Frank Grillo and a young Hayden Panettiere). The American action adventure movie Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, which starred Messner as former military member Bill Johnson, debuted in theaters in August 2004. It was the actor’s first major part in a popular film. Messner gained notoriety at that time  as a result of his contentious interviews for Lawrence Journal-World and IGN.