Righteous Kill

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Actor

John Leguizamo

Bio

JOHN LEGUIZAMO (Detective Perez) is a multifaceted performer and Emmy Award winner who has established a career that defies categorization. With boundless energy and creativity, his work in film, theatre, television and literature covers a variety of genres as he constantly reinvents himself. The talented actor recently appeared in Love in the Time of Cholera, director Mike Newell’s screen adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez's celebrated novel. He also starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. Additionally, Leguizamo just wrapped Nothing Like the Holidays directed by Alfredo De Villa starring alongside Freddy Rodriguez, Debra Messing, Alfred Molina, Vanessa Ferlito, Elizabeth Peña and Melonie Diaz. He next stars on Broadway in David Mamet’s “American Buffaloâ€�. Raised in New York City, Leguizamo studied acting with Lee Strasberg and Wynn Handman at New York University. He was the recipient of the 2002 ALMA Award for Entertainer of the Year. Leguizamo's credits include Crónicas, which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, 2004 Toronto Film Festival and was honored as an “Un Certain Regardâ€� selection at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival; Land of the Dead, the fourth installment of writer/director George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead series; Ed Burns' The Groomsmen; and the remake of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. Leguizamo also starred in Where God Left His Shoes, directed by Salvatore Stabile. In the film, which premiered to rave reactions at the Tribeca Film Festival, Leguizamo plays a failed boxer who struggles to find a job and an apartment for his family on Christmas Eve in NYC. Some of his other recent films include The Ministers, The Babysitters, Paraiso Travel and The Take. He also voiced Sid the Sloth in the hit movies Ice Age and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown and the upcoming Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. For his performance as a sensitive drag queen in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, opposite Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes, Leguizamo garnered a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Among the actor’s other films are Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, which earned him an ALMA nomination for Best Supporting Actor; Spike Lee's Summer of Sam; Seth Zvi Rosenfeld's King of the Jungle, which earned him an ALMA nomination as Best Lead Actor; the cult hit Spawn; Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet; Dr. Doolittle, with Eddie Murphy; Executive Decision, opposite Kurt Russell; Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way; Collateral Damage, with Arnold Schwarzenegger; and De Palma’s Casualties of War, starring Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox. Leguizamo was last seen on the small screen in “The Kill Point,â€� an eighthour original miniseries event for Spike TV that aired in the summer of 2007. He also starred in and directed HBO's “Undefeated.â€� Leguizamo’s directorial debut, the film follows a young Latino boxer dealing with love and career success. The versatile Leguizamo also appeared as a guest star in 12 episodes of NBC's cornerstone drama, “ER,â€� during the 2005-2006 season. Other television credits include ABC's miniseries, “Arabian Nights,â€� where he played both The Ring Genie and The Lamp Genie in the literary classic. Leguizamo set a precedent by creating and starring in the first Latino comedy/variety show, the Emmy Award-winning “House of Bugginâ€� for Fox. A highly talented stage performer, Leguizamo created an Off-Broadway sensation as the writer and performer of his one-man show, “Mambo Mouth,â€� in which he portrayed seven different characters. He received Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Vanguardia awards for his performance. The play's HBO special led to his first television comedy special, Comedy Central's “The Talent Pool,â€� for which he received a CableACE Award. Leguizamo's second one-man show, “Spic-O-Rama,â€� had an extended soldout run in Chicago at the Goodman and Briar Street theaters before opening in New York. The play received numerous accolades, including the Dramatists Guild Hull- Warriner Award for Best American Play and the Lucille Lortel Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Broadway Performance. Leguizamo received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance. “Spic-O-Ramaâ€� also aired on HBO, receiving four CableACE Awards. “Freak,â€� Leguizamo's third one-man show, ended a successful run on Broadway in 1998. For the show, billed as a “Semi-Demi-Quasi-Pseudo Autobiography,â€� Leguizamo won the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle awards for Outstanding Solo Performance. A special presentation of “Freak,â€� directed by Spike Lee, aired on HBO and earned Leguizamo the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program, as well as a nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. When Leguizamo returned to Broadway in 2001 with “Sexaholix... a Love Story,â€� he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and the show received a Tony nomination for Best Special Theatrical Performance. It aired as an HBO special in spring 2002. Additional stage credits include “A Midsummer Night's Dreamâ€� and “La Puta Vidaâ€� at the New York Shakespeare Festival and “Parting Gesturesâ€� at INTAR. Also an accomplished author, Leguizamo penned his autobiography, Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends. Harper Collins released the fast-paced, hilarious and poignant memoir in October 2006.

Appearing as:

Detective Perez