Adam Shalzi grew up in a suburb of Chicago and found his love for acting when his high school's theater director encouraged him to audition for the school play and cast him as the lead. He continued to act in plays, musicals, sketch comedy, and even made his own films. He made his way to the city where he began his professional acting career on Chicago stages and in front of the camera and became recognized for his versatility and comedy. Most recently, Shalzi plays supporting roles in the upcoming feature films The Crusades and The Windigo. He will also be appearing in the new Amazon series Paper Girls. His previous work includes Showtime's The Chi (2018) playing the role of Skokie, NBC's Chicago Fire (2012) as Patrick, Utopia (2020), Betrayal (2013), Janie Jones (2010) (Toronto International Film Festival), NightLights (2014), The Onion's "America's Best", dozens of independent films, and various TV and web commercials. His theater credits include Lord of the Flies (Steppenwolf Theatre), Eugene in The Original Grease (American Theater Company), Buddy Layman in The Diviners (Organic Theatre Company), the title role in The Stinky Cheese Man (Griffin Theatre), the title role in the touring Australian show, Dr. Egg and the Man with No Ear, and a season at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. He studied improv at The Second City Chicago, The Annoyance, is a graduate of the improv program at iO Chicago, and is a member of the Cirque du Soleil casting pool for comedic actors.