John Ortiz

John Ortiz (born May 23, 1968) is an American actor and artistic director/co-founder of the LAByrinth Theater Company. He is known for his antagonist role as Arturo Braga in Fast & Furious (2009) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and Clyde in Jack Goes Boating (2010), which earned him a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor.

John Ortiz
Ortiz in 2019
Born (1968-05-23) May 23, 1968[1]
Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
OccupationActor, artistic director
Years active1992–present
Spouse(s)Jennifer Ortiz[1]
Children1

Ortiz's other film performances include Guajiro in Carlito's Way (1993), Sheriff Eddie Morales in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Javier J. Rivera in American Gangster (2007), Ronnie in Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Victor Nieves in Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Dr. Powell in Bumblebee (2018).

Personal life

Ortiz was born and raised in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York; he is of Puerto Rican ancestry. He graduated from John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, where he met his wife. Ortiz resided in that borough with his wife Jennifer and son Clemente until 2010, when Ortiz and his family moved to California.[2]

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 Michael Mann's Miami Vice as drug lord Jose Yero, Ridley Scott's American Gangster as Russell Crowe's partner Javy Rivera, and Travis Knight's Bumblebee as scientist Dr. Powell.

Among Ortiz's television roles, he has played the lead in J. J. Abrams’ Hope Against Hope for HBO, a series regular on Denis Leary's series The Job and CBS’s 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 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.[3] 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 starred 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.[4] He also co-starred in Silver Linings Playbook.

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1993 Carlito's Way Guajiro
Italian Movie Cesar
1995 Lotto Land Coco
1996 Ransom Roberto
Sgt. Bilko Spc. Luis Clemente
1997 Amistad Montes
1998 Side Streets Ramon Yanes
1999 The Last Marshal Enrico
2000 The Opportunists Ismael Espinoza
Before Night Falls Juann Abreu
2001 3 A.M. Hector
2002 Narc Octavio Ruiz
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
2009 Public Enemies Phil D'Andrea
Fast & Furious Ramon Campos/Arturo Braga
2010 Jack Goes Boating Clyde Also executive producer
Nominated—Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor
Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2012 Silver Linings Playbook Ronnie
2013 Fast & Furious 6 Arturo Braga
2014 César Chávez Eli Ordonez
The Drop Detective Torres
2015 Blackhat Henry Pollack
Steve Jobs Joel Pforzheimer
2016 The Finest Hours Seaman Wallace Quirey
A Woman, a Part Isaac
2017 A Dog's Purpose Carlos
Kong: Skull Island Victor Nieves
Going in Style Jesus
2018 Nostalgia Daniel Kalman
Peppermint Detective Moises Beltran
Replicas Jones
Bumblebee Dr. Powell
The Cloverfield Paradox Monk Acosta
2019 Ad Astra Lieutenant General Rivas
Ms. White Light Gary
2020 Horse Girl Ron
TBA The Fallout Carlos Post-production

Television
Year Film Role Notes
1992–2008 Law & Order Roberto Martinez / Victor Vargas Guest (2 episodes)
1995 New York Undercover Episode: Olde Tyme Religion
1996 Lush Life Nelson 'Margarita' Marquez Regular (7 episodes)
1997 Touched by an Angel Nicky Guest (2 episodes)
1997 Riot Ciaco TV movie
2001–2002 The Job Ruben Somarriba Regular (19 episodes)
2003 The Handler DEA Agent Episode: - Homewrecker's Ball
2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Officer Zermeño Episode: Charisma
2004–2005 Clubhouse Carlos Tavares Regular (10 episodes)
2007 CSI: Miami Gabriel Soto Episode: Guerillas in the Mist
2008 Blue Blood Hector TV movie
2009 Anatomy of Hope Tom Hernandez TV movie
2009 Medium Agent Daniel Muñoz Episode: Bring Me the Head of Oswaldo Castillo
2011–2012 Luck Turo Escalante Regular (9 episodes)
2014 Rake Ben Leon Regular (13 episodes)
2015–2016 Togetherness David Recurring (7 episodes)
2017 The Guest Book Paul Guest (2 episodes)
2018 Mayans MC Esai "Taino" Osorio Regular
2019 The Handmaid’s Tale Principal Jim Guest
2020 Messiah Felix Regular

References
  1. "John Ortiz". IMDb.
  2. John Ortiz and Rosie Perez: Accidental Actors Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine from the New York Times, date April 8, 2001
  3. Simonson, Robert. "Cast Official for Broadway's 'Anna in the Tropics'; Begins Nov. 4" playbill.com, October 14, 2003
  4. Sullivan, Katie. "Review: ‘The Motherfucker with the Hat’ Entertains but Fails to Dig Deep" chicagomag.com, January 14, 2013
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