Clifton Collins, Jr
Clifton Collins Jr. is an Emmy-nominated American actor, celebrated for his versatile performances across film and television. Born on June 16, 1970, in Los Angeles, California, he hails from a family of entertainers, including his grandfather, character actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez. Collins began his career in the late 1980s and gained recognition for his roles in the 2006 television drama *Thief* and Quentin Tarantino's *Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood* (2019). Notably, he portrayed Perry Smith in the critically acclaimed film *Capote*, earning praise for his intense performance. Over the years, Collins has worked in a plethora of genres, from action to drama, and has been involved in both independent films and major Hollywood projects, including *Star Trek* (2009) and *Pacific Rim* (2013). Even though he hasn't reached mainstream stardom, his impactful roles demonstrate a remarkable ability to portray complex characters. Collins continues to be active in the industry, contributing to various projects and showcasing his acting range.
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Subject Terms
Clifton Collins, Jr.
Actor
- Born: June 16, 1970
- Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California
Contribution: Clifton Collins Jr. is an Emmy-nominated American actor best known for his roles on the 2006 television crime drama Thief, in the 2009 science fiction film Star Trek, and in the 2019 Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood.
Background
Clifton Collins Jr. was born on June 16, 1970, in Los Angeles, California. He came from a family of entertainers: his grandmother was a musician and dancer; his uncle and aunt worked in music; and his grandfather, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, was a well-known character actor who appeared in a number of John Wayne Westerns.
Career
Collins began acquiring bit acting parts on television in the late 1980s and soon after began billing himself as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez to honor his grandfather. He changed his name back to Clifton Collin Jr. in 2000 after his father died.
Collins landed his first film role in 1991 as a minor character in the drama Grand Canyon, and he continued appearing in small parts throughout the 1990s in such films as Fortress (1992), Menace II Society (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), and Sgt. Bilko (1996). Collins also made single appearances in several television series during this time such as Acapulco H.E.A.T (1993) and Live Short (1995). In 1997 he was cast as a regular on the NBC medical drama Crisis Center and appeared in six episodes over the course of three months.
Collins found some minor film success in 1997 when he was cast opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the crime drama 187. Collins played a gang member out for revenge, and though the film was not well received, his performance was singled out as particularly inspired and passionate.
At this point in his career, Collins believed he was on the verge of being forever typecast as criminals, and after appearing as Loco in the 1998 action film The Replacement Killers, he chose more diverse roles. In 1999 he was cast as one of the leads in the direct-to-video fantasy film The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, based on Ray Bradbury's short story, which was lauded by critics as an upbeat family film. The film is significant for Collins in that it marked a turning point as he began to break away from the stereotypical roles of his past. It also offered him an opportunity to act in a scene with his grandfather, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez.
Collins next played a student in Light It Up (1999) and a soldier training for duty in Vietnam in the 2000 drama Tigerland. The same year he earned critical praise for his role of drug cartel member Francisco Flores in Steven Soderbergh’s crime drama Traffic. The film won an Academy Award for best picture, and the cast earned a Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by a cast.
Collins continued to rack up film credits into the 2000s, playing a variety of characters such as a drug dealer in The Rules of Attraction (2002), a prisoner in American Girl (2002), and an FBI profiler in Mindhunters (2004). Additionally, there were frequent guest spots on the hit action-science fiction television series Alias and a prominent voice role in the popular 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
In the 2005 biopic Capote, Collins was cast as Perry Smith, one of two convicted killers whose 1959 murder of a family served as the basis for Truman Capote’s 1966 nonfiction book In Cold Blood. Collins was universally acclaimed for the intensity of his portrayal and for the sympathy he evoked for the penitent murderer. He earned an ALMA Award nomination for outstanding actor.
The following year was a prolific and rewarding year for Collins. He starred alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. in the crime-drama Dirty, in which he played a Los Angeles police officer and former gang member, and he starred in and co-produced Rampage! The Hillside Strangler Murders, in which he portrayed real-life serial killer Kenneth Bianchi. Collins continued his dual role as actor and co-producer in the highly acclaimed independent film Little Chenier, and he was cast as a border patrol officer in the prominent and positively reviewed film Babel, starring Brad Pitt. Collins was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor for his role as a devoutly religious criminal on the acclaimed FX miniseries Thief.
