A Canadian actor of Jewish-Italian descent, Paulo Costanzo was born on September 21, 1978 in Brampton, Ontario. Best-known for his roles in the sitcom Joey and the comedy movie Road Trip, he’s also performed onstage in Canadian productions of The Good Doctor, Bogeyman, and West Side Story. As a child, both of his legs were broken in a car accident. He attended Balmoral Secondary School, then transferred to Mayfield Secondary School. After graduating from high school, he began acting in various TV series and movies.
Paulo Costanzo began his professional acting career with numerous television movies. He had roles in The Don’s Analyst, My Date with the President’s Daughter, and in the “Marie Taquet: segment of Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples. He booked his first major role in 1998, playing an alien named Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill on the TV series Animorphs.
In 2000, his career started to flourish when he landed the part of Rubin Carver on the DreamWorks movie Road Trip. Afterwards, he was cast as band manager Alex Cabot III on the movie adaptation of Josie and the !$#!#cats. He continued his string of movie roles, appearing as Troy in Gypsy 83, and as Ryan in 40 Days and 40 Nights opposite Josh Hartnett. He later worked with Alicia Silverstone and Woody Harrelson in the independent film Scorched. In 2003, he starred as the lead in the Canadian comedy film A Problem with Fear, or Laurie’s Anxiety Confronting the Escalator.
Costanzo was later praised for his role in the short-lived comedy series Joey, which was a spin-off of the highly successful Friends. Playing the title character’s nephew, he was cast as geeky and insecure Michael Tribbiani. Michael is a highly intelligent aerospace engineer who specializes in applied thermodynamics and attends the California Institute of Technology, who still considers Joey a streetwise father figure and idol.
Costanzo also voiced a rooster on Dr. Dolittle 3, and was next seen on Everything’s Gone Green and 2007’s The Day the Dead Weren’t Dead. In 2008, he got the role of Seth Blazer on Splinter, and signed on for parts in The More Things Change…, and The FP.
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