Chris Messina

Acting

Chris Messina

Born

1974-08-11 (52)

Place of birth

New York City, New York, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

77 titles

Christopher Messina (born August 11, 1974) is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. He is best known for starring as Danny Castellano in the series The Mindy Project (2012–2017), which earned him two nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He has appeared in films such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), Devil (2010), Argo (2012), Ruby Sparks (2012), Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012), Cake (2014), Birds of Prey (2020), I Care a Lot (2020), Call Jane (2022), Air (2023) and The Boogeyman (2023). Messina wrote, executive produced, and starred in the comedy film Fairhaven (2012). He also directed and starred in th…

Known for

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

The View poster
4.3

ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.

The View

1997

The Late Late Show with James Corden poster
5.1

Once Craig Ferguson retires, James Corden will be taking over The Late Late Show. The show is a late night talk show that interviews celebrities and has its own bits. And of course, it's all hosted by James Corden.

The Late Late Show with James Corden

2015

Medium poster
7.5

Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help to solve crimes. Her dreams often give her clues to the whereabouts of missing people.

Medium

2005

Third Watch poster
7.9

The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.

Third Watch

1999

Six Feet Under poster
8.1

When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as—and far less predictable than—the one inside.

Six Feet Under

2001

Film credits

2020s · 13 titles

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) poster
6.9

Harley Quinn joins forces with a singer, an assassin and a police detective to help a young girl who had a hit placed on her after she stole a rare diamond from a crime lord.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

2020

The Boogeyman poster
6.4

Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl and her younger sister find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before it’s too late.

The Boogeyman

2023

Air poster
7.3

Discover the game-changing partnership between a then undiscovered Michael Jordan and Nike's fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and culture with the Air Jordan brand.

Air

2023

I Care a Lot poster
6.6

A court-appointed legal guardian defrauds her older clients and traps them under her care. But her latest mark comes with some unexpected baggage.

I Care a Lot

2021

Juror #2 poster
6.9

While serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, family man Justin Kemp finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict—or free—the accused killer.

Juror #2

2024

Pressure poster
7.7

In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, and the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice—launch the largest and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.

Pressure

2026

Call Jane poster
6.5

A married woman with an unwanted pregnancy lives in a time in America where she can't get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help.

Call Jane

2022

The Secrets We Keep poster
6.0

In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.

The Secrets We Keep

2020

I.S.S. poster
5.7

Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a conflict breaks out on Earth. U.S. and Russian astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.

I.S.S.

2024

Love Is Love Is Love poster
4.7

Three sto­ries that explore love, com­mit­ment, and loy­al­ty between cou­ples and friends. "Two for Din­ner" where a mar­ried cou­ple tem­porar­i­ly liv­ing in two dif­fer­ent loca­tions are more sep­a­rat­ed than they think. "Sail­ing Les­son" about a long-mar­ried cou­ple who spend a day on a sail­boat rekin­dling their romance… and unex­pect­ed events arise. "Late Lunch" where a young woman who recent­ly lost her moth­er gath­ers togeth­er a group of her moth­er’s friends to share mem­o­ries, with sur­pris­ing rev­e­la­tions.

Love Is Love Is Love

2021

She Dies Tomorrow poster
5.1

Amy is ravaged by the notion that she is going to die tomorrow, which sends her down a dizzying emotional spiral. When her skeptical friend Jane discovers Amy’s feeling of imminent death to be contagious, they both begin bizarre journeys through what might be the last day of their lives.

She Dies Tomorrow

2020

Dreamin' Wild poster
6.1

The true story of the Emerson family and the tumult that followed the success of their self-recorded pop-funk album of the same name, which went largely unnoticed until critics rediscovered and reappraised it decades later. Now, as an adult, Donnie is forced to confront the ghosts from the past and grapple with the emotional toll his dreams have taken on the family who supported him.

Dreamin' Wild

2023

The Aviary poster
5.3

A twisted journey of two women’s desperate flee to escape the clutches of Skylight, an insidious cult. Lured in by the promise of “freedom” in the isolated desert campus called The Aviary, Jillian and Blair join forces to escape in hopes of real freedom. Consumed by fear and paranoia, they can’t shake the feeling that they are being followed by the cult’s leader, Seth, a man as seductive as he is controlling. The more distance the pair gains from the cult, the more Seth holds control of their minds. With supplies dwindling and their senses failing, Jillian and Blair are faced with a horrifying question: how do you run from an enemy who lives inside your head?

