Jacob Vargas

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1971-08-18 (53 years old)

Place of Birth Michoacan, Mexico

Jacob Vargas

Biography

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

Actor

2022
2022
Kimi

as Glasses Thug

2022
2021
Plan B

as Pastor Pedro

2020
2019
Peel

as Chuck

2019
Mr. Iglesias

as Tony Medina

2018
Mayans M.C.

as Allesandro Montez

2018
Mosaic

as Horacio

2017
Beyond Skyline

as Garcia

2016
2016
2016
2016
Marvel's Luke Cage

as Domingo Colon

2016
Colony

as Carlos

2015
The 33

as Edison 'Elvis' Peña

2015
Complications

as Ramon

2014
2014
Cesar Chavez

as Richard Chavez

2014
Red Sky

as Jorge 'P-Dawg' Vasquez

2014
Hand of God

as Julio Farkas (uncredited)

2013
Go for Sisters

as Navajas

2012
Blue

as Roy

2010
Devil

as Ramirez

2010
The Odds

as Sergio Vargas

2010
Young Justice

as Sebastian Cardona / Cisco Ramon (voice)

2008
Sleep Dealer

as Rudy Ramirez

2008
Death Race

as Gunner

2008
Love Lies Bleeding

as Detective Billy Jones

2008
The Mentalist

as Chief Rick Anaya

2008
Sons of Anarchy

as Allesandro Montez

2007
2007
Are We Done Yet?

as Mike the Plumber

2007
Moonlight

as Guillermo

2007
Burn Notice

as Omar Hernandez

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
Medium

as Eduardo Garcia

2004
2004
CSI: NY

as Luis Torres

2003
2003
Cold Case

as Angelo Rivera (2009)

2002
Road Dogz

as Danny Pacheco

2002
Dragonfly

as Victor

2002
Truth Be Told

as Gonzalez

2002
Greetings From Tucson

as Ernesto Tiant

2001
Dr. Dolittle 2

as Pepito (voice)

2001
The Proud Family

as Punch Alto (voice)

2001
Six Feet Under

as Manuel 'Paco' Bolin

2000
Traffic

as Manolo Sanchez

2000
Next Friday

as Joker

2000
Max Steel

as Dr. Roberto Martinez (voice)

1998
The Hi-Lo Country

as Delfino Mondragon

1997
Santa Fe

as Jesus

1997
Selena

as A. B. Quintanilla

1996
The Pretender

as Javi Padillo

1995
Get Shorty

as Yayo Portillo

1995
Crimson Tide

as Sonarman #2

1995
My Family

as Young Jose

1995
JAG

as Corporal Cortez

1994
Mi Vida Loca

as Ernesto

1994
ER

as Diablo

1993
Airborne

as Snake

1992
1992
American Me

as Paulito - Age 15

1991
Seeds of Tragedy

as Cholo #2

1988
Little Nikita

as Miguel

1987
The Principal

as Arturo Diego

1987
Ernest Goes to Camp

as Bubba Vargas

1986
Last Resort

as Carlos

1984
Hunter

as Emilio Morales

Producer

2002
Road Dogz

as Executive Producer

Director

2003
EDNY

as Director

Writer

2003
EDNY

as Writer