Jacob Vargas
Jacob Vargas (born August 18, 1971) is a Mexican-American actor. He began his acting career when he was discovered breakdancing in a schoolyard at age 12. His introduction to acting came with a bit part as a breakdancer on the hit TV show Diff'rent Strokes (1978). His first movie role was in the TV movie The Children of Times Square (1986). He started to appear in more films including Last Resort (1986), Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), The Principal (1987), Little Nikita (1988), American Me (1992), and Gas Food Lodging (1992). In 1995, he won the very first ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca (1993) and Gregory Nava's My Family (1995). He next starred in films including Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995), Selena (1997), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), and the cult favorite Next Friday (2000) as Ice Cube's nemesis, Joker. His next role was Tijuana cop Manolo, 'Benicio del Toro"s partner in Steven Soderbergh's Academy Award- winning film Traffic (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award. In 2001, he executive produced and starred in the independent film Road Dogz (2002). He wrote, directed and acted in EDNY (2003). He also co-produced and starred in the stage play "Latinologues", which ran on Broadway in 2005 and is available on DVD. He voiced for Pepito in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). Next, he played Sammi the chef in John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Marine sniper Juan Cortez in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' war drama Jarhead (2005), a straight-arrow DEA agent in the action drama The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2006), a politically charged busboy Miguel in Emilio Estevez's historical drama Bobby (2006), and a psychologically tortured drone pilot Rudy Ramirez in Alex Rivera's sci-fi political love story Sleep Dealer (2008). He had roles in The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Death Race (2008), Cesar Chavez (2014, Heaven is For Real (2014), The Tell-Tale Heart (2016), Plan B, (2021), and Kimi (2022). His major TV roles are as Bob on Surfside Girls, Tony Medina on Mr. Iglesias, Horacio on Mosaic, Domingo Colon on Marvel's Luke Cage, Allesandro Montez on Sons of Anarchy and later on Mayans M.C., Guillermo on Moonlight, Ernesto Tiant on Greetings from Tucson, and Dr. Roberto Martinez on Max Steel. He had recurring roles on Colony, Blue, and Six Feet Under. He has also guest starred on a number of shows including National Treasure: Edge of History, The Mentalist, Burn Notice, Psych, Numb3rs, Medium, CSI: NY, Cold Case, The Pretender, JAG, ER, Full House, and Hunter. He has voiced for characters on animated series including Solar Opposites, Young Justice, and a recurring role on Tarantula.
Known For
Credits
- 2022 · National Treasure: Edge of History as Rafael
- 2022 · Satanic Hispanics as El Jefe
- 2022 · Surfside Girls as Bob
- 2022 · Kimi as Glasses Thug
- 2021 · Plan B as Pastor Pedro
- 2021 · Billy D and the Hall of Feathered Serpents featuring Money Shot by Puscifer as Bartesian
- 2020 · Princess of the Row as Donald
- 2020 · GAME ON: A Comedy Crossover Event as Tony Ochoa
- 2019 · Mr. Iglesias as Tony Medina
- 2019 · The Public as
- 2019 · Peel as Chuck
- 2018 · Mayans M.C. as Allesandro Montez
- 2018 · Mosaic as Horacio
- 2017 · Beyond Skyline as Garcia
- 2017 · Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams as Mario
- 2016 · Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life as Animation Voice (voice)
- 2016 · Marvel's Luke Cage as Domingo Colon
- 2016 · Crossing Point as Jesus
- 2016 · The Tell-Tale Heart as Adams
- 2016 · Colony as Carlos
- 2015 · The 33 as Edison 'Elvis' Peña
- 2015 · Complications as Ramon
- 2014 · Hand of God as Julio Farkas (uncredited)
- 2014 · Journey of a Female Comic as
- 2014 · Water & Power as
- 2014 · Heaven Is for Real as Michael
- 2014 · Cesar Chavez as Richard Chavez
- 2014 · Red Sky as Jorge 'P-Dawg' Vasquez
- 2013 · Go for Sisters as Navajas
- 2012 · Blue as Roy
- 2010 · Young Justice as Sebastian Cardona / Cisco Ramon (voice)
- 2010 · Devil as Ramirez
- 2010 · The Odds as Sergio Vargas
- 2008 · Sleep Dealer as Rudy Ramirez
- 2008 · The Mentalist as Chief Rick Anaya
- 2008 · Sons of Anarchy as Allesandro Montez
- 2008 · Death Race as Gunner
- 2008 · Love Lies Bleeding as Detective Billy Jones
- 2007 · Moonlight as Guillermo
- 2007 · The Death and Life of Bobby Z as Jorge Escobar
- 2007 · Burn Notice as Omar Hernandez
- 2007 · Are We Done Yet? as Mike the Plumber
- 2007 · The Hills Have Eyes 2 as Crank
- 2006 · Bobby as Miguel
- 2006 · National Lampoon's TV: The Movie as Tijuana Cop 2 / Announcer / Charlotte
- 2006 · Psych as Juan Lava
- 2005 · Jarhead as Juan Cortez
- 2005 · The Wendell Baker Story as Reyes Morales
- 2005 · Numb3rs as
- 2005 · Medium as Eduardo Garcia
- 2004 · Flight of the Phoenix as Sammi
- 2004 · CSI: NY as Luis Torres
- 2004 · Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother as Vincent Enano
- 2003 · Cold Case as Angelo Rivera (2009)
- 2003 · Kingpin as
- 2003 · EDNY as
- 2002 · Greetings From Tucson as Ernesto Tiant
- 2002 · Road Dogz as Danny Pacheco
- 2002 · Dragonfly as Victor
- 2002 · Truth Be Told as Gonzalez
- 2001 · The Proud Family as Punch Alto (voice)
- 2001 · Dr. Dolittle 2 as Pepito (voice)
- 2001 · Six Feet Under as Manuel 'Paco' Bolin
- 2000 · Traffic as Manolo Sanchez
- 2000 · Max Steel as Dr. Roberto Martinez (voice)
- 2000 · Next Friday as Joker
- 1998 · The Hi-Lo Country as Delfino Mondragon
- 1997 · Santa Fe as Jesus
- 1997 · Romy and Michele's High School Reunion as Ramon
- 1997 · Selena as A. B. Quintanilla
- 1996 · Clueless as
- 1996 · The Pretender as Javi Padillo
- 1996 · Malibu Shores as
- 1995 · Get Shorty as Yayo Portillo
- 1995 · JAG as Corporal Cortez
- 1995 · Crimson Tide as Sonarman #2
- 1995 · My Family as Young Jose
- 1995 · Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as Prince Luis (voice)
- 1994 · ER as Diablo
- 1994 · Mi Vida Loca as Ernesto
- 1993 · Airborne as Snake
- 1992 · Gas Food Lodging as Javier
- 1992 · American Me as Paulito - Age 15
- 1991 · Seeds of Tragedy as Cholo #2
- 1990 · The Great Los Angeles Earthquake as Miguel
- 1988 · Little Nikita as Miguel
- 1987 · Full House as
- 1987 · The Principal as Arturo Diego
- 1987 · Ernest Goes to Camp as Bubba Vargas
- 1986 · Last Resort as Carlos
- 1986 · Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story as Enrique Mendoza
- 1984 · Hunter as Emilio Morales