Andre Royo (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins on the HBO crime drama series The Wire, and his appearances on Fringe, Party Down, How to Make It in America, and the 2013 film The Spectacular Now. Royo also appeared as Lucious Lyon's defense attorney Thirsty Rawlings on the Fox drama series Empire.

Personal life Royo was born in the borough of the Bronx in New York City on July 18, 1968, and is of African-American and Cuban heritage. According to Royo, in auditions he had been told by some casting directors that he was "not Black enough" or "not Latino enough" for certain parts.

Royo attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx from 1982 until 1986. Royo is married to Jane Choi and they have one daughter named Stella.

Career Royo made his acting debut in a minor role in the 1998 film L.A. Without a Map. In 1999, he made one-episode guest appearances on the television series Law & Order and Third Watch. Additionally, in the Law & Order episode 'Prince of Darkness', Royo can be seen sitting in the audience of the courtroom, directly behind the defendant. In 2000, he had a small role in John Singleton's remake of the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. He also appeared in the 2002 movie G, which was based on The Great Gatsby.

Royo is mostly known for his starring role on the HBO crime-drama series The Wire as the drug addict and confidential informant Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, a regular character since the show's first season. Royo's portrayal of this character was so convincing that, during on-location filming, he was once approached by a Baltimore resident and given a small package of heroin, with the man saying to the in-character Royo: "Man, you need this more than I do." Royo has called this incident his "street Oscar."

In 2008, he made a brief appearance in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a soldier in a unit that was sent back in time. That same year, he was introduced as the character Stephen Canfield during the third season of the television series Heroes. In 2008, Royo also played the role of a drug addicted homeless serial killer in the Criminal Minds season 4 episode "Catching Out".

In October 2009, Royo was featured at a Harvard University panel discussion along with other actors from The Wire, Sonja Sohn and Michael K. Williams. The panel discussed the value of The Wire as a media source that at-risk youth can relate to and learn positive life lessons from. In 2010, Royo guest starred on the Starz original series Party Down. Later that year, he was a guest star in the third season premiere as well as the seventh and eighteenth episodes of the Fox television series Fringe, playing a cab driver in the parallel universe.

In 2012, Royo appeared in the NBC police drama Prime Suspect as Santana Cordero, an accused murderer killing witnesses before he was tried. He appears in the 2012 film Red Tails as Antwan "Coffee" Coleman. Royo then starred as a bully's alcoholic father in a Key & Peele sketch. In 2013, Royo portrayed geometry teacher Mr. Aster in the 2013 romantic-comedy drama film The Spectacular Now. Royo was a guest, playing Otis in the episode "Trading Faces" on Paul Scheer's action comedy series NTSF:SD:SUV:: on Cartoon Network's late-night block Adult Swim. He then was a guest voice in the Bob's Burgers episode "Nude Beach" playing himself, and then voiced an exterminator named Marcus in a 2014 episode titled "Tina and the Real Ghost". He appeared in the 2015 drama film Lila & Eve, as a character named Skaketti, alongside Jennifer Lopez and Viola Davis.

In 2015, Royo appeared in Agent Carter series portraying Spider Raymond, who ran the night club "La Martinique", but he became more notorious for being an illegal trader. He also appeared in Showtime's Happyish as Barry, mutual friend of the main characters, Thom and Lee Payne. In Amazon Prime's Hand of God, Royo portrayed San Vincente's Mayor Robert "Bobo" Boston. On Fox's Empire, he played Thirsty Rawlings, a shifty defense attorney.

In 2016, Royo won a Special Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival for his role in Hunter Gatherer.

He appears alongside Octavia Spencer in the Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told, where he portrays an attorney.

In 2024, he appeared in Chris Stapleton's video "Think I'm in Love with You".

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1998 L.A. Without a Map Music Store Clerk 2000 Shaft Tattoo 2001 Perfume Posse Member 2002 G Tre 2004 Planet Brooklyn Junie 2005 All the Invisible Children Sammy Segment: "Jesus Children of America" 2008 August Dylan Gottschalk 2009 21 and a Wake-Up Dr. Jim West 2010 Super Hamilton 2012 Red Tails Antwan "Coffee" Coleman Freelancers Daniel Maldonado Hellbenders Stephen The Collection Wally 2013 The Spectacular Now Mr. Aster 2014 Of Mind and Music Kenny Aftermath Rob 2015 Lila & Eve Detective Skaketti 2016 Hunter Gatherer Ashley Douglas 2017 Billy Boy Mr. Adams 2018 Beautiful Boy Spencer Prospect Oruf 2022 To Leslie Royal 2027 Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1999 Law & Order Gil Freeman Episode: "Hunters" Third Watch Diop Episode: "Anywhere But Here" 2000 Wonderland Psychiatric patient Episode: "Pilot"; uncredited 2002–07 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Riley / Luther Pinkston 2 episodes 2002–08 The Wire Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins Main role 2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Felix Santos Episode: "Loss" 2004 The Jury Naadia Azhar Episode: "Bangers" 2005 Cuts George 3 episodes CSI: Miami Julio Pena Episode: "Vengeance" 2008 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Sumner 2 episodes Heroes Stephen Canfield 2 episodes Criminal Minds Armando Salinas Episode: "Catching Out" 2009 Numbers Tim Pynchon Episode: "Arrow of Time" CSI: NY Big Willie Brown Episode: "Blacklist (Featuring Grave Digger)" 2010 Party Down Scott Episode: "Joel Munt's Big Deal Party" The Whole Truth Eric Santiago Episode: "Judicial Discretion" 2010–11 Fringe Henry Arliss Higgins 3 episodes 2011 Memphis Beat Ronnie Episode: "Ten Little Memphians" How to Make It in America Kevin Episode: "In or Out" 2012 Prime Suspect Santana Cordero Episode: "Stuck in the Middle with You" Key & Peele Bully's Dad Episode: "Victory" 2013 Elementary Thaddeus Episode: "Déjà Vu All Over Again" NTSF:SD:SUV:: Otis Episode: "Trading Faces" In Security Lyle 6 episodes 2013–14 Bob's Burgers Andre Royo / Marcus (voice) 2 episodes 2014–16 Kingdom Hotel Owner 2 episodes 2014–17 Hand of God Mayor Robert "Bobo" Boston Main role 2015 Agent Carter Spider Raymond Episode: "Now is Not the End" Happyish Barry 5 episodes Drunk History King Oliver Episode: "New Orleans" 2015–19 Empire Thirsty Rawlings Main role (seasons 4–5); recurring (seasons 2−3) 2016 Masters of Sex Sammy Davis Jr. Episode: "The Pleasure Protocol" 2017 Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories Isaiah Episode: "Angel Man" 2020 Interrogation Charlie Shannon Recurring role; 5 episodes 2021 Truth Be Told Demetrius10 episodes With Love Laz Zayas Recurring role; 5 episodes2026The Punisher: One Last Kill DreDisney+ television special

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