Frank Grillo, 53, hadn’t always envisioned himself on the big screen. Born to an Italian-American family in New York, Grillo started his career with a business degree and a stint on Wall Street, but fate had other plans. After starring in commercials, his path veered into the world of film and television.

But you should know that he’s not your textbook definition of a leading man: “My career is my career,” he maintains. “I'm not Matt Damon or Brad Pitt—I take roles that I connect to because they're the best-written things for me.” Which is precisely what he’s done. In the Captain America film franchise, he took on the role of the villainous Crossbones, Chris Evans’s ally turned enemy. On the TV show Kingdom, he appeared alongside Nick Jonas as Alvey Kulina, a retired MMA fighter.