Johnny Messner (born April 11, 1970) is an American film and television
actor best known for his portrayal of a muscular military man in the 2004 film ''
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid''.
Biography
Messner was born on April 11, 1970, in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
. He lived in Europe for 13 years while his father served in the
United States Air Force, mainly in Germany and England. During this time, he developed a love for sports while playing on teams at military bases. He has one brother and one sister. He briefly attended the
San Diego State University to major in sports broadcasting but eventually decided to drop out.
Soon after that he went back to New York where he pursued an acting career.
He has several tattoos; one depicts Italian actress
Monica Bellucci, and another is of his father.
As an actor Messner is probably best known for his work in the films ''
Tears of the Sun'', ''
The Whole Ten Yards'' and ''
Hostage'', and in the TV series ''
Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...
'' (working with friend
Frank Grillo and a young
Hayden Panettiere), ''
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and ''
Cold Case''. In August 2004, American action adventure film ''
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'', starring Messner as an ex-military man Bill Johnson, premiered in theaters. It was the actor's first leading role in a mainstream movie, and gave him a chance to impress the audiences with a perfect musculature.
The portrayal gained him status of a
sex symbol
A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...
. Around that time Messner became notorious due to his controversial interviews for ''
IGN'' and ''
Lawrence Journal-World''.
He stated that "in Hollywood we've lost the
real man
''Real Man'' is the sixth studio album by American country music singer Billy Dean. It was released August 25, 1998, via Capitol Records Nashville. The album includes two singles: the title track and "Innocent Bystander", which respectively rea ...
", and that he's the only "
alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
male" still working in the film industry, along with
Bruce Willis.
In those interviews Messner expressed harsh criticism for actors
Orlando Bloom
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001), ''The Two Towers'' (2002), a ...
,
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
and
Vin Diesel, among others.
In December 2004, the horror-themed website ''CampBlood'' named him the 2004's sexiest man in horror.
Known as an
action hero, he starred in numerous genre films including ''Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'' (2004), ''Tears of the Sun'' (2003), ''
Running Scared'' (2006), ''
Arena'' (2011), ''Kill 'em All'' (2012), ''
The Good, the Bad, and the Dead'' (2015), ''Silencer'' (2018), and ''
Beyond the Law'' (2019). He portrayed the main protagonist, an ex-police officer Burke Wyatt, in the 2008 action film ''
Ring of Death'', created for
Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The channel was o ...
. A torture sequence, shot for the film, required Messner to be
waterboarded
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboardi ...
.
Messner's partner is
Kathryn Morris, whom he met while shooting ''
Cold Case''. They have twin sons.
[Leon, Anya; Triggs, Charlotte (September 17, 2003)]
/ref>
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Messner, Johnny
1970 births
Living people
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Syracuse, New York