The Aviary

2022

2010s · 28 titles

Live by Night poster
6.3

A group of Boston-bred gangsters set up shop in balmy Florida during the Prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan.

Live by Night

2016

Argo poster
7.3

As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

Argo

2012

Ruby Sparks poster
7.1

Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.

Ruby Sparks

2012

Cake poster
6.3

After having visions of a member of her support group who killed herself, a woman who also suffers with chronic pain seeks out the widower of the suicide.

Cake

2014

The True Adventures of Wolfboy poster
5.9

Follows a young boy who runs away from home in the search of his estranged mother.

The True Adventures of Wolfboy

2019

Devil poster
6.1

A group of people are trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, and one of them is the Devil.

Devil

2010

Manglehorn poster
5.4

AJ Manglehorn is an aging, ordinary guy in a small town. He nurses his sick cat, squeezes out a conversation with the local bank teller every Friday, and eats at the same place every day. But there is more to Manglehorn than meets the eye: he’s an ex-con who, 40 years ago, gave up the woman of his dreams for a big ‘job’. After a dramatic effort to start over, Manglehorn faces a terrifying moment and is unmasked as a guy with a very, very dark past.

Manglehorn

2015

Greenberg poster
5.9

Roger Greenberg, a failed musician now making a living as a carpenter in New York, returns to Los Angeles to house-sit for his brother. He's stranded there—since he doesn't drive—until his brother's assistant, Florence, comes to his rescue. She's as much a lost soul as he is, and the pair form a significant connection—giving Roger a much-needed reason to be happy.

Greenberg

2010

Palo Alto poster
6.1

A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.

Palo Alto

2014

Celeste & Jesse Forever poster
6.4

Celeste and Jesse met in high school and got married young. They laugh at the same jokes and finish each other’s sentences. They are forever linked in their friends’ minds as the perfect couple – she, a high-powered businesswoman and budding novelist; he, a free spirit who keeps things from getting boring. Their only problem is that they have decided to get divorced. Can their perfect relationship withstand this minor setback?

Celeste & Jesse Forever

2012

An Invisible Sign poster
5.2

Mona Gray is a 20-year-old loner who, as a child, turned to math for salvation after her father became ill. As an adult, Mona now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises.

An Invisible Sign

2010

Zeroville poster
5.0

A young actor arrives in Hollywood in 1969 during a transitional time in the Industry.

Zeroville

2019

Like Crazy poster
6.4

A British college student falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she's banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa.

Like Crazy

2011

Digging for Fire poster
5.2

Tim and Lee are married with a young child. The chance to stay at a fancy home in the Hollywood Hills is complicated by Tim's discovery of a bone and a rusty old gun in the yard. Tim is excited by the idea of a mystery, but Lee doesn't want him to dig any further, preferring that he focus on the family taxes, which he promised to do weeks ago. This disagreement sends them on separate and unexpected adventures over the course of a weekend, as Tim and his friends seek clues to the mystery while Lee searches for answers to the bigger questions of marriage and parenthood.

Digging for Fire

2015

Alex of Venice poster
5.9

After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.

Alex of Venice

2015

Showing Up poster
9.2

An unprecedented look at the audition, compiled from more than 50 interviews with notable artists including Kristin Chenoweth, Richard Griffiths, Zoe Kazan, Nathan Lane, Chris Messina, Sam Rockwell and Eli Wallach.

Showing Up

2014

Blame poster
6.5

A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".

Blame

2018

Ordinary World poster
5.7

Perry is a happily married father of two living a comfortable but sedate life in the suburbs. On the occasion of his 40th birthday, he seeks to revisit his former life as the lead singer in a popular punk band though his middle-aged reality quickly (and hilariously) clashes with the indulgences of his youth.

Ordinary World

2016

The Giant Mechanical Man poster
6.4

An offbeat romantic comedy about a silver-painted street performer and the soft spoken zoo worker who falls for him.

The Giant Mechanical Man

2012

The Trouble with Bliss poster
4.8

35-year-old Morris Bliss is clamped in the jaws of New York City inertia: he wants to travel but has no money, he needs a job but has no prospects, he still shares an apartment with his widowed father, and the premature death of his mother has left him emotionally walled up. When he finds himself wrapped up in an awkward relationship with Stephanie, the 18-year-old daughter of a former classmate, Morris quickly discovers his static life unraveling and opening up in ways that are long overdue.

