Published: August 31, 2006 11:19 pm         

Former Terre Haute South Brave finding success in acting world

Terre Haute — Ten years ago, Joey Cantillo made corner shots with a tennis racket. These days, he’s shooting around corners with an M4 rifle.

He’s an actor now. And his career has become action-packed. The former Terre Haute South Vigo High School tennis standout is a primary character in the movie “Crank,” which premiers around the nation tonight. And Cantillo is a regular cast member in the new Fox Network television series “Standoff,” which makes its fall debut Tuesday at 9 p.m.

In “Standoff,” Cantillo plays Duff Gonzalez, a wise-cracking member of an FBI hostage rescue team. Part of his preparation includes intensive weapons training.

“It’s the kind of stuff you dream about as a kid — like a G.I. Joe,” Cantillo said in a telephone interview this week.

“It’s great fun,” he added, “and it’s a long way from the tennis courts in Terre Haute.”

Cantillo, the son of Dr. Roberto and Rita Cantillo of Terre Haute, grew up here and eventually helped lead the South tennis team to a state runner-up finish in 1996. He graduated in 1997, got a degree from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, and then decided to pursue an acting career in New York after taking some drama classes at IU. Two years ago, he moved to California, where he and his wife Kristi, and their 7-year-old daughter live in Santa Clarita, a town “that kind of reminds us of Terre Haute.”

His climb to this career point has been steady. After doing off-Broadway plays in New York, Cantillo landed guest roles on television series such as “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Bones,” “Nip/Tuck,” “ER,” “Crossing Jordan” and “CSI: Miami.” And on the big screen, he played support roles in “Shackles” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” and has parts in upcoming movies “After Sex,” “Disturbia,” “Bondage” and today’s release “Crank.”

“Crank” stars Jason Statham as Chev Chelios, a hit man who has been injected with a poison that can only be thwarted by the adrenaline in his body. Chev must keep moving, or die within 24 hours. And the bad guy who calls to tell Chev he’s been poisoned is Cantillo’s character Ricky Verona.

The movie’s cast also includes Efren Ramirez, Amy Smart and country music star Dwight Yoakam.

This week, a film crew came to Cantillo’s home, which is near Los Angeles, to shoot extra features for the DVD release of “Crank.” And he’s been interviewed on “Entertainment Tonight” and Fox Network about both “Crank” and “Standoff.”

“I’m really excited about it,” Cantillo said. “I’ve been really bombarded, and I’m seeing my face on billboards all over the place.

“You have a reserved parking place at Fox, and you get to do some really cool stuff,” he added.

Having a movie premier and a TV series debut in a five-day span can only help Cantillo’s future as an actor, he speculated.

“They kind of go hand in hand,” he said.

The television show got a significant boost when the network scheduled it for 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, alongside Fox’s hit doctor series “House.”

“We really got a great time slot,” Cantillo said.

The “Standoff” cast stars Ron Livingston as Matt Flannery, and Rosemarie DeWitt as Emily Lehman, two hostage negotiators for the FBI. The plot includes a romantic link between that duo that serves as a source of friction with their boss Cheryl Carrera, played by Gina Torres. The show’s executive producers have some notable film credits — Craig Silverstein with “The Dead Zone,” Tim Story with “Fantastic Four” and “Barbershop,” and “Glen Mazzara “The Shield.”

“It’s got a great cast of people. They’re actors’ actors,” Cantillo said. “It’s a great-looking cast, but it’s great to know that they went for actors first.”

And while Cantillo is quickly learning the twists and turns of the fickle Hollywood industry, he’s hopeful that his rising movie career will strengthen his position on the TV cast of “Standoff.”

“They may say, ‘He’s got, now, a fan base, so his character is more indispensable,’” Cantillo speculated.

In the meantime, the well-mannered college graduate, who also won the sportsmanship award for the South tennis team, is enjoying his chance to dress like a commando, learn to handle sophisticated weaponry and act in Hollywood.

“That’s the kind of stuff that gets you up in the morning,” Cantillo said.



Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.