I first saw Giovanni Ribisi on
Friends, where he had a recurring role as Phoebe's cute, naive younger brother Frank (1995-2003).
Nice biceps, buddy.His plotlines were extensively heterosexist -- it was Friends, after all. Eventually he falls in love with a much older woman (Debra Jo Rupp of That 70s Show), and asks Phoebe to be the surrogate mother for his child.
But the 21-year old actor, son of a talent agent and a musician, had been on screen since he was 9 years old, with recurring roles in
The New Leave It to Beaver, Davis Rules, My Two Dads, The Wonder Years, and
Family Album, and guest shots practically everywhere.
Here Teddy and Boz (Giovanni, Stephen Dorff) rib their "dateless amigo" Bud Bundy on a 1989 episode of Married With Children.
As a young adult, Giovanni had a lean, rugged frame and a handsome but quirky face. I got such a strong gay vibe that I expected a lot of gay characters or subtexts in his work. Instead, he played a lot of brooding, depressed heterosexuals in art-house movies:
SubUrbia (1996): a group of teens in small-town Austin, Texas (of all places) experience angst and want to escape. Nice physique, buddy
Lost Highway (1997): A neo-noir by David Lynch, so of course it makes no sense. No men show their stuff, as one expects from Mr. Lynch, but there are lots of lady parts.
First Love, Last Rites (1997): Two Generation X-ers, Giovanni and a girl, do bedroom stuff and are bored.
Nice backside, buddy.
Scotch and Milk (1998): Written, directed, and starring Adam Goldberg: "A brooding self-styled swinger loses himself in booze and night clubbing amongst similar other men. Meanwhile he pines for the woman he really loves." In spite of the gay tease, there aren't any gay characters. Giovanni plays his friend.
More after the break
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