Ritchie Coster

Born in London, England in 1967, Ritchie Coster decided he wanted to be an actor when he was tricked into being in his secondary school play, "The Good Person Szechwan" by Bertolt Brecht. The experience was transformative. Coster trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but in the years after he finished drama school Coster landed a few minor roles in plays and soap operas, and eventually soured on the profession. He moved with his American wife to upstate New York and eventually New York City where a fluke encounter led him to an agent. His first on-screen credit came in 1997 on the show "Dellaventura" (CBS, 1999) starring Danny Aiello, and he continued to make appearances in supporting parts in both film and television over the next few years, punctuated by a few recurring roles on shows such as "Jonny Zero" (Fox, 2005) and "Beautiful People" (ABC, 2005-06). A chameleon and master of accents, he appeared in different roles on seven separate episodes of the "Law & Order" franchise between 1999 and 2009. In 2011, Coster appeared in his largest role to date, a major recurring role on "Luck" (HBO, 2011-12), created by David Milch and starring Dustin Hoffman. Coster had another major supporting role when he portrayed Mayor Austin Chessani on the second season of HBO's hit series "True Detective" (HBO, 2014-). In 2017, Coster appeared in seven episodes of "Shades of Blue" (NBC, 2016-) starring Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta. In 2017 he played a supporting role on the Syfy show "Happy!," starring Chris Meloni and based on the graphic novel by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson.