Romany Malco Biography

American actor Romany Malco had an extremely successful and lucrative career as a rapper and music producer before he ever stepped in front of the camera. Deciding to pursue his second passion, however, Malco remains best known for his roles in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Weeds.

Romany Malco was born November 18, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was of Trinidadian descent.

While Malco is currently known as an actor, he actually began his foray into entertainment at the age of seven. Assuming the stage name Kid Nice, Malco helped establish the new rap group RMG.

Proving mildly successful, the group relocated to Los Angeles, California. Changing names as well as locales, they officially became the College Boyz.

With this configuration, they won a contract under Virgin Records, and their single, “Victim of the Ghetto,” peaked at the top spot of the Billboard rap charts.

Translating his personal success into a lucrative career in musical production, Malco is noted for lending his work to albums by Paula Abdul, CeCe Peniston, and others.

Branching out, Malco also began working on various film soundtracks, one of which was The Pest starring John Leguizamo. Impressing the young actor, Leguizamo was actually one of the first to encourage Malco to act himself.

Taking the advice, Malco made his onscreen debut in 1998 with a one-episode appearance on Touched by an Angel followed by For Your Love.

His first big break came not long after in 2000. In that year, he won the role of Jerry Hooten on the television series Level 9. Only lasting to 2001, the series also featured Michael Kelly, Max Martini, Kim Murphy, and others.

While it was not a success with critics or any notable award shows, Malco did manage to increase his visibility considerably with a starring role in Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story.

Others will recognize him for his role as Jay in the hit comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin with the all-star cast of Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, and Elizabeth Banks. The film was directed by Malco’s longtime friend Judd Apatow.

2005 also brought the role of Conrad Shepard on the comedy/drama Weeds, a role Malco accepted and played until 2007. The critically acclaimed series also featured Mary Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Hunter Parrish, and many others.

More recently, Malco appeared in Baby Mama with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey as well as The Love Guru opposite Jessica Alba, Mike Myers, Meagan Good, and Justin Timberlake.

In his personal life, Malco is engaged to Taryn Dakha. They met while filming The Love Guru. Currently, the couple lives in Los Angeles.