Chris Bruno (born March 15, 1966, Milford, Connecticut) is an American film and television actor best known for his role as Sheriff Walt Bannerman on the USA Network television series The Dead Zone. His brother Dylan Bruno plays Colby Granger on Numb3rs. During college, Bruno was active in both theater and sports. After an injury sidelined his skiing career while attending college in Vermont, he auditioned for and was cast in the lead in The Mandrake. Transferring to the State University of New York at Stony Brook as a theatre major, he also became the starting pitcher for the school's baseball team. Soon after college graduation, Bruno joined the cast of NBC's Another World as Dennis Carrington Wheeler and was nominated for a Soap Opera Award for Outstanding Newcomer. After Another World, he was cast as Michael Delaney on ABC's All My Children. Bruno spent some time as a stand up comedian in the years following his soap opera stints and landed several guest-starring spots on the sitcoms The Nanny, Jesse and Suddenly Susan. In 2001, he was cast as Walt Bannerman in USA Network's sci-fi drama The Dead Zone, the premiere of which was the highest-rated cable television series premiere at that time. In the series' fifth season, Bruno's directorial debut was the episode "Independence Day," which was dedicated in memory of his mother, Nancy M. Bruno, who died of cancer. His brother, Dylan Bruno, guest-starred. His father is actor Scott Bruno (b. 1942). Bruno remained a star on the show for the first five seasons; his character was killed off during the sixth season premiere. Bruno made three additional guest appearances for the remainder of the final season. He also starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 2005 Roger Donaldson film The World's Fastest Indian, which according to Bruno was "one of the most exciting jobs" he's ever done. In 2009 he appeared in 2 episodes of Prison Break and then appeared in the television movie Prison Break: The Final Break Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Bruno, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 15, 1966 (60)
- New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Actor, also writer and producer
- 25 on MovieCove · 36 credits in all
What are Chris Bruno's films like?
Across their 9 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
A split, not a type: Ironic 2 · Wry 1 · Earnest 3
Light 2 · Serious 2 · Dark 2
A split, not a type: Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 2 · Intense 3
Steady 1 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 1
Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 1
A split, not a type: Casual 3 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 3 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
A split, not a type: Resolved 3 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
Usually the Ally: 2 of 3 analyzed roles.
- Allyas Harris in The Cell 2 (2009)
- Heroas Lenny Babbitt in A Remarkable Life (2016)
- Allyas Red in 5 Headed Shark Attack (2017)
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet4
- Ambiguous4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Chris Bruno's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 18 of their 25 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Chris Bruno's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
36 credits, 25 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Continental Split (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Jade(2025)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Road to Terzetto (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
I Am DB Cooper(2022)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
The Way Back(2020)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
5 Headed Shark Attack(2017)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
A Remarkable Life(2016)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
The Night Shift(2014)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all shows
Sorority Surrogate(2014)
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
Unusually Thicke(2014)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all shows
Jack the Reaper (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
The Fosters(2013)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all shows
Family Tools(2013)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all shows
Awkward.(2011)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Terriers(2010)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
NCIS: Los Angeles(2009)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Castle(2009)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
The Cell 2(2009)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all filmsLast of the Romantics (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Grendel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Wildfire(2005)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all shows
Numb3rs(2005)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all shows
NCIS(2003)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all shows
The Dead Zone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
CSI: Miami(2002)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all shows
The Dead Zone(2002)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows
Oh, Grow Up (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
Jesse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
JAG(1995)
Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all shows
ER(1994)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all shows
The Nanny(1993)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all shows
Another World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1964)
Gimme My Money (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 91st percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 35 titles, 34 of them dated from 1964 to 2024; peak year 2024.
Film career
Peak 2024 · steadily prominent in film for years. Top draw in 1 MovieCove title. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2002Screen debut· The Dead Zone
- 2002First film· The Dead Zone
- 2017First top-billed film· 5-Headed Shark Attack
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Chris Bruno's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 12th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 8th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th2
- Below 25th8
Shape of the crowd
10 of their 25 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved5
- Universally Panned2
- Crowd Pleaser10
- Mixed8
Reviewers score the acting 38/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles; fans 63, detractors 19. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Chris Bruno work with?
People who share at least 2 of Chris Bruno's MovieCove titles; Sean McNabb shares the most, 2.
- Sean McNabbShared titles: Jade (2025), A Remarkable Life (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Sean McNabb
