Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Rick Gonzalez

 
Actor: Rick Gonzalez
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jun 30, 1979 in New York, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: 2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Illegal Tender, What We Do Is Secret, Pulse
  • First Major Screen Credit: Pulse (2006)

Biography

With a countenance that seemed to express street-smart grit, Hispanic-American actor Rick Gonzalez might have easily fallen into the trap of playing toughs time and again, as did many of his contemporaries. With an exception here and there, Gonzalez defied these expectations in the first several years of his career, racking up small roles in laudably unpredictable projects such as the wonderful Disney sports drama The Rookie (2002), the dance-themed comedy drama Roll Bounce (2005), and the Christopher Guest mockumentary For Your Consideration (as "Chillaxin' Host").

Born in Manhattan, Gonzalez reportedly sought out stardom from a very tender age, and made his cinematic debut in 1999, with a bit part in the movie Mambo Café. A steady stream of supporting turns followed over the next several years, with an average of two or three per year; Gonzalez hit a high point when he played the womanizing Primo in the coming-of-age drama Biker Boyz, starring Larry Fishburne and Luke Wilson. Gonzalez teamed with Steven Spielberg for a supporting role in the helmer's colossal sci-fi opus War of the Worlds (2005), and shifted gears slightly -- to the thriller genre -- for the movies Pulse and Illegal Tender. The latter gave Gonzalez his first major lead; in that film, he played a Latino man fleeing from thugs who murdered his dad.

On television, the actor first made viewers take notice when he played a student with a troubled family life on the David E. Kelley series Boston Legal. He went on to make one-episode appearances in such popular shows as ER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Shield, but it wasn't until 2007's Reaper that he scored a regular small-screen role. On that quirky comedy drama, Gonzalez played slacker Ben, a friend of lead character and supernatural bounty hunter Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Rick Gonzalez
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Rick Gonzalez
Born June 30, 1979 (1979-06-30) (age 30)
Brooklyn, New York City
Occupation Actor
Years active 1998 – present

Rick Gonzalez (born June 30, 1979) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Old School, Coach Carter, Biker Boyz, Pulse and Roll Bounce, and in the TV show Reaper.

Contents

Early life

Gonzalez was born in New York City of Dominican (Dominican Republic) and Puerto Rican descent. His parents met in New York City where they married. They settled down in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn where they raised Rick.[1] There, he attended elementary and junior high school. Ever since he was a young child, Rick would put on improvised "shows" for his family and participate in all of his school's plays. His teachers were instrumental in convincing Rick to apply and try out for the High School of the Performing Arts, on which Fame was based, in Manhattan. He did as suggested and was accepted. In 1997, he graduated and began to pursue a career in acting.[2]

Career

Gonzalez started his acting career in New York where he landed a small role in the made for television movie Thicker Than Blood (1998) as Sanchez. In 1999, he made his feature movie debut as Ricky in the movie Mambo Cafe, which was released in the year 2000. He followed that by participating in the film Prince of Central Park (2000) before heading for Los Angeles, California.[2]

In Hollywood, he landed a small part as a gangbanger in the 2001 film Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. He followed that with the roles of Rudy Bonilla in The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid and as the sex-crazed Primo in the 2003 movie Biker Boyz. In 2005, he played the role of Timo Cruz in the movie Coach Carter. Gonzalez also appeared in Twista's video "Hope", which is the lead single off the Coach Carter movie soundtrack. He played the male lead in Mashonda's "Back of Tha Club" video; and has also starred in the video to the Obie Trice song "Snitch", where he plays a member of a group who successfully pull off a bank robbery, and then snitches on them. Gonzalez was also in Red Cafe's video for "All Night Long" which was also in the Coach Carter movie soundtrack.

Among the other movies in which Gonzalez has participated in are the 2003 comedy Old School (alongside Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell) as "Spanish", Laurel Canyon (2003) as Wyett, Subway Cafe (2004) as Vincent Young, War of the Worlds (2005) as Vincent, Roll Bounce (2005) as Naps, Pulse (2006) as Stone, First Snow (2006) as Andy Lopez,[3] and Illegal Tender (2007) as Wilson DeLeon Jr.[3]

His TV guest appearances have been in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000), Touched by an Angel (2001) as Ramone, ER (2001) as Jorge Escalona, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002) as Tomas, The Shield (2002) and CSI: Miami (2006). Most recently, he co-starred in the CW television series Reaper as Ben Gonzalez. Gonzalez had a blog about the 2008 MLB Post Season and was nicknamed the "October Gonzo".[4]

See also

Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Puerto Rico portal

References

  1. ^ Arispe, Rudy. "New World Man", San Antonio Express-News, June 30, 2005. Accessed June 8, 2009. "I'm from Bushwick (an area of Brooklyn)..."
  2. ^ a b From Brooklyn
  3. ^ a b Rick Gonzalez
  4. ^ ESPN

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rick Gonzalez".  Read more