D. J. Cotrona

Donald Joseph Cotrona (born May 23,[1] 1980) is an American actor, known for his role in the film G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) and as Seth Gecko in the El Rey Network horror television series From Dusk till Dawn.

D. J. Cotrona
Cotrona at the Sydney premiere of G.I. Joe: Retaliation in March 2013
Born	Donald Joseph Cotrona (1980-05-23) May 23, 1980 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2002–present

Early life

Cotrona was born in New Haven, Connecticut. His mother, Sheree, is a teacher, and his father, Donald, works for a recycling company.[2] Cotrona is of three eighths Italian and one quarter Polish descent; his other ancestry includes German, Hungarian, Austrian, and English.[2] He was studying to be a lawyer at Northeastern University in Boston; however, after doing a summer internship at a law firm, he realized he did not like working with lawyers.[2] In his sophomore year, he switched to acting; during his spring break, he went to visit a friend in Los Angeles and never returned to college.

Career

After a few guest starring roles Cotrona was being considered for the role of Ryan Atwood on the television series The O.C.[2] but that role went to Benjamin McKenzie. Shortly thereafter Cotrona was cast as the male lead in another of Fox's new dramas of 2003, the Jerry Bruckheimer produced Skin.[2] Cotrona played Adam Roam, the son of the Los Angeles District Attorney. His character becomes involved with Jewel Goldman (Olivia Wilde), whose father runs a pornography company. With their fathers' feud looming over them they pursue their "Romeo and Juliet" relationship. Skin was cancelled after three episodes aired due to poor ratings and the controversial story lines. The eight episodes of the series were shown on SOAPnet in 2005.

Cotrona appeared in the 2005 horror film Venom,[3] which was directed by Jim Gillespie. He also starred in the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival film Love is the Drug.[4]

In 2005 Cotrona again landed a lead role in a TV series, playing Sean Mathers, a flower shop worker with a dark past who is part of a group of lottery winners, in the NBC series Windfall.[5] The series would end up being shown in the summer of 2006 rather than as a mid-season replacement for the 2005-06 TV season.

Cotrona was cast in the role of Superman for Warner Bros.' planned film Justice League: Mortal;[6] however, after issues resulting from the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and other production concerns, the film was cancelled.

In 2010, Cotrona appeared in the film Dear John.[7][8][9] In February he was cast as Detective John Stone[10] in the ABC pilot 187 Detroit, which also stars Michael Imperioli, Shaun Majumder, and Erin Cummings among others.[11] When ABC ordered the series it was renamed Detroit 1-8-7. His character was killed in "Stone Cold", the sixteenth episode of the series. Cotrona played Flint, one of the leading roles, in the sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013).[12]

In March 2014, the horror television series From Dusk till Dawn developed by Robert Rodriguez based on his own cult horror film of the same title, was aired on the newly launched El Rey Network. Cotrona played Seth Gecko in the series, being part of the main cast until the series ended in 2016.[13]

He has since appeared in the promotional 30-minute short film for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, which aired in February 2017.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Venom	Sean
2006	Love is the Drug	Lucas Mitchell
2010	Dear John	Noodles
2013	G.I. Joe: Retaliation	Dashiell R. Faireborn / Flint
2017	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel	Ricky Sandoval	Short film
2019	Shazam!	Super Hero Pedro

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Donovan Alvarez	Episode: "Grief"
2003	Skin	Adam Roam	8 episodes
2004	Hollywood Division		Unsold pilot
2006	Windfall	Sean Mathers	13 episodes
2010–11	Detroit 1-8-7	John Stone	16 episodes
2014–16	From Dusk till Dawn: The Series	Seth Gecko	30 episodes
2014	Matador	Party Guest	Episode: "Quid Go Pro"
2020	L.A's Finest	Luca Verone	4 episodes

References

1. "D.J. COTRONA Detective John Stone on ABC's "Detroit 1-8-7"" (Press release). ABC Medianet. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
2. Bianco, Robert (20 October 2003). "For D.J. Cotrona, 'Skin' is in". USA Today. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
3. Chang, Justin (15 September 2005). "Venom". variety.com. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
4. Chang, Justin (6 February 2006). "Love Is The Drug". variety.com. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
5. "NBC GETS SURGE FROM 'WINDFALL,' NEW DRAMA SERIES FOR MID-SEASON 2005-06". thefutoncritic.com. July 21, 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
6. Cieply, Michael (March 1, 2008). "A Film's Superheroes Face Threat of Strike". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
7. Lowry, Brian (February 2, 2010). "Dear John". variety.com. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
8. "allmovie.com – dear john – cast". Allmovie. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
9. "Dear John". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). May 7, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
10. "2010 ABC PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT GUIDE - DRAMA SERIES". thefutoncritic.com. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
11. "DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23". thefutoncritic.com. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
12. "'G.I. Joe': RZA Joining Sequel (Exclusive)".
13. Petski, Denise (26 October 2015). "'From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series' Renewed For Season 3 On El Rey Network".
14. "IMDb: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel".

External links

• D. J. Cotrona on IMDb 
• D. J. Cotrona on Twitter