Mark Andrew Consuelos is an American actor best known for playing Mateo Santos in the ABC soap opera All My Children (1995-2001; 2010) and for portraying Hiram Lodge on The CW drama Riverdale (2017-2021).
Early Life
Consuelos was born on March 30, 1971, in Zaragoza, Spain, to a Mexican father, Saul Consuelos, and an Italian mother, Camilla. He has two siblings: an older brother who is a doctor and an older sister who is a lawyer. He was raised in Italy and United States from when he was a child. He grew up in Lebanon, Illinois, and later in Brandon, Florida.
After completing his studies at Bloomingdale Senior High School in Valrico, Florida, Consuelos attended the University of Notre Dame. He later transferred to the University of South Florida, where he graduated with a marketing degree in 1994.
Career
“All My Children”
Initially, Consuelos was a dancer with the Suncoast Calendar Men when he got a role in the soap opera All My Children in 1995. He portrayed the role of Mateo Santos in the soap opera. It was during this time that he came across his on-screen love interest, Kelly Ripa. They both fell in love with each other and secretly got married in Las Vegas in May 1996.
Consuelos recalled upon meeting Ripa for the first time on set: “My first impression of my wife was – she was obviously extremely beautiful — but she was really funny, really intelligent, really quick. I realized that if I were ever to get into an argument with her, I would lose every single time.”
“Talkshow Co-host”
In 2002, Ripa became a host of Live! With Regis and Kelly after having taken over for Kathie Lee Gifford. The talk show was later called Live! with Kelly, and subsequently as Live! With Kelly and Michael and even later became “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” Consuelos was a regular guest co-host.
After leaving All My Children, Consuelos appeared in the feature film The Great Raid, which debuted in theatres in 2005. In 2006, he starred as Steve in My Super Ex-Girlfriend and Wedding Daze movies. He also appeared alongside Vivica A. Fox on the Lifetime series Missing and played a part in Ugly Betty. He hosted two reality shows, Science of Love and Age of love that both aired on NBC in 2007.
“Justice Denied”
In 2012, Consuelos guest-starred on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled “Justice Denied.” He played the role of Michael, a prime suspect in a brutal rape during Fleet Week. Initially, he had guest-starred in the sixth-season episode “Albatross” of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, so he was not new to the Law & Order franchise.
“Alpha House”
In 2013, Consuelos appeared in Amazon’s Alpha House, co-starring as Florida Senator Andy Guzman. Alpha House is a political comedy written by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau. He plays the role of one of four Republican senators living together in a house on Capitol Hill, along with John Goodman. He spent most of his 2014 summer period filming the second season of Alpha House.
“Riverdale”
In 2017, Consuelos appeared on The CW drama series Riverdale, playing the regular role of Hiram Lodge. Michael Consuelos, his oldest son, plays a younger Hiram Lodge starting in the third season. Consuelos departed after four seasons of Riverdale. His final episode as a series regular was the fifth season finale.
Personal Life
Consuelos met Kelly Ripa, his co-star on All My Children, in 1995. They got married in 1996 and have three children: Michael Joseph (b. 1997), Lola Grace (b. 2001), and Joaquin Antonio (b. 2003). For many years the couple lived on Crosby in SoHo, Manhattan, but sold the apartment in 2015 and moved to a townhouse on East 76th Street.