Written by | Ray Cornelius
Ricky Russert is one of Hollywood’s hottest rising actors and has been making a splash since he first burst on the scene in 2006 in Edward James Olmos Walkout.
The youngest child of three growing up in Kennewick, Washington, Russert was always being put in the spotlight when he was asked to dance to keep the party amused. A natural-born entertainer, Russert excelled at just about every sport on the planet including baseball, football and basketball. This competitive spirit led him to attend college on a baseball scholarship with a minor in business. However, it was during his sophomore year that fate would have him go in another direction. Since high school he had participated in several stage productions and the joy he felt while being a character on stage was the same feeling he had on the field. Without hesitation, Russert changed his major to theater and began starring as the lead in a number of student productions. It was a decision that he has never regretted.
“Theater is what got me into acting. I played baseball growing up and then once I hung up the cleats I jumped on stage and got that same feeling I did while playing baseball. I knew that this is what I wanted to do,” says Russert. “The fact that you have to be on point and there are no retakes is a high within itself because if requires that you be and remain in the moment. If something happens as it always does, you kind of just have to flow with it and for that purpose I really enjoy acting.”
After college, he moved to Los Angeles where he quickly found work appearing in such films as Desire, Flight of the Living Dead and Touch. He also got a chance to work with the legendary Dick Clark, which led to him starting his own production company, Triple R Entertainment. Since that time Russert has appeared in countless other productions for Fox, MTV and most recently, Cinemax. Russert stars on the cable channel’s hugely popular series Banshee and plays one of the town’s vigilantes, Tommy Littlestone.
“I play a bad guy who is such a fun character. His name is Tommy Littlestone, the younger brother to Chayton Littlestone, who’s become the menace of this small town, Banshee in Amish town, PA. He’s trying to get out of the shadow of his older brother and sprout out on his own and not be treated as the baby anymore. With that in mind, Tommy becomes the vigilante while defying his brother. The show has a lot of violence and action but it’s based around a love story which sets the overall tone. This coming season is going to be an exciting one with a lot of new things that are unexpected. ”
Russert is also taking his career to higher heights as he gears up to star in TV One’s original horror film, Fright Night Files, which debuts this weekend. The horror trilogy marks the first scripted production for Founder and Chairperson of Radio One, Inc. Cathy Hughes and her production partner Susan Banks. This is also Russert’s first time starring in a horror film. While he is used to playing the bad guy, he also feels pretty confident about playing the lover to Elise Neal (who is also currently starring TV One’s Hollywood Divas ).
“I play Emilio the ‘Latin Lover.’ He’s a very smooth talker who obviously enjoys the ladies and kind of out there for the excitement and intrigued of seeing if he can get what he’s after all of the time. So he calls into the radio station and flirts with the disc jockey played by Neal that he woos over the phone and convinces to have a one-night stand that doesn’t end up going so well,” says Russert. “I didn’t do too much of the horror, my scenes are in the love making and wooing of Neal, which was nice. (LOL) I have been a big fan of hers for quite some time.”
Check out a clip of Fright Night Files below:
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Look for Ricky Russert alongside Kevin Hart in Ride Along 2 debuting in 2015.
Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com
