Romany Malco

Born Romany Romanic Malco Jr. on November 18, 1968, in Brooklyn, New York, he is the first US-born member of his West Indian family. His early life included a move to Baytown, Texas, where he attended Ross S. Sterling High School, and service in the United States Marine Corps from 1987 to 1991. Malco’s career began in music at age seven when he started rapping. As a teenager, he formed the rap group R.M.G. in Texas, which later signed a deal with Virgin Records and became College Boyz. Their single “Victim of the Ghetto” from the 1992 album “Radio Fusion Radio” reached number one on the rap charts. While working as a music producer on the 1997 film “The Pest,” actor John Leguizamo encouraged him to pursue acting, noticing Malco’s dynamic personality.

Malco’s acting career gained momentum with his lead role in the VH-1 telepic “Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story” (2001). His breakthrough came in 2005 with significant roles in the Judd Apatow comedy film “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” where he played the character Jay and received critical praise for his performance. The same year, he joined the cast of the Showtime dark-comedy series “Weeds” as Conrad Shepard, appearing in seasons 1-3 and as a guest star in season 8. He continued to take on supporting roles in various comedies, including “Blades of Glory” (2007), “Baby Mama” (2008), and “The Love Guru” (2008). In 2012, he starred as Zeke Freeman in “Think Like a Man” and reprised the role in its 2014 sequel, “Think Like a Man Too.” Other notable film appearances include “Last Vegas” (2013) and “The DUFF” (2015).

Beyond acting, Malco has also ventured into directing and writing. He directed and wrote the film “Tijuana Jackson: Purpose Over Prison” (2018), where he also played the titular character, and directed an episode of “A Million Little Things” in 2023. His directorial debut for a TV series was for “Prison Logic” in 2011. From 2018 to 2023, he was a series regular as Rome Howard on the ABC series “A Million Little Things.” Throughout his career, Malco has earned several nominations, including NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, MTV Movie Awards for Best Breakthrough Performance and Best On-Screen Team, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.