Personal details
- Birth Date: 1983-02-16
- Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Birth Location: Akron, Ohio, USA
- Parents: Wendy Magaro
- Professions: Actor, Producer, Director
John Magaro, born in Akron, Ohio back in ’83, grew up in Munroe Falls—yeah, classic Midwest vibes. He kicked off his acting chops doing local theater gigs around Cleveland and Akron, which, let’s be real, is a rite of passage for anyone who’s serious about the craft and doesn’t have a famous uncle in Hollywood to give them a leg up. From there, the dude’s filmography just kept getting wilder. He’s the guy you might remember from Overlord, that bonkers WWII horror flick from Paramount, not to mention a solid turn in Marshall where he shared the screen with Chadwick Boseman. That’s not even counting his role in Netflix’s War Machine with Brad Pitt, or in The Big Short—a movie that pretty much everyone with a Netflix account has watched at least twice by now. The Big Short snagged a bunch of ensemble awards and nominations, so being part of that cast? Not too shabby. He’s not just a movie guy either. Magaro’s popped up on TV in stuff like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, did this thing in Woody Allen’s Crisis in Six Scenes, and had a recurring gig on Orange is the New Black—because, let’s face it, everybody watched that show at some point. Theater? Oh, he’s got that too. He played Joseph Papp in Illyria at the Public Theatre, and flexed his chops alongside heavyweights like Nathan Lane and John Goodman in The Front Page. The guy even headlined Tigers Be Still, which critics were all over. Basically, he’s one of those actors who sneaks up on you—suddenly you realize you’ve seen him everywhere, and yeah, he’s really that good.
You wanna talk about dedication? Garrett Hedlund dropped a whopping 40 pounds just to play Tinker in Unbroken. That’s not your average “I’ll skip dessert tonight” kind of weight loss, either. We’re talking hardcore commitment—like, he basically overhauled his whole lifestyle for a role. And it totally shows in the film. His transformation adds this raw, almost haunting edge to Tinker, making the character feel painfully real. The dude really sells the physical and emotional exhaustion that comes with surviving a Japanese POW camp during World War II. Honestly, you look at him in the movie and you almost forget what he looked like before. He just disappears into it. That sort of sacrifice? Not everyone in Hollywood’s got it in them. Hedlund went all in, and it’s wild to think about the discipline and sheer willpower that takes. All for a movie role. Respect, man.
You ever meet someone who just laughs and you know it’s real? Like, no faking it, no weird forced giggle, just pure, honest laughter. That’s what makes the guy stand out. He’s not trying to impress anyone or put on some fake persona, and honestly, that’s kind of rare these days. Most folks are all about image, right? But this guy, nah, he’s just himself, and that’s weirdly refreshing. I find myself respecting that a ton. There’s something magnetic about people who aren’t afraid to just be who they are, flaws and all. Makes you wonder why everyone else is so busy pretending. Maybe it’s just easier to be genuine, even if it freaks people out sometimes. At the end of the day, I’d take someone real over a smooth-talker any day. The world could use a bit more of that.
February 16, 1983
5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Akron, Ohio, USA
Wendy Magaro and Surekha
42 years old