{"id":178900,"date":"2025-11-13T18:20:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/178900\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T18:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:20:15","slug":"frank-grillo-reflects-on-fitness-superman-2-and-psychedelics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/178900\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Grillo Reflects on Fitness, ‘Superman 2’ and Psychedelics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tActor and action star Frank Grillo<\/a> recently turned 60, but he could convincingly pass for characters 20 years younger: square-jawed, 40-something Italian American dudes who might either kick your ass, charm you with their explosive gregariousness or possibly even bring you to tears \u2014 if ever given such an opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOver the course of his 30-plus years in the business, Grillo has appeared in more than 100 films or series, spanning soaps, police and military procedurals (The Shield, CSI, Prison Break, End of Watch, Homefront and Zero Dark Thirty), sports dramas (Warrior, Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend) and endless action flicks (The Grey, The Purge<\/a>, Hounds of War). He\u2019s also become a mainstay of some of the biggest, most watched tentpoles in the world, featured regularly in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as recurring character Brock\u202fRumlow\/Crossbones) and the latest DC Universe movies (as Rick Flag Sr. in James Gunn<\/a>\u2019s Superman<\/a> and its upcoming sequel). He even co-starred in China\u2019s highest-grossing action film<\/a> ever, 2017\u2019s Wolf Warrior 2, playing the colorful villain Big Daddy \u2014 helping the movie earn $874\u202fmillion worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI look at that, and it\u2019s just crazy to me,\u201d Grillo says. \u201cActing has given me and my kids a really great life. Considering where I came from, I look around and I can\u2019t believe I got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong action film fans, Grillo\u2019s fitness regimen is the stuff of legend. He\u2019s been working out consistently since boyhood and exercises at least two and a half hours every day, combining boxing with heavy weightlifting. He eats just one meal a day, and the menu seldom varies: a large serving of grass-fed meat, vegetables, an avocado and a Japanese sweet potato. But he insists there is no \u201cGrillo method\u201d behind his vitality and entertainment industry longevity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s just grit, determination and keeping going,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGrillo currently has a solid stretch of high-profile work ahead of him. He\u2019s about to begin production in Atlanta on a fourth season of the Paramount+ series Tulsa King<\/a>, in which he co-stars opposite Sylvester Stallone, a childhood hero who has become a friend.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a fun show and such a trip to me that I\u2019m in it,\u201d Grillo says. \u201cI grew up poor in the Bronx, the son of an Italian immigrant family in the 1970s. Sly was a god in my neighborhood. I do video calls with him now, and there are still moments where I\u2019m like, \u2018That\u2019s fucking Rocky!\u2019\u202f\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Tulsa King, Grillo will head straight into production for 10 weeks in the U.K. and Georgia on James Gunn\u2019s Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy character, Rick Flag Sr., is a big part of the sequel\u2019s story, so I\u2019m excited about it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter decades of being driven by a working-class chip on his shoulder, Grillo says he\u2019s attained a newfound equanimity about life and the ups and downs of being a jobbing actor. He credits the shift in his outlook to removing alcohol from his lifestyle \u2014 and the introduction of some occasional psychedelics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA couple of years ago, I gave\u202fup drinking. I wasn\u2019t self-destructive, but I drank wine most nights and definitely had to sweat it out in the gym sometimes,\u201d he explains. \u201cGiving it up has really changed everything for me. I just feel clearer and more connected \u2014 with my work and myself. I\u2019m more patient; I\u2019m better with my\u202fkids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut what really blew my eyes open,\u201d Grillo adds, was some late-life experimentation with psychedelics. \u201cI did some mushrooms \u2014 microdosing and some heroes\u2019 journeys,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut the thing that really changed my outlook in a lasting way was smoking Bufo \u2014 toad venom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA natural psychedelic derived from the venom of the Colorado River toad, Bufo contains 5-MeO-DMT, one of the world\u2019s most powerful psychoactive compounds, often described as the \u201cgod molecule\u201d for its intense, short-lasting mystical experiences.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cListen, I\u2019m not one of those out-there California guys,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cI\u2019m really not, but this experience lasts about 15 minutes, and you come away from it knowing that there isn\u2019t really a me and a you, or an us and a them \u2014 we\u2019re all connected to everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGrillo as Rick Flag Sr. in \u2018Superman.