Bryan Genesse

Bryan Genesse is a Canadian actor and martial artist, perhaps best known for his action roles on the television series Street Justice, and in early productions of the Nu Image film company.

Genesse was born in Hamilton, Ontario, but grew up in Welland, in the same province.^[3] At age 13, he got into martial arts in order to stand up to bullies.^[4] He discovered his interest for acting when he took part in a high school play, and subsequently attended drama school at George Brown College in Toronto. However, he left after a year to fast track his professional career. Genesse quickly garnered minor roles in Canadian-filmed series,^[1] and moved to New York City when he was 19 to further improve his professional network. He remained there for three and a half years, while still pursuing gigs in his native Canada.^[5] The actor first gained notice playing womanizing types in raunchy comedies, making his feature debut as the lead in 1985's Screwballs II, followed by two antagonistic turns, as a British rock star in Blake Edwards' Skin Deep and a lecherous, conniving nightclub owner in California Casanova (wrapped in 1989 but belatedly released in 1991).^[6]

Genesse was also asked to read for the character of Storm Logan in the new soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Mistakenly believing that the character's nickname reflected his lifestyle, when he was in fact a regular lawyer, Genesse went to the audition in streetwear and sporting a spiky hairdo. The shows' producers were taken aback at first, but found the irreverent style to be a welcome departure from daytime drama conventions, and wrote a brand new character to accommodate him, called Rocco Carner.^[5] While most press profiles at the time emphasized the sensitive image befitting of a soap star, his slightly edgier persona allowed for sporadic allusions to his martial arts background, and he did pose for a few glamour shots with traditional Asian weapons. Genesse also hosted a semi-fictional children's instructional video made by former Cannon executives to bank on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles phenomenon, entitled How to Become a Teenage Ninja.^[7]

While making B&B-related personal appearances in Italy, Genesse was called back to Los Angeles to audition for Stephen Cannell's next series to be shot in Canada, Street Justice, in a role that would take advantage of his interest for martial arts. In addition to starring on the show, he served as fight choreographer.^[8] Street Justice led to an image change for Genesse, who was featured on the cover of several martial arts magazines, such as CFW's Inside Kung Fu and Kung Fu Masters.^[9][10][11]

Following the series' two-season run, Genesse was approached to star in action films made by Nu Image, a fledgling company then primarily based in South Africa. He debuted for them in Night Siege: Project Shadowchaser II opposite Frank Zagarino. The two would become friends and co-star in several more movies. A few months later, Genesse received top billing in Human Timebomb, which Nu Image's U.S. distributor, New Line, chose to rebrand as a sequel to their 1992 film Live Wire in the territory. It was also successful in Japan, and earned the actor a multi-picture contract from Nu Image, with whom he has remained closely associated for most of his career.^[4]

Genesse, who had contemplated writing since his early days as a performer,^[1] scripted and co-produced 2000's The Alternate, in which he also acted alongside his wife Brooke Theiss, Eric Roberts, Ice-T and Michael Madsen. After Madsen expressed interest in teaming up again, Genesse put together Bad Guys, which marked his second writing credit and his directorial debut.^[4] However, the film was affected by turmoil at production company Giants Entertainment and only saw release in a handful of markets.^[12][13]

In 2003, Genesse had a serious accident while filming a combat stunt on Fire, part of Nu Image's Nature Unleashed series of disaster films. He suffered knee, hamstring and back injuries, which left him with walking difficulties. The actor went through a lengthy rehabilitation process in his native Canada, which took between five and six years—partly due to insurance issues—and virtually ended his acting career.^[5][4][8] He did appear in a minor role in Edison, a 2005 crime drama from Nu Image's premium production arm, Millennium Films.

Following a lengthy hiatus from the screen, Genesse returned to his soap opera roots on The Bold and the Beautiful. He reprised his early role of Rocco Carner, with the first episode of his story arc airing on March 12, 2009.^[14]

Genesse's first martial art was taekwondo.^[4] He later added other styles to his repertoire, such as hung gar kung fu^[10] and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which he claims a black belt, awarded in 2014 by Jean-Jacques Machado.^[15] He is also a self defense and martial arts professor. After teaching under senior instructors, he opened his own school, named Venom BJJ and located in Valencia, California, as of 2024.^[8][16]

Genesse has been married to actress Brooke Theiss since 1994. They have two children, born in 1995 and 2008.^[2] He also works as a real estate agent in Southern California.^[17]

• Bryan Genesse at IMDb
• Meet the Bad Guys – behind-the-scenes footage from Genesse's directorial debut
• Venom Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy – Official website