The Trouble with Bliss

2011

28 Hotel Rooms poster
5.5

While traveling for work in a city far from their homes, a novelist and a corporate accountant find themselves in bed together. Although she’s married, and he’s seeing someone, their intense attraction turns a one-night stand into an unexpected relationship and a respite from the obligations of daily life. Through a series of moments – some profound, some silly, some intensely intimate – we see a portrait of an evolving relationship that could become the most significant one of their lives.

28 Hotel Rooms

2012

The Sweet Life poster
6.2

Kenny is an ice cream vendor in Chicago with a crisp white uniform and an apathetic heart. When he encounters Lolita, a sharp-tongued but despondent insurance actuary, their heated conversation, natural spark and mutual hopelessness lead to an unusual proposal for a meet-cute: to travel to San Francisco, where they will jump off the Golden Gate Bridge together.

The Sweet Life

2017

Monogamy poster
4.2

Exhibitionism, voyeurism, jealousy, lust. Brooklyn wedding photographer Theo’s side business shooting surveillance-style photos of clients on the sly takes an unexpected turn - and creates a rift with his fiancée - when he’s hired by a provocative mystery woman.

Monogamy

2010

No artwork available
6.0

A young couple get into a fight before a very important party. Little do they know an outsider has tuned into their conversation.

The Oven

2014

The Mindy Project: Cast and Creators Live at PALEYFEST 2014 poster
10.0

"The Mindy Project" at PALEYFEST on March 25, 2014. Mindy Kaling's Dr. Mindy Lahiri is a woman too keenly intelligent and accomplished to accept the promises of romantic comedies at face value. Dr. Lahiri is a fresh of-the-moment comic female character, and the supporting ensemble is shaping up as an equally compelling collection of deeply flawed, stealthily endearing foils.

The Mindy Project: Cast and Creators Live at PALEYFEST 2014

2014

Too Long at the Fair poster
NR

Charlie and Val are best friends and owners of a fledgeling Princess party business in Los Angeles. After a mishap at a client’s party, the two find themselves in the hole and desperate for funds. They meet a charming divorcee, and what begins as a provocative yet seemingly harmless adventure take a downward turn.

Too Long at the Fair

2018

No artwork available
7.0

A girl helps a guy untangle his web of lies.

Denise

2012

Fairhaven poster
5.2

Long-time friends reconnect when one returns to their small Massachusetts town for a funeral.

Fairhaven

2013

2000s · 11 titles

Made of Honor poster
6.5

Tom and Hannah have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her 'maid' of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her.

Made of Honor

2008

Julie & Julia poster
6.7

Julia Child and Julie Powell – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

Julie & Julia

2009

Vicky Cristina Barcelona poster
6.8

Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

2008

Away We Go poster
6.7

Verona and Burt have moved to Colorado to be close to Burt's parents but, with Verona expecting their first child, Burt's parents inexplicably decide to move to Belgium, now leaving them in a place they hate and without a support structure in place. They set off on a whirlwind tour of of disparate locations where they have friends or relatives, sampling not only different cities and climates but also different families. Along the way they realize that the journey is less about discovering where they want to live and more about figuring out what type of parents they want to be.

Away We Go

2009

Towelhead poster
6.2

A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist, and her strict father during the Gulf War.

Towelhead

2008

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men poster
5.1

After her boyfriend mysteriously leaves her with little explanation, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at a prestigious East Coast university is left looking for answers as to what went wrong.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

2009

Humboldt County poster
5.7

Peter is a medical student about to graduate and begin his residency. When his professor fails him, he winds up in bed with an actress and singer named Bogart rolling through Los Angeles. He accompanies her to the redwoods of northern California, where he encounters her eccentric family of pot farmers. But when Bogart runs away without a word, Peter is thrust into the picturesque and bizarre world.

Humboldt County

2008

Turn It Up poster
4.8

Trying to bootstrap his way out of Brooklyn's mean streets is Diamond, a rap musician. With his long-time pal Gage acting as his manager, he's trying to lay down a demo tape with cut-rate studio time. To pay the bills, he and Gage run drugs for "Mr. B." Inside a week, Diamond's beloved mother dies suddenly, his father appears after an absence of 12 years and wants a relationship, and his girlfriend Kia tells him she's pregnant, asking him if he's ready to be a father. Gage steals $100,000 in a multiple-felony robbery so that Diamond can record a full album, not knowing it's Mr. B's money he's taken. B wants his money, Diamond wants his music, Tia wants an answer.

