Daniel Janjigian (Armenian: Դանիէլ Ջանջիգյան; born May 1, 1972, Chicago) is an Armenian-American former bobsledder and actor. He represented Armenia at the 2002 Winter Olympics, reaching 33rd in the two-man bobsleigh event with Yorgo Alexandrou. As an actor, he is most notable for portraying Chris-R in the 2003 cult film The Room.

Biography

Janjigian was born on May 1, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois. His ancestors, Armenians from Trabzon in modern-day Turkey, survived the Armenian Genocide and emigrated to the United States thereafter. He was raised in Saratoga, California and graduated from Saratoga High School in 1991. He graduated with a degree in business administration from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo in 1996. After graduating, he worked at Microsoft for a number of years.

Janjigian developed an interest for bobsledding after meeting Greek Olympic bobsledder John-Andrew Kambanis at a mutual friend's wedding and attending the Olympic Bobsledding School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He, along with Yorgo Alexandrou, competed in the two-man bobsleigh event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah for Armenia. Originally, Janjigian's brakeman was going to be Ara Bezdjian, but he had to be replaced due to a back injury. He then recruited a weightlifting champion from Armenia, but his visa application was cancelled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Despite both being American citizens and Alexandrou being of Greek descent rather than of Armenian descent, they were granted Armenian residency in order to be eligible to participate.They notably practiced on the streets of San Jose, California on a bobsled fitted with wheels, reminiscent of the famous Jamaican bobsledding team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This was due to the lack of a proper venue that was available for them to train in as well as financial constraints. They finished in 5th place in the qualifying rounds, only qualifying in their last run. Despite garnering media attention nationally, Janjigian and Alexandrou finished 33rd in the actual event.

After the Olympics, Janjigian took up a career in acting. His most notable work is that of portraying the violent drug dealer Chris-R in the 2003 cult film The Room. His debut acting role, Janjigian was co-star Greg Sestero's former roommate, who suggested him despite the suggestion by director Tommy Wiseau to cast Scott Holmes, who had already portrayed the character Mike within the film, to play Chris-R disguised. Janjigian's performance is often lauded by fans and critics alike as the single most competent performance in The Room.

His other works include the Seth Landau film Take Out, as well as a mockumentary about the current whereabouts of actors from The Room, The Room Actors: Where Are They Now?, directed by Robyn Paris, who also was in The Room. He also appeared in a 2013 episode of Wheel of Fortune. In the 2017 movie adaptation of The Disaster Artist, a book by Sestero about the making of The Room, Janjigian is portrayed by Zac Efron.

Janjigian authored sections of the 2015 Jack Canfield book The Soul of Success Volume 2.

Janjigian is currently a sales and management consultant and lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children. He is also the owner of a number of restaurants in Austin and Hollywood. He speaks fluent Armenian and holds dual citizenship in Armenia and the United States.

Filmography

Film

Television