The Untold Truth Of Bobby Cannavale

There are a few things about Broadway and silver screen star Bobby Cannavale that may seem obvious. For instance, he has a great last name (just say it a couple of times out loud and enjoy). There's also the fact that he clearly has camera-worthy good looks and screen-worthy skills. Granted, there's much more to him than just that.

Hardcore fans might have also noticed something interesting about Cannavale's former characters. IMDb points out that the actor "[h]as played roles covering each of the New York City's three major emergency response agencies." Indeed, he showed up as a police officer on Will & Grace, played a paramedic on Third Watch, and appeared as a firefighter in The Guru. Granted, that doesn't mean that he's eager to be typecast, instead explaining to InStyle, "I want to play everything." However, despite wanting to be all in when it comes to potential roles, he also keeps a distance. "The big business, Hollywood? I don't really work in that business," he said while talking to The New York Times. "I peripherally work in it, but I'm not involved in it the way some people are."

If you find that little tidbit of trivia interesting, then you might want to be filled in on some lesser-known information about him, like the fact that he told Complex that he "can pee every hour easily." Okay, so that might have been something that you could have left unknown, but you will definitely want to read on to find out even more intriguing untold truths about Bobby Cannavale.

In high school, Bobby Cannavale indulged in his love of performing and he wasn't alone. He just so happened to go to school with another future star who has likely made you laugh with his comedic onscreen detective work. "I went to high school with and acted in every play with Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Joe Lo Truglio," he told Us Weekly while opening up about his life in 2018. He also admitted that apart from taking the stage together for school performances, the two friends also got caught up in their fair share of mischief. "I got singled out by Jay Leno on his show in 1987 when Joe and I heckled him from our front-row seats," he confessed. Does that seem a little unexpected from someone like Cannavale? Well, he added another tidbit about the incident, saying, "Pretty sure it was the first time we smoked pot."

Despite — or perhaps because of — their penchant for teenage shenanigans, the two have remained friends throughout their adulthood as well. Cannavale attended Lo Truglio's San Luis Obispo wedding to actor Beth Dover in 2014, with other celebrity pals Paul Rudd, Andy Samberg, Chelsea Perretti, and Jordan Peele, according to Us Weekly.

Their bond may be sweet, but it turns out that it's not as uncommon as you might think. In fact, they join other celebrities like Liv Tyler and Kate Hudson as well as B.J. Novak and John Krasinski who were also high school classmates and remained tight (famous) friends over the years.

When it comes to following your dreams while also keeping a roof over your head and food in the fridge, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in order to pay the bills. For instance, Brad Pitt drove exotic dancers around town to bring in a few bucks, while Channing Tatum was actually a (sexy) male dancer before he got his big money-making break in the film industry.

Before Bobby Cannavale was a successful actor, he apparently "worked as an audition reader." It not only helped with his financial situation, but he revealed to Us Weekly, "I got three parts that way." On top of that, he "hosted an overnight shift on an all-motivational radio station in 1990" and "worked at a nightclub in the early '90s with shoe designer Brian Atwood."

At the same time, Cannavale never gave up on his acting dream and had the drive to follow his passion, which meant always trying to be in the right place at the right time. "I just started showing up everywhere," he told The New York Times Magazine, "This was when Eric Bogosian's shows were at their height at P.S. 122, so I would go there and say, 'Can I just do anything to get in?' And they would let me clean the bathrooms. Then I started getting plays that didn't pay, showcases."

There's no doubt that Cannavale paid his dues early in his career and is now at the point where he'll likely never have to clean another bathroom to get a gig.

Bobby Cannavale and Melissa McCarthy may both be stars these days, but they have a connection that goes back to the '90s. When McCarthy first moved to New York, she shared an apartment with her friend, shoe designer Brian Atwood, according to Rolling Stone. And as Cannavale told Us Weekly, he just so happened to work with Atwood at a nightclub at the time.

More recently, Cannavale and McCarthy have appeared together on screen more than once. Just watch 2015's Spy and you'll see Cannavale playing the villain and McCarthy as the agent who tries to thwart him. The two teamed up again for 2020's Superintelligence, which had them playing love interests, as well as 2021's Thunder Force, which involved the (real-life) friends once again pitted against each other, this time in a world of superheroes vs. supervillains.

While they seem to like working together, McCarthy actually "declared her love for" Cannavale while on set, as Entertainment Tonight put it. When she was supposed to tell his Superintelligence character, George, that she loved him, she accidentally said Bobby's name instead ... multiple times. That was surely awkward, especially considering the fact that her husband, Ben Falcone, was the director. So how did Falcone feel about the slip of the tongue? "It's totally fine. You know, Melissa's made out with lots of guys," he jokingly told ET. "It's part of the job, so I don't think it's something any of us thought about it as much as people think we think about it."

It must be an amazing experience to share the spotlight with your child. Billy Ray Cyrus knows what that's like as he and his daughter Miley Cyrus were together for the full 100 episodes of the popular television series Hannah Montana, and the late Carrie Fisher was able to share the Star Wars universe (and the signature hair buns) with daughter Billie Lourd. Bobby Cannavale also knows what it's like. His oldest son, Jake Cannavale, is an actor just like his father. You can spot a 10-year-old Jake in the film Romance & Cigarettes and he even played the son of his dad's character on Nurse Jackie.

Bobby talked to Vulture about the experience, saying, "You never actually expect to ever work with your kid, and I love being around him, so it was just another facet of our relationship. We got to experience another great bonding moment." He added that, in his opinion, "Edie [Falco] is one of the best actresses we have, period, and she fell in love with him" while the two were working together, which must reflect well on him. "So for his first time out, he — as my family would say — really stepped in s**t." In a good way, we assume.

Beyond that, Jake's acting career is really moving ahead, which is why you can catch him in an episode of The Mandalorian, as the hopeful bounty hunter, as well as in the film Murderville.

Bobby Cannavale could live in a mansion in the suburbs or snap up a historic abode in Los Angeles, but neither is the case for this famous figure. The star and his partner, fellow actor Rose Byrne, as well as their children, live in a "classic Brooklyn brownstone," according to Vogue. While that certainly sounds snazzy, Architectural Digest noted that it was "once dark and cramped." That's why the couple had to have the 2,700-square-foot home that was originally built in 1899 freshened up with what Vogue called a "gut restoration" that "required historic preservation and modernization to coexist in a perfect balance." That included fixing up the arched windows and painting the exterior with Benjamin Moore's Heather Pink.

Why pink? Well, along with the fact that a pink house simply sounds (and surely looks) cool, AD points out that they also live on "a one-block-long street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, known for having row houses each painted a different color." Indeed, their home has been fully dubbed "The Pink House," according to Vogue.

Other appealing factors include the fact that the pink brownstone is located near Governors Island and the Brooklyn Bridge and boasts big, beautiful windows, with a lovely open concept. According to Frederick Tang of Frederick Tang Architecture, according to AD, '[w]hen they purchased the house, it was configured as two apartments, each divided into a series of smaller rooms," and the couple "were an integral part of collaborating in the design process."