Nestor Carbonell

Nestor Carbonell
Carbonell arrives at The Dark Knight premiere in New York City, 2008
Born	Nestor Gastón Carbonell December 1, 1967 (1967-12-01) (age 42) New York, New York, United States
Years active	1991-present
Spouse(s)	Shannon Kenny - 2 children

Néstor Gastón Carbonell^[1][2] (born December 1, 1967) is an American actor best known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost.

Early life

Carbonell was born in New York City and is of Cuban and Catalan descent.^{[citation needed]} His family moved to Caracas, Venezuela, where he attended the British School Caracas. Later on, he moved back to the United States, where he attended Deerfield Academy and went on to Harvard University in the late 1980s. His father is a business executive,^[3] and is active in the Cuban community. Carbonell is a cousin of former professional baseball player Rafael Palmeiro.

Acting career

Carbonell had recurring roles on Resurrection Blvd., The Tick, Strong Medicine, Kim Possible (as the voice of Señor Senior, Jr.), and Cold Case. He also guest-starred on Scrubs ("My Moment of Un-Truth"), House ("Cursed"), Day Break, and Monk. He also played the role of Luis Rivera on the show Suddenly Susan for 4 seasons.

Carbonell played Richard Alpert for seven episodes in the third season of Lost, and the mysteries surrounding his ageless character were heavily discussed among the fan community.^[4] While producing the final episodes of the third season, Carbonell was cast in a starring role as Frank Duque on the new CBS series Cane. The writers modified their original story plan for the third season in anticipation for Carbonell's potential unavailability. Despite Carbonell's willingness to return to Lost, CBS president Nina Tassler ruled out another Lost guest appearance.^[5] Cane was canceled during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, freeing Carbonell from his contract with CBS.^[6] Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse said that Carbonell would reprise his role as Richard Alpert towards the end of the show's fourth season,^[7] as a result of Cane's cancellation.^[6] Carbonell made appearances in the episodes "Cabin Fever" and "There's No Place Like Home". Executive producer Carlton Cuse cited this as an unintended positive consequence of the strike.^[7] Carbonell appeared in nine episodes of Lost's fifth season.^[8] He was announced as part of the main cast of Lost for Season 6.

In 2006 he appeared as assassin Pasquale Acosta in the film Smokin' Aces. In 2008, he appeared as the mayor of Gotham City, in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins.^[9] His wife, Shannon Kenny, was previously involved in a Batman project, voicing the character Inque in the Batman Beyond TV series.

Personal life

Nestor and his wife, Shannon Kenny, met while both were working on the movie Attention Shoppers.^[10] It is often commented that Carbonell's eyelashes appear rather dark, as if one had applied too much eyeliner or mascara. Interviews with both Carbonell and the producers of Lost have stated that his eyes are one of his physical traits, and completely unaided by any form of makeup.^[11] A short skit during the Lost panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2009 featured Carbonell allegedly applying eyeliner before throwing a Christian Bale-esque rant upon receiving the wrong color makeup from an assistant.^[12]

References

External links

• Nestor Carbonell at the Internet Movie Database
• Q&A Sessions: The Dark Knight's Nestor Carbonell [nocheLatina.com]
• Nestor Carbonell Unlimited - Unofficial Fansite for Nestor Carbonell