Lights Out Star Frank Grillo Explains How He’s Different From Other Marvel Actors

Frank Grillo has appeared in a number of independent films, as well as some of Marvel’s highest-grossing movies of all time. It’s a complicated dual career track that so many character actors work with, and he admits that sometimes, he wishes he could get some of the scripts that his Marvel Universe co-stars are offered. Not because he wants the money or the accolades, but because sometimes, being pigeonholed in one kind of role can make it hard to attract offers from interesting filmmakers with interesting scripts. He says that as much as he is thrilled to appear in movies like Lights Out and Lamborghini, it would be nice to have a little more variety.

He explained that part of his job, as he sees it, is to sift through the dozens of nearly identical scripts, and find the ones that are either better than the rest, or that he thinks he can elevate. He compared himself to Avengers actor Mark Ruffalo, who he says is a great actor — but it’s a little easier for Ruffalo, because everyone in Hollywood knows he’s a great actor.

“Whatever performances that I’ve had that have stuck out, it’s because of the filmmaker,” Grillo told ComicBook.com. “If a filmmaker has a script that is top tier, and that’s what you look for. I could jump on a movie like Lamborghini and have to be a middle-aged, Italian guy, and I love that. I’m about to do a film based on a memoir, a really beautifully written memoir, and I’m friends with the writer now, who’s very similar to me in look and stuff. I’m really excited to go and explore what this guy’s journey was, and what his memoir is about, and have nothing to do with my fists, or vulgarity, or the dark subculture of humanity.”

“I’m just curious about a lot of things,” Grillo added. “The other thing is, in my career, I’m not Mark Ruffalo. He gets offered all kinds of interesting stuff, and I also get some of that — but I have to sift through what I get offered and make a decision on how I can make it good, if that makes sense. Often it’s just the same script over and over, or it’s my job to make it interesting, or they’re going to build it around me because I’m that guy. But truthfully, I’m not that guy. I’m a father of three sons, and I’m educated, and I know how to fight because it was a hobby. It’s a passion of mine, but I’m not a tough guy. Cowboy Cerrone’s a tough guy. He’s a real tough guy. You know what I mean? I can’t say how many producers say to me, ‘Well, you do the action thing.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. I’ve done a lot of films. Obviously you haven’t seen them.’”

On the other hand, he thinks that his range, combined with those low expecations, actually makes him a more versatile actor than some really talented people that is often appearing alongside. 

“I can do the action thing, and I could also do Lamborghini, or I could do a movie where I’m a dad,” Grillo told us. “But there’s not a lot of guys that can do both. They can do the drama, but there’s not a lot of guys that can do the action or the tough guy thing. They just can’t. Mark Ruffalo is awesome. He’s not a tough guy. I’m never afraid of Mark Ruffalo, but he’s a gorgeous actor.”

In Lights Out, a homeless veteran, Michael “Duffy” Duffield (Frank Grillo), meets a talkative Ex-Con, Max Bomer (Mekhi Phifer) who notices Duffy’s skills after he gets into a bar fight and offers him a well-paying “job” competing in underground fight clubs. The pair form an unlikely partnership after their first fight and decide to travel to LA so Duffy can atone for his past and Max can pay back a crime boss, Sage Parker (Dermot Mulroney). Duffy enters Sage’s fight club and eventually wins, but it also gets him tied up in the crime world and offered jobs he can’t refuse, including one with Sage’s partner and Police officer, Ellen Ridgway (Jaime King). The deeper Duffy goes in this world, the more deadly it gets.

The movie is now available to buy on digital platforms.