A native of the South Bronx, Frank John Hughes studied Jazz composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before moving back to New York to begin studying with legendary Russian method acting teacher Sonia Moore at her Studio of the Theatre. At the age of nineteen he became one of the youngest members ever to be given lifetime membership into New York’s prestigious Actor’s Studio.
In 1988, after stage productions Off-Broadway, Hughes made his feature film debut in Robert Celestino’s True Convictions. Hughes and Celestino would next collaborate in 1997 on the Sundance Film Festival hit Mr. Vincent. Since then Hughes has appeared in films such as Bad Boys opposite Will Smith, The Funeral, Layin’ Low, Urban Jungle, Robbers, Deranged, for which he won best actor at the New York Independent Film Festival, Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can opposite Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, ‘Yonkers Joe’ and Righteous Kill opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
A veteran of numerous television appearances, Mr. Hughes received wide international acclaim for his portrayal of Wild Bill Guarnere in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and in 2007 joined the cast of HBO’s The Sopranos for the show’s final season playing Walden Belfiore.
In 2008, Hughes joined the cast of the hit series 24 as Director of Homeland Security Tim Woods and remained for the final two seasons until the series ended.
In 2010, Hughes wrote, produced and starred in the film ‘Leave’ opposite Rick Gomez, Bryan Cranston and Ron Livingston. It was directed once again, by his long time collaborator Robert Celestino. ‘Leave’, which won both ‘best feature’ and the ‘audience award’ at the Gasparilla International Film Festival, will be released in 2012.
In 2011, Hughes wrote and produced ‘The Grief Tourist’ staring Michael Cudlitz, Melanie Griffith and Pruitt Taylor Vince. It is set for release in late 2012.
Hughes is co-founder of Reckoner Films along with Rick Gomez.
