Luis Guzmán — Movies, TV Shows & Roles

Actor

1956-08-28 · Cayey, Puerto Rico · Male

33 series in the catalog

Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor. His career spans over 40 years and includes a number of films and television series. He has appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's films Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999) and Punch-Drunk Love (2002), and Steven Soderbergh's films Out of Sight (1998), The Limey (1999) and Traffic (2000). His other film credits include Q & A (1990), The Hard Way (1991), Carlito's Way (1993), Snake Eyes (1998) and Keanu (2016). For his role in The Limey, he received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
On television, he starred as Raoul Hernandez on the HBO prison drama Oz (1998–2000), José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha on Narcos (2015), Jesse "Mama" Salander on the CBS medical drama Code Black (2015–2018), Alejandro "Guapo" Villabuena in Godfather of Harlem (2019), Hector Contreras on Perpetual Grace, LTD (2019), and Gomez Addams on Wednesday (2022–present).
Early life
Guzmán was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He went to Seward Park High School. His mother, Rosa, was a hospital worker, and his stepfather, Benjamin Cardona, was a TV repairman. Guzmán graduated from City College of New York, and shortly after began his career as a social worker, working as a youth counselor at the Henry Street Settlement. He moonlighted as an actor, eventually becoming heavily involved in street theatre and independent films.
Career
Guzman's numerous movie credits include Carlito's Way, Carlito's Way: Rise to Power, Punch-Drunk Love, Welcome to Collinwood, Stonewall, Waiting..., The Salton Sea, and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He has also appeared on the TV shows Homicide: Life on the Street, Frasier, Community (as himself) and Oz and voiced Ricardo Diaz in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and its prequel Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Guzmán starred in the short-lived 2003 television comedy Luis, and is a commentator on VH1's I Love the '80s, as well as I Love Toys and its sequels, including I Love the '70s and I Love the '90s. He co-starred on the 2007 HBO series John from Cincinnati, which lasted one season.
In early 2008, Guzmán starred in "Naturally Aged Cheddar Hunks" TV ads for Cabot Creamery. He also appeared in the music video "Yes We Can." In 2010, he starred in HBO's How to Make It in America and appeared in a comical series of Snickers commercials that played during that year's Super Bowl.
Personal life
Guzmán married Angelita Galarza in 1985. Their first son had died during childbirth, and that, alongside his frustration at social work, persuaded Guzmán to act full-time. This also made them adopt their next three children, Cemí, Clara, and Margarita, starting from 1991. Later, the couple gave birth to their daughter, Luna.
Their youngest daughter, Yamaya, is a social media influencer.
Guzmán resides in Cabot, Vermont.
Guzmán endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In 2018, Guzmán, along with New York Yankees all-star Bernie Williams, appeared in a season six episode of Jon Taffer's Bar Rescue, offering assistance to the El Krajo Tavern in Loiza and the town's community centre, after it was devastated from Hurricane Maria.
During Telegramgate, Guzmán was interviewed by MSNBC for his opinions on the situation in Puerto Rico and he expressed that "Ricky had to go" and that corruption on the island was a major problem that he hoped would be solved.
In an interview with The Rich Eisen Show, Guzmán claimed he is frequently mistaken for actor Rick Aviles, who played the killer "Willie Lopez" in the film Ghost (1990) and was also Puerto Rican (but died in 1995).