With Permission
Branford’s Charlie Grady lives two lives. By day he oversees a major gun violence reduction program for Bridgeport’s U.S. Attorney’s office. When he leaves his desk, he enters his second life, the life of an accomplished screen actor.
Next month, from March 14 to 16, Grady’s screen life takes center stage when his latest film, The Word, premieres at the Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport, the city where most of the award-winning movie was filmed. The film explores the dark world of subcultures and a gruesome murder.
In the film Grady plays a friend and business partner of Tom Hawkins, played by lead actor Kevin O’Donnell. (They are pictured above). Hawkins is a single father whose son is kidnapped and killed in a ritualistic sacrifice. Hawkins sets out to find out why and becomes part of the investigation.
In an interview Grady said, “This is a suspense thriller; it is by no means a Disney film. It is a dark film. What I like most about this film is that it sparks, it touches a whole idea of subcultures. There are whole subcultures out there that don’t believe in religion or they have different beliefs. Not many films talk about this underground.”
The March premiere marks the official release of the film, which has already racked up top awards at various film festivals. Shot entirely in Connecticut, the film received top honor for Best Dramatic Feature at the 2013 Manhattan Film Festival and the Silver Ace Award at the 2013 Las Vegas Film Festival.
Grady, 52, lives in Branford with his wife, Cheryl, and their two daughters, Madison, a senior at Branford High School, and Charlee, a freshman.
“I love the town of Branford. It is the greatest town ever for family activities and for community life,” he said. “Summers you get together with family and friends. We hang out at Branford Point. I just love everything about this town.”
Grady The Cop
Grady grew up in a family of cops. His father was an assistant chief of police in New Haven. His five uncles were all cops. “I grew up with it. For a long time I didn’t want to be a police officer though after you are over the rebellious stage, I realized I knew police work better than I knew anything else. … I saw my first dead body when I was 14 years old. I used to go with my father to different calls.”
With Permission
Eventually Grady spent 20 years in law enforcement, beginning his career as a police officer in Hamden. He went on to become a detective and a state and federal task force investigator. Then he went to the FBI. It was during his years at the FBI where he worked on investigations that he began to go for auditions for film and television shows. He took acting classes in New York, landed a lead role in an off-Broadway play and soon began landing small bit roles in some major films and a variety of television shows, including Law and Order and All My Children.
He retired from full time police work after 20 years, as many cops do. But he returned to full-time work in law enforcement when he was asked to direct Project Longevity for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Bridgeport, a program designed to reduce gun violence.
“Based on the work we are doing in Bridgeport, we had a 50 percent reduction in homicides and a 30 percent reduction in shootings,” he said. He loves this work, which includes going into communities like New Haven to talk to young people about his film work.
Becoming an actor was not his first love. His first love was playing music in a band. For many years, while working on the police force by day, he was a professional musician, a drummer, by night. He played in a jazz fusion band named Good News.
“I became an actor after my band broke up. I was a professional musician. Initially when I was a cop I was a motorcycle officer. I worked 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then I would pack my drum set up and travel with my band either down to New York or Philly or Boston or wherever we had a gig. I played with some of the great musicians in Connecticut. After the band split up, he said he began going to New York, going to auditions, looking at Back Stage magazine.” Slowly he was beginning to get noticed, he said.
About a year before taking his current job, he won a part in The Word. In this movie, Grady said, “I get to actually be the warm friendly caring guy and so the role I play is a lot like me in real life. This is not always the case. I have played a lot of cops but usually I am the bad cop or cop that is over zealous,” he says in thinking about his 10 films. “And that is not who I am. But this role is of a friend that everyone has.”
Making Films in Connecticut.
The film cost about $5 million to make, cheap in the movie industry. Grady said he hopes more movies are made in Connecticut. He told the Eagle that the movie’s director, Greg Friedle, is from Connecticut as are the writer and producer of the movie, Stephen Grimaldi. James Naughton, who plays the top FBI agent in the film, also lives in Connecticut.
One of Grady’s most recent films, “Diamond Ruff,” which was produced and directed by Joe Young, also a Connecticut native, was shot entirely in Hartford. Grady plays a key role as a hostage negotiator in the film, which is expected to be released later this year.
A few months back, in October, Grady played a reporter in a short film shot in Branford and entitled Esquire. The film was directed by Greg Nutcher, who works part-time at the Branford Police Department. Grady said he likes to mentor cops who show an interest in acting and film making. The two men are good friends.
So what’s next?
“Well,” he said, “I have finished my first screenplay and I plan on shooting the film in Connecticut as well,” he said.
He is keeping mum about whether the film will be shot in his hometown.
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