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds: \u201cIt\u2019s given me an openness about acting and a sense of patience about my career. I really feel grounded and accepting in way that I didn\u2019t for so much of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGrillo\u2019s father was an Italian immigrant and his mother the daughter of immigrants. They had him when they were still teenagers, and the actor remembers constant fighting over money struggles throughout his childhood. The family eventually moved from the Bronx to Rockland County, New York, to achieve the dream of a life in the suburbs, but they lost their home to foreclosure after falling behind on payments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I think back on that time, no wonder things were hard,\u201d he says. \u201cThey were so young \u2014 literally kids \u2014 and had no advantages. It\u2019s amazing I even survived! My home life was really\u202fchaotic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGrillo was small as a kid and frequently bullied \u2014 \u201cI fucking hate bullies; I\u2019m really against it\u201d \u2014 but by around age 8, he discovered competitive wrestling, and his lifelong obsession with athletics, combat sports and physical training fell into place. Wrestling was followed by football, and an encounter with karate at a neighborhood mall \u2014 inspired by an early obsession with Bruce Lee \u2014 later led to competitive boxing, Brazilian jujitsu and other martial arts\u202fdisciplines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe structure and camaraderie of sports gave me something I was missing \u2014 it was the first place I really felt safe and could thrive,\u201d he says. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for sports, I don\u2019t know what would have happened to me \u2014 nothing\u202fgood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter high school, Grillo studied finance and briefly worked on Wall Street. \u201cWhen I was growing up, there was constant fighting about money. I realized right away I didn\u2019t want a career where the only focus was money \u2014 it repulsed me,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo he soon headed west to California with uncertain ambitions, landing at Gold\u2019s Gym in Los Angeles as a personal trainer. His early clients were nearly all gay men.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe came from very different worlds, but these guys really supported me, and I recognized what badass people they were because of the struggles they faced and overcame during that era,\u201d he says. \u201cI say that they financed my start in acting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith his looks and working-man charisma, Grillo began landing commercial work and TV parts, eventually earning a regular gig back in New York on the daytime soap Guiding Light. He credits the show\u2019s relentless pace with teaching him the discipline of being a working actor, if not the artistic range. Later returning to L.A., he hired an acting coach and declared to his family that he was going to become a serious actor.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey found it hysterical, but it was important to me to make that declaration for my own sense of mission,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tBrief TV parts followed \u2014 Gary David Goldberg\u2019s short-lived Battery Park and Steven Bochco\u2019s Blind Justice \u2014 but it wasn\u2019t until he was 41 that he felt he finally made it onto Hollywood\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2008, he landed a supporting role in Gavin O\u2019Connor\u2019s Pride and Glory (opposite Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich). Though not a hit, the film was closely followed in the industry and helped Grillo get noticed. He also forged a bond with O\u2019Connor, who later cast him in Warrior, the breakthrough MMA drama starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGrillo in \u2018The Purge,\u2019 his first starring vehicle.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWatching Nolte changed my whole idea of what acting could be,\u201d Grillo says. \u201cHe carried around this big binder of notes and ideas for his character, and I was just like, \u2018Wow, look how fucking deep that guy goes.\u2019\u202f\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGrillo channeled some of that energy into his scene-stealing turn as MMA trainer Frank Campana, collaborating closely with O\u2019Connor and improvising much of his dialogue in the ring.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat was the one that really got me noticed, where I suddenly started getting calls from people like Ari Emanuel,\u201d Grillo says.