Elias Koteas

Elias Koteas (born March 11 1961) is a Canadian actor.

Biography

Early life

Koteas was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to a father who worked as a mechanic for the Canadian National Railways and a homemaker mother. His parents are both of Greek descent, and he speaks Greek fluently. Koteas attended Vanier College in Montreal, Canada before leaving to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1981, of which he is a 1983 graduate. He was a member of the Academy's 1983-1984 Production Company. He also attended the Actors' Studio in New York City, where he studied acting under Ellen Burstyn and Peter Masterson. During his early years, Koteas washed dishes and bussed tables in New York for $1 an hour. At the time, he was not a U.S. citizen and therefore was not allowed to work in that country.

Career

While at the AADA, Koteas played Father Rangier in the school's production of "The Devils" adapted by John Whiting from the Aldous Huxley novel. He was also Paris in "The Golden Apple" a musical by John Latouche and Jerome Moross.

Koteas is known for his film portrayal of Casey Jones in the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and for the character Thomas Daggett in the American film The Prophecy, which also starred Christopher Walken as the Archangel Gabriel, Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer, and Eric Stoltz as Simon (with whom Koteas also appeared in Some Kind of Wonderful).

Koteas had noteworthy roles in the Denzel Washington thriller Fallen as the demon-possessed serial killer Edgar Reese. He appeared in John Hughes' Some Kind of Wonderful, Atom Egoyan's Exotica and The Adjuster, Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line and David Cronenberg's Crash. Koteas also made an appearance in Season 4 of The Sopranos as Dominic Palladino, and in the Season 2 finale of House, in which Koteas plays a man who shoots Dr. Gregory House. Elias has also appeared in The Greatest Game Ever Played, a Disney biography about a young golfer, as well as the thrillers Skinwalkers in 2006, Zodiac and Shooter in 2007. In May 2008 he played the role of "Joe," a bank robber, in the season finale of CSI: NY.

Filmography

• One Magic Christmas (1985)
• Gardens of Stone (1987)
• Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
• Full Moon in Blue Water (1988)
• Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
• Blood Red (1989)
• 'Friends, Lovers, & Lunatics (1989)
• Malarek (1989)
• Almost an Angel (1990)
• Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
• Desperate Hours (1990)
• Backstreet Dreams(1990)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
• The Adjuster (1991)
• Chain of Desire (1992)
• Contact (1992)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)
• Cyborg 2 (1993)
• Camilla (1994)
• Exotica (1994)
• The Prophecy (1995)
• Power of Attorney (1995)
• Hit Me (1996)
• Crash (1996)
• Gattaca (1997)
• The Thin Red Line (1998)
• Apt Pupil (1998)
• Living Out Loud (1998)
• Fallen (1998)
• Divorce: A Contemporary Western (1998)
• Lost Souls (2000)
• Harrison's Flowers (2000)
• Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)
• Novocaine (2001)
• Shot in the Heart (2001)
• Ararat (2002)
• S1m0ne (2002)
• Collateral Damage (2002)
• The Big Empty (2005)
• The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)
• House (2006)
• Skinwalkers (2007)
• Zodiac (2007)
• The Girl In The Park (2007)
• Shooter (2007)
• Prisoner (2007)
• I Come with the Rain (2008)
• The Haunting in Connecticut (2008)
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
• Two Lovers (2008)

References

External links

• Canadian Film Encyclopedia
• Elias Koteas at the Internet Movie Database
• Eloquent Elias Fan Site