Turn It Up

2000

Ira & Abby poster
5.6

A neurotic, young psychology student, with low self-esteem, has a chance encounter with a free-spirited, extremely gregarious woman who works at the Paris Health Club in New York City, and who suggests that they immediately get married to see how it will work out. Both of the student's parents are analysts, and they provide the happy couple with a gift certificate for a year of marriage counseling as a wedding present.

Ira & Abby

2006

Road poster
4.5

Two exes take a dual-purpose road trip: allow Margaret (Catherine Kellner), a freelance photographer, to complete her assignment to check up on toxic waste sites along the U.S.-Canadian border, and deliver Jay (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) home to his mother's house in Detroit. The trip takes a turn for the weird as they begin to suspect they are trapped.

Road

2005

No artwork available
NR

An immigration agent at Newark International Airport confronts an Iranian mother and her son. Based on the one act play by Israel Horovitz

Security

2007

1990s · 3 titles

Undated · 4 titles

Series credits

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

The View poster
4.3

ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.

The View

1997

The Late Late Show with James Corden poster
5.1

Once Craig Ferguson retires, James Corden will be taking over The Late Late Show. The show is a late night talk show that interviews celebrities and has its own bits. And of course, it's all hosted by James Corden.

The Late Late Show with James Corden

2015

Medium poster
7.5

Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help to solve crimes. Her dreams often give her clues to the whereabouts of missing people.

Medium

2005

Third Watch poster
7.9

The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.

Third Watch

1999

Six Feet Under poster
8.1

When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as—and far less predictable than—the one inside.

Six Feet Under

2001

Damages poster
7.5

Damages is an American legal thriller television series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler. The plot revolves around the brilliant, ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes and her protégée, recent law school graduate Ellen Parsons. Each season features a major case that Hewes and her firm take on, while also examining a chapter of the complicated relationship between Ellen and Patty. The first two seasons center around the law firm Hewes & Associates. Later seasons center more on Patty and Ellen's relationship as Ellen begins to distance herself from Hewes & Associates and begins an independent career.

Damages

2007

The Mindy Project poster
6.3

Obstetrician/gynecologist Mindy Lahiri tries to balance her personal and professional life, surrounded by quirky co-workers in a small medical practice in New York City.

The Mindy Project

2012

Off Camera with Sam Jones poster
5.0

Photographer and director Sam Jones sits down with the myriad professionals of television and movies, and other celebrities (great skateboarders, for example), to discuss their development before fame, their passions beyond their careers, and gives them a space to open up about their insight into their business and their own abilities. Filmed in black and white, with a few deep cushion chairs and sparse set, the show relies on Sam's ability to relate to the guests and their will to speak freely with him.

Off Camera with Sam Jones

2014

The Newsroom poster
8.1

A behind-the-scenes look at the people who make a nightly cable-news program. Focusing on a network anchor, his new executive producer, the newsroom staff and their boss, the series tracks their quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles-not to mention their own personal entanglements.

The Newsroom

2012

Based on a True Story poster
7.0

The lives of a realtor, a plumber and a former tennis star unexpectedly collide, exposing America’s obsession with true crime, murder and the slow-close toilet seat.

Based on a True Story

2023

Made in Hollywood poster
4.6

Made in Hollywood is a talk show hosted by Kylie Erica Mar and Julie L. Harkness airing in syndication since September 30, 2005. The series is currently in its seventh season. The series is filmed in two studios in Los Angeles, California and New York City. Made in Hollywood also airs a spinoff series, Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition.

Made in Hollywood

2005

Sharp Objects poster
7.8

Reporter Camille Preaker confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.

Sharp Objects

2018

Gaslit poster
6.8

A modern take on the 1970s political Watergate scandal centering on untold stories and forgotten characters of the time.

Gaslit

2022

OM CITY poster
10.0

OM CITY is the critically acclaimed, award-winning original series that follows the harried life of Grace (Jessie Barr), a yoga teacher in NYC, and her attempts to bring the humans of New York OM.

OM CITY

2015

Behind the camera