John Ortiz

John Augustin Ortiz, born May 23, 1968, in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, is an American actor of Puerto Rican ancestry and a co-founder and artistic director of the LAByrinth Theater Company. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, where he met his wife, Jennifer. Ortiz lived in Brooklyn with Jennifer and their son Clemente until 2010, when the family relocated to California.

In 1992, Ortiz joined thirteen other Latino actors to form Latino Actors Base, an ensemble created to give its members a dedicated space to work and develop as a tightly knit group. That organization evolved into LAByrinth Theater Company, which today comprises more than one hundred artists from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and creative disciplines. His stage work with LAByrinth has been extensive, encompassing the world premiere of Jack Goes Boating by Bob Glaudini, in which he played Clyde, and the world premiere of School of the Americas by José Rivera, in which he portrayed Che Guevara in a co-production with The Public Theater in 2006. Additional LAByrinth and Public Theater co-productions included the world premiere of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis, where he played Jesus, and Guinea Pig Solo by Brett C. Leonard, where he appeared as José Solo. He also performed in Jesus Hopped the A Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis in both London and New York, earning a Drama Desk nomination and a Drama League Award for that production, and in Where's My Money?, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley.

Ortiz's broader stage career has included appearances in two New York premieres of plays by José Rivera: References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot at the Public Theater, for which he received an OBIE Award, and Cloud Tectonics at Playwrights Horizons. He appeared in three world premieres of Rivera's work at other regional venues: The Adoration of the Old Woman at La Jolla Playhouse, Sueño at MCC Theater, and The Street of the Sun at the Mark Taper Forum. Additional credits include The Skin of Our Teeth and De Donde at the Public Theater, House Arrest at Arena Stage, Pentecost at Yale Repertory Theatre, and the world tours of The Merchant of Venice and The Persians, both directed by Peter Sellars. He also performed in Othello at the Vienna Festival in the summer of 2009, and appeared as Jackie in Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Motherfucker with the Hat at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company beginning in December 2012.

Ortiz made his Broadway debut in 2003 in Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics. His Broadway work also includes Dog Day Afternoon and the national tour of A Few Good Men. He received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play in 2001 and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play in 2007. His Broadway career spans from 1992 to 2026.

Ortiz made his film debut in 1993, playing Al Pacino's young cousin Guajiro in Carlito's Way. He has since appeared in more than thirty films. Among his notable screen roles are Jose Yero in Michael Mann's Miami Vice, Javier J. Rivera in Ridley Scott's American Gangster, Sheriff Eddie Morales in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Ronnie in Silver Linings Playbook, Victor Nieves in Kong: Skull Island, Dr. Powell in Bumblebee, and Arthur in American Fiction. He is widely recognized for playing the antagonist Arturo Braga in Fast & Furious and Fast & Furious 6. His performance as Clyde in Jack Goes Boating, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, earned him a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. Additional film credits include Amistad, Ransom, Narc, Before Night Falls, Take the Lead, El Cantante, Public Enemies, and Pride and Glory.

On television, Ortiz played the lead in J. J. Abrams's Hope Against Hope for HBO and served as a series regular on Denis Leary's The Job and on CBS's Clubhouse. He also appeared in the NBC cop drama Blue Blood, directed by Brett Ratner.