Mark Adair-Rios' work and projects-in-development blow the lid off what it means to be a working actor in Hollywood. Raised as a San Fernando Valley boy, his multi-ethnic heritage keeps Casting guessing and lands him roles that range from gang member to techno geek, psychotic killer to misogynist cop, and HR trainer to LA transvestite.
His career began when cast as a child actor in a national Coke commercial. In his near 20 year tenure since then, Mark has racked up tons of television roles such as:
Recurring cast on "CSI: Miami", "Jericho", "MDs", "The Evidence", "Baywatch Hawaii", "Danny Fricke" (pilot),and "NYPD Blue" (as Nicholas Torturro's drug-addicted brother)
Series Regular on "Legend" and "1994 Baker Street" (pilot)
Guest Star on "Cold Case", "Las Vegas", "NCIS", "ER", "JAG", "The Division", "According to Jim", "Charmed", "Family Matters", "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles", "Threat Matrix", "Cuts", "Diagnosis Murder", "Tracy Takes On"..., and numerous others (see Resume).
Co-Star on "Life Goes On" and "Space: Above and Beyond".
In feature film, Mark has performed opposite:
Ben Stiller and Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Along Came Polly"
Jim Carrey in "Bruce Almighty"
Gabriel Byrne in "Stigmata"
Denzel Washington in "Courage Under Fire"
Eddie Murphy in Dr. Doolittle
Matthew Perry & Selma Hayek in "Fool's Rush In"
and in "Speed 2", "Crocodile Dundee In LA"....And then some.
No stranger to indy films, either, he appears in "Zero Hour", "The Longest Yard Sale", "Flying Virus", "Stealth Fighter", and others. (His commercial credits include "Playstation3", "Taco Bell", "Honey Bunches of Oats", "State Farm Insurance", and "Tostitos"-all within the same year.)
Mark loves to play nasty drama as the bad guy, but Casting Directors now tap his comedic skill set, too. He had a hilarious time completing a 4-episode pilot titled "Love That Girl" with Tatiana Ali (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and Phil Morris (Seinfeld, Smallville). He portrays Adonis, one-half of a modern-day, gay Lenny-and-Squigy-type duo-thenext-door neighbors who always show off their fabulous diva selves.
Besides jamming as a well-rounded industry-trained actor, Mark also partners with comic actor Chris Coppola to write and produce TV pilots. One new half-hour comedy follows two Armenian immigrants who have to dress as women to survive in Glendale (CA) while waiting for their big break into show biz. Mark's vast industry experience allows him to launch full-throttle into production with viable ideas to create new shows. He and Chris are getting folks to laugh their butts off with a kids' TV series and 2 feature concepts, also in the works.
To keep his creative juices flowing, Mark jumps back to the stage. He has taught classical Children's Theatre for 7 years at the Lost Studio (formerly Peggy Feury's Loft). He also digs into theatre study there full-time (5 days a week!) when not working on film or TV projects. At least once a year, he always struts his stuff in a production on the proscenium boards (and garners more noteworthy reviews). Such plays recently include the UK hit "Bouncer's", Chekhov's "The Marriage Proposal", Pinter's "A Night Out" and "Night School", Carlos Lacamara's "Nowhere on the Border", "Becoming Cuban", and the upcoming "Exiles"-interpreting a hardcore Cuban convict who mutinies on a yacht full of Marielista immigrants, to take over as de facto captain.
Little known fact: Mark stopped out of college to pursue acting professionally while studying to become an FBI agent. He spends his rare spare time playing guitar, publishing his poetry, and engaging in fabulous new adventures (real espionage not included).
