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John Pollono (born May 23, 1972) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor best known for writing Small Engine Repair, where he originated the role of Frank in the 2011 Los Angeles and 2013 New York City productions. He later made his feature directorial debut with the 2021 film adaptation of the same name, penning the screenplay and reprising his role from the original production. In addition to writing several plays, Pollono has written films such as Stronger (2017) and Riff Raff (2024), the former of which he made an uncredited appearance as Blackhawk.
He is also known for his recurring roles as Pat Dolan on the TNT neo-noir crime drama series Mob City (2013) and Tyler on the first season of the NBC comedy drama series This Is Us (2016–17). Pollono is active in the Los Angeles theater scene, serving as one of the playwrights-in-residence at Rogue Machine Theatre and a part of the playwriting collective The Temblors.
Pollono attended the University of New Hampshire, from which he graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in 1994. During one college summer, he studied film directing at New York University. After he moved to Los Angeles, he studied acting for a time at Howard Fine Studio.
His next produced play was Razorback, which was staged in 2008 at Rogue Machine. One of his one-act plays, Illuminati, won Best Play at the 2010 Network One-Act Festival in New York City and his first iteration of his play Rules of Seconds was chosen to participate in the 2011 Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Alaska.
During this time, Pollono also guest starred in television series including How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy, and had other small acting credits on film and stage. He also worked professionally in entertainment PR.
Simultaneously, Pollono's new play, Lost Girls premiered in Los Angeles at Theatre/Theater in Fall 2013. Lost Girls was picked up by MCC Theater for their 2015–2016 season and as produced off-Broadway in Fall 2015. Like Small Engine Repair, Lost Girls played at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and was directed by Jo Bonney.
In 2017, Pollono joined with other Los Angeles-based playwrights to form the playwriting collective The Temblors. A reworking of his play Rules of Seconds was produced in 2017 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.
In 2014, Pollono was tapped to write the screenplay for what would become the 2017 film Stronger, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal as Boston Marathon bombing survivor Jeff Bauman. The screenplay, based on Bauman's memoir Stronger, was number two on the Black List in 2016 and the film was released in 2017 to critical acclaim.
During the beginning of 2019, Pollono reprised his role in the film adaptation of Small Engine Repair, his directorial debut. The film was released in September 2021.
Pollono lives in Los Angeles.
| 2006 | Pieces of Eight | Kimono Guy | |
| 2011 | Fort McCoy | Bud Gerkey | |
| 2013 | Sex & Marriage | Johnnie | Short film; also writer |
| 2017 | Stronger | Blackhawk | Uncredited; also writer |
| 2017 | Fight Your Way Out | Jim Gambello | |
| 2021 | Small Engine Repair | Frank Romanowski | Also writer and director |
| 2024 | Skincare | Gun Store Noah |
| 2008 | How I Met Your Mother | Guy From Couple | Episode: "I Heart NJ" |
| 2012 | Grey's Anatomy | Charlie | Episode: "All You Need Is Love" |
| 2012 | Major Crimes | Derek Hansen | Episode: "The Shame Game" |
| 2013 | Masters of Sex | David Haas | Episode: "All Together Now" |
| 2013 | Mob City | Pat Dolan | Supporting; 6 episodes |
| 2014 | Intelligence | Eric Hanson | Episode: "Cain and Gabriel" |
| 2016–2017 | This Is Us | Tyler | Recurring; 5 episodes |
| 2009 | Half of Plenty | Marty | Theatre/Theater: May 22 – June 22, 2009 | Rogue Machine Theatre | |
| 2010 | Lost and Found | Tommy | The Cherry Pit (FringeNYC): August 16–27, 2010 | Rogue Machine Theatre | |
| Lucille Lortel Theatre: September 18–25, 2010 | |||||
| 2011 | Small Engine Repair | Frank | Theatre/Theater: March 25 – June 5, 2011 | Rogue Machine Theatre | |
| Beverly Hills Playhouse: August – September 8, 2011 | |||||
| 2013 | Small Engine Repair | Frank | Lucille Lortel Theatre: October 30 – December 8, 2013 | MCC Theater |
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