Early in his career, director Francis Ford Coppola cast Elias Koteas in both “Gardens of Stone” and “Tucker.” Koteas then landed a role in Peter Masterson’s “Full Moon In Blue Water” and was later chosen for the lead role in Roger Cardinal’s explosive “Malarek,” playing true-life investigative journalist Victor Malarek. His haunting performance earned Koteas the first of two Genie nominations (Canada’s Oscar®) for Best Actor.
Koteas broke out as an international sensation after his starring role in “Crash,” David Cronenberg’s highly controversial exploration of sexual provocation and alienation which was awarded a special prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. Koteas has worked on several occasions with one of Canada’s most accomplished directorial exports, Atom Egoyan, starring in Egoyan’s “The Adjuster” and “Exotica,” for which Koteas garnered a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actor; and "Ararat” for which he won the Genie for Best Supporting Actor.
Koteas has portrayed notable roles in many films, including: “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Steven Shainberg’s “Hit Me,” a modern noir adaptation of Jim Thompson’s “A Swell Looking Babe;” “Gattaca,” Gregory Hoblit’s supernatural thriller “Fallen;” Bryan Singer’s “Apt Pupil;” “Living Out Loud,” Terrence Malick’s Academy Award®-nominated film “The Thin Red Line;” “Novocaine,” “Harrison’s Flowers,” David Fincher-directed “Zodiac;” “Shooter,” directed by Antoine Fuqua; David Fincher’s “Curious Case Of Benjamin Button;” “Haunting In Connecticut;” “Two Lovers,” Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island;” “Defendor,” Michel Winterbottom’s “Killer Inside Me;” the Matt Reeves’ film “Let Me In,” based on the 2004 novel “Let The Right One In” by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist; and “3 Backyards.” Koteas most recently wrapped “Dream House,” a thriller directed by Jim Sheridan; the feature film “Winnie,” where he plays a South African apartheid supporter and “Harold and Kumar 3.”
On television, Koteas has had several critically hailed performances in such programs as USA Network’s Emmy-nominated, “Traffic: The Mini-Series;” the HBO original movie “Shot In The Heart,” in which he played notorious murderer Gary Gilmore; in HBO’s “Sugartime;” and “House.”
Koteas has starred in numerous theatre productions, including Paula Vogel’s “Hot N’ Throbbing” at the Signature Theatre, “Kiss Of The Spider Woman” at the Yale Repertory Theatre and “True West” on Broadway, directed by Matthew Warchus.
Koteas is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and a member of the prestigious Actors’ Studio.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.