John Ortiz

John Ortiz
Born (1968-05-23) May 23, 1968[1]
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Residence California
Occupation Actor, artistic director
Years active 1992–present
Spouse(s) Jennifer Ortiz[2]
Children 1

John Ortiz (born May 23, 1968) is an American actor and artistic director/co-founder of the LAByrinth Theater Company.

Personal life

Born and raised in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, he is of Puerto Rican ancestry. Ortiz resided in that borough with his wife Jennifer and son Clemente until 2010. At that time they moved to California, where they currently live.[3]

Career

In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino's young cousin Guajiro in Carlito's Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad, Ransom, and Narc. His recent film performances include those in Ridley Scott's American Gangster as Russell Crowe's partner Javy Rivera, and Michael Mann's Miami Vice as drug lord Jose Yero.

Among Ortiz's television roles, he has most recently played the lead in J.J. Abrams’ Hope Against Hope for HBO, a series regular on Denis Leary's The Job and CBS’ Clubhouse as well as the NBC cop drama Blue Blood, directed by Brett Ratner.

In 1992, Ortiz formed Latino Actors Base with 13 other Latino actors to provide themselves with a place to work and an opportunity to become a tightly knit ensemble. Today, that ensemble is known as LAByrinth Theater Company: an award winning troupe of over 100 artists from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and creative disciplines.

With LAByrinth, he most recently played the role of Clyde in the world premiere of Jack Goes Boating by Bob Glaudini (Drama Desk nomination). In 2006, he appeared as Che Guevara in the world premiere of School of the Americas by Jose Rivera, a co-production between LAByrinth Theater Company and The Public Theater. Other co-productions between LAByrinth and the Public include the role of Jesus in the world premiere of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis, and José Solo in Guinea Pig Solo by Brett C. Leonard. Other LAByrinth Theater credits include Jesus Hopped the A Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis in London and New York (Drama Desk nomination, Drama League Award) and Where's My Money? written and directed by John Patrick Shanley.

In 2003, Ortiz made his Broadway debut in Nilo Cruz’ Pulitzer Prize winning play Anna in the Tropics.[4] He appeared in three world premiere plays by José Rivera: The Adoration of the Old Woman at La Jolla Playhouse, Sueño at MCC Theater and The Street of the Sun at Mark Taper Forum. He was also featured in two New York premieres of Rivera's plays: References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot at the Public Theater (OBIE Award) and Cloud Tectonics at Playwrights Horizons. Ortiz also appeared in The Skin of Our Teeth and De Donde at the Public Theater; the world tours of The Merchant of Venice and The Persians directed by Peter Sellars; House Arrest at Arena Stage; and the national tour of A Few Good Men; Pentecost at Yale Repertory Theatre.

Recent projects

He appeared in the feature films Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Pride and Glory, Public Enemies and Fast & Furious, and Jack Goes Boating, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, in January 2009. In Summer 2009, he will star on stage in Othello at the Vienna Festival. Beginning in December 2012, he appeared as Jackie in the Stephen Adly Guirgis play The Motherfucker with the Hat at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. [5] He also co-starred in Silver Linings Playbook.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1992–2008 Law & Order Roberto Martinez / Victor Vargas TV series: 2 episodes
1993 Carlito's Way Guajiro
1995 Lotto Land Coco
1996 Ransom Roberto
Sgt. Bilko Spc. Luis Clemente
Lush Life Nelson 'Margarita' Marquez TV series: 7 episodes
1997 Touched by an Angel Nicky TV series: 2 episodes
Riot Ciaco TV movie
Amistad Montes
1998 Side Streets Ramon Yanes
1999 The Last Marshal Enrico
2000 The Opportunists Ismael Espinoza
Before Night Falls Juann Abreu
2001–2002 The Job Ruben Somarriba TV series: 19 episodes
2001 3 A.M. Hector
2002 Narc Octavio Ruiz
2003 The Handler DEA Agent TV series: 1 episode
2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Officer Zermeño TV series: 1 episode
2004–2005 Clubhouse Carlos Tavares TV series: 10 episodes
2006 El Cantante Willie Colón
Take the Lead Mr. Temple
Miami Vice Jose Yero
The Deep and Dreamless Sleep Mervin
2007 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Sheriff Eddie Morales
American Gangster Javier J. Rivera Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2008 Pride and Glory Ruben Santiago
Blue Blood Hector TV movie
2009 Public Enemies Phil D'Andrea
Fast & Furious Ramon Campos/Arturo Braga
Anatomy of Hope Tom Hernandez TV movie
Medium Agent Daniel Muñoz TV series: 1 episode
2010 Jack Goes Boating Clyde Also executive producer
Nominated – Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Breakthrough Actor
Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2011–2012 Luck Turo Escalante TV series: 9 episodes
2012 Silver Linings Playbook Ronnie
2013 Fast & Furious 6 Arturo Braga
2014 The Drop Detective Torres
2015 Blackhat Henry Pollack
2015 Togetherness David 4 episodes
2015 Steve Jobs Joel Pforzheimer
2016 The Finest Hours Seaman Wallace Quirey Post-production
2017 Kong: Skull Island Filming

See also

References

External links

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