Over the next several years, Collins acted in various small and little-seen films, including Under Still Waters (2008), Horsemen (2009), and The Perfect Game (2009).
In 2009 Collins had a minor role in J. J. Abrams's high-profile science fiction film Star Trek. The next several years saw Collins working in a steady stream of supporting roles in films such as the independent film Brothers (2009) as well as Crank: High Voltage (2009), and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010).
Collins was cast in Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 science fiction-action film Pacific Rim. He also appeared as Ross in the crime-action film Parker and as James Ramos in the television series Red Widow that year.
After appearing in Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp, in 2014, Collins went on to have roles in the horror-comedy Stung (2015), the ensemble crime-thriller Triple 9 (2016), and the crime-thriller Small Town Crime (2017). At the same time, he maintained a presence on television as he began portraying the character Lawrence in the HBO series Westworld in 2016, and he appeared in several episodes of the HBO series Ballers between 2015 and 2017. Also in 2017, he played a detective attempting to track down a vigilante in the film M.F.A., a criminal who kidnaps a man claiming to be a psychic in A Crooked Somebody, and a detective dealing with a bank robbery in The Vault. In addition to being cast in the 2018 Clint Eastwood film The Mule, he landed a role in the star-studded Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood (2019) as well as the films Running with the Devil (2019) and Lucky Day (2019) and the revived fourth season of Veronica Mars (2019).
Collins appeared in a wide range of roles in the early 2020s, including the films Breaking News in Yuba County,Jockey, Nightmare Alley, After Yang, and Riptide, all in 2021; and The Bricklayer and Red, White & Royal Blue, both 2023. The latter, an Amazon Prime film, is based on the popular young adult novel of the same title by Casey McQuiston.
He was cast as police detective Trujillo in a limited series about the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. The series, a Paramount+ project, included Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen in its large cast.
Impact
Though Clifton Collins Jr. has not enjoyed typical mainstream acting success, he has proven himself a worthy talent in small, independent features and high-budget films alike. Roles like murderer Perry Smith in Capote and Kenneth Bianchi in Rampage! The Hillside Strangler Murders show Collins’s range as an actor capable of impressive intensity.
Bibliography
Beale, Lewis. “Clifton Collins Jr. Feels Safe at Home with his Mexican Heritage in ‘The Perfect Game.’” NYDaily News. NY Daily News, 13 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
"Clifton Collins Jr." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0004286/?ref‗=fn‗al‗nm‗1. Accessed 19 sept. 2024.
Crump, Andrew. “Clifton Collins Jr. Talks ‘Pacific Rim,’ ‘Boondocks Saints 3,’ and ‘Transcendence.’” Screen Rant. Screen Rant, n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
Gallagher, Brian. “Exclusive: Clifton Collins Jr. Talks The Event.” MovieWeb. MovieWeb, 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.
Garton, Katie. “Clifton Collins Jr. is a Master of Disguise.” MovieMaker. MovieMaker Magazine, 9 July 2009. Web. 28 June 2013.
Grobar, Matt. "Paramount+'s 'JonBenet Ramsey' Adds Clifton Collins Jr., Chris Bauer, Rory Cochrane & Angus K. Caldwell." Deadline, 12 Sept. 2024, deadline.com/2024/09/jonbenet-ramsey-adds-clifton-collins-jr-chris-bauer-rory-cochrane-more-1236086197/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Hoffmann, Bill. “A Killer Role—Actor Clifton Collins Jr. Plays a Cold-Blooded Crazy in Capote.” New York Post 14 Sept. 2005: 45+. Print.
Voss, Ralph F. Truman Capote and the Legacy of In Cold Blood. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 2011. eBook.
Wattercutter, Angela. “Pacific Rim Is Literally the Most Awesome Movie of the Summer.” Wired. Condé Nast, 10 July 2013. Web. 2 Aug. 2013.