Staten Island Native Chris Terrio Was ‘Shocked’ To Win Oscar for Writing ‘Argo’

It’s been three days since Chris Terrio took home the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Argo,” but the Staten Island native still can’t believe his good fortune. “Hearing my name announced as the winner was a genuine shock,” Terrio told the New York Daily News. “To be bluntly honest, up until they called my category, it was this phantasmagorical blur of musical theater and Barbra Streisand.”

Terrio, who currently lives in the West Village, based his screenplay on a 2007 Wired magazine article by Joshuah Bearman as well as Tony Mendez‘s book “The Master of Disguise.” The film, directed by Ben Affleck, also won Best Picture of the year. Though Terrio is hard at work on his next project — a film about the criminal underworld that is set in NYC — he hopes to work with Affleck again soon. “We’re trying to cook something up,” he added.