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe then began preparing for the distinctive character actor parts that followed \u2014 such as the cop in Jake Gyllenhaal\u2019s End of Watch (2012), the plane crash survivor in Liam Neeson\u2019s The Grey, or the Navy officer in Zero Dark Thirty \u2014 with the same all-consuming intensity that he brought to the gym, looking for ways to add dimension to archetypal tough guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tNot long after, the opportunity came to audition for the Russo brothers\u2019 early Marvel tentpole Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which would become one of the most critically and commercially successful non-Avengers, non-Iron Man titles in the franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI went into it thinking I would be auditioning in some small room, but I showed up and they had us do it on the soundstage, surrounded by these massive Marvel sets. I looked around, and there were a bunch of famous faces that I recognized going for the same part,\u201d Grillo recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGetting that part made me globally recognizable in a way I never imagined,\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn recent years, Grillo\u2019s action flick output has accelerated dramatically \u2014 AFM<\/a>-geared titles like This Is the Night with Naomi Watts, Copshop with Gerard Butler, Ida Red with Melissa Leo, Stowaway with Ruby Rose, A Day to Die with Bruce Willis and many others \u2014 and Grillo is candid about the reasons: \u201cI\u202fgot divorced in 2020, and that\u2019s expensive in\u202fCalifornia!<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had to refill the coffers just to get by and keep my life on track,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt set me back a bit in terms of what I was building as an actor, but I always appreciate the opportunity to be working.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite how prolific he\u2019s been in recent years, Grillo\u2019s approach to his craft remains an open work in progress. He recently wrapped production on the sci-fi survival thriller Override opposite Borat 2 star Maria Bakalova. Grillo stars as an AI-generated \u201csynthetic angel\u201d who comes to the aid of a futuristic soldier (Bakalova) after she\u2019s injured and left for dead. \u201cIt\u2019s a really fun little film and a two-hander that allowed me to try new things,\u201d Grillo says. \u201cI\u2019m very open and excited by young actors who really go for it, and Maria is an amazing talent. There were moments where I was watching what she was doing and thinking, \u2018There\u2019s a lot I can learn from this young woman.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the wake of his Bufo-induced ego death, Grillo says he\u2019s been refocusing on the things that matter \u2014 \u201cmy sons, working with great people, feeling good and enjoying the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou look around, and it\u2019s like the Talking Heads \u2014 \u2018This is not my beautiful house\u2019 \u2014 so I sold a big mansion I had in the Hollywood Hills,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to let go of anything that\u2019s weighing me\u202fdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds: \u201cThese days, I just want to spend all of the time I have left with my boys, who\u2019ve become these grown-up dudes. When I\u2019m gone, I hope they think, \u2018Dad was an alright guy, you know, he really tried.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAll three of Grillo\u2019s sons \u2014 age 17 to 28 \u2014 have shown interest in the entertainment\u202fbusiness.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNow I\u2019ve got these nepo babies!\u201d he says, laughing, reflecting on his own decades-long climb through the business from a starting point of nothing. In 2023, Grillo starred in his oldest son, Remy Grillo\u2019s, directorial debut, The Resurrection of Charles\u202fManson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSome people told me I shouldn\u2019t do it, but\u202fhe committed to taking the work very seriously, and that\u2019s my boy \u2014 are you fucking kidding me? Like I\u2019m not going to do it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGiven the way his kids have grown up on the sidelines of his film sets, Grillo likens their interest in entertainment to nothing more unusual than entering the family business: \u201cIt\u2019s only natural that they might want to give it a try. Being somebody\u2019s kid might help open the door, but if they don\u2019t have talent or discipline \u2014 or at least something special \u2014 they\u2019re not going to last more than a few seconds in this business. You\u2019ve got to bring something, or no one\u2019s going to give a shit who your dad was. I did it my way, and they\u2019ll find theirs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tManfred Baumann<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Actor and action star Frank Grillo recently turned 60, but he could convincingly pass for characters 20 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[80216,98972,101229,18,117,597,27714,19,17,927,1891,327,4177,928,101230,30663],"class_list":{"0":"post-178900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-afm","9":"tag-american-film-market","10":"tag-dc-films","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-film","14":"tag-frank-grillo","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-james-gunn","18":"tag-marvel-studios","19":"tag-movies","20":"tag-peacemaker","21":"tag-superman","22":"tag-the-purge","23":"tag-tulsa-king"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115543777398851863","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}