Rick Gonzalez (born June 30, 1979) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Timo Cruz in the motion picture ''

Coach Carter ''Coach Carter'' is a 2005 American biographical teen sports drama film starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter (no relation). The film is based on the true story of Richmond High School basketball coach Ken Carter (played ...

'', as Spanish in '' Old School'', as Ben Gonzalez on the CW supernatural drama television series ''

Reaper A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...

'', and as Naps In '' Roll Bounce''. From 2016–2020, he portrayed the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

character Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog on the CW superhero drama series ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ...

''. In 2021, he starred in the TV series adaptation of ''

The Lost Symbol ''The Lost Symbol'' is a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown. It is a thriller set in Washington, D.C., after the events of ''The Da Vinci Code'', and relies on Freemasonry for both its recurring theme and its major characters. Rel ...

''.

Early life

Gonzalez was born in New York City, of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. His parents met in Washington, DC, where they married. They moved and settled down in the

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Pa ...

section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

where they raised Gonzalez.Arispe, Rudy
"New World Man"
''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'', June 30, 2005. Accessed June 8, 2009. "I'm from Bushwick (an area of Brooklyn)..." His parents were later divorced. He attended elementary and junior high school while living in Brooklyn. Ever since he was a young child, Gonzalez would put on improvised "shows" for his family and participate in all of his school's plays. His teachers were instrumental in convincing Gonzalez to apply and try out for the High School of the Performing Arts, on which '' Fame'' was based, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He did as suggested and was accepted. In 1997, he graduated and began to pursue a career in acting.From Brooklyn

Career

Gonzalez started his acting career in New York where he landed a small role in the made for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, 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 Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

and as the sex-crazed Primo in the 2003 movie ''

Biker Boyz ''Biker Boyz'' is a 2003 American sports action drama film, directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood and written by Bythewood and Craig Fernandez, based on the 2000 ''New Times LA'' article of the same name by Michael Gougis. The film is about a group of ...

''. In 2005, he played the role of Timo Cruz in the movie ''

''. Gonzalez also appeared in

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastes ...

'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 Obie Trice III (born November 14, 1977) is an American rapper. He was signed to fellow Detroit rapper Eminem's Shady Records in 2002, where he released the albums ''Cheers'' (2003) and '' Second Round's on Me'' (2006). Trice formed his own reco ...

song "

Snitch Snitch may refer to: * Informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the la ...

", 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 ''

'' movie soundtrack. Gonzalez has appeared in the 2003 comedy '' Old School'' (alongside

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as ''Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), ''My Dog Skip'' (2000), '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), ''Id ...

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 comedy-drama film '' Swingers''. He has appeared in ...

and

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

) 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 In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...

'' (2006) as Stone, '' First Snow'' (2006) as Andy Lopez, '' Illegal Tender'' (2007) as Wilson DeLeon Jr., '' What We Do Is Secret'' (2007) as

Pat Smear Georg Albert Ruthenberg (born August 5, 1959), better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles-based punk band The Germs and for being a rhythm guita ...

. He also appears in

Apartment 143 ''Apartment 143'' (original title: ''Emergo'') is a 2012 Spanish horror film written by Rodrigo Cortes and directed by Carles Torrens. It was released on 4 May 2012. Premise A parapsychology team is asked to investigate the White family in Apart ...

as Paul Ortega. His TV guest appearances have been in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2000), ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

'' (2001) as Ramone, '' ER'' (2001) as Jorge Escalona, ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

'' (2002) as Tomas, ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...

'' (2002), ''CSI: Miami'' (2006), ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'' (2010), ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

'' (2010), and '' Bones'' (2011). The Closer (2011) Most recently, he co-starred in the CW television series ''

'' as Ben Gonzalez. Gonzalez had a blog about the 2008 MLB Post Season and was nicknamed the "October Gonzo". He co-starred in

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

's 2011 music video for her single "

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...

" where he portrays

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. In 2013, Gonzalez appeared in the NCIS episode " Oil & Water", as Lenny Machaca. In 2022, Gonzalez appeared in Law & Order: Organized Crime' episode " Everybody Knows The Dice Are Loaded" as Det. Bobby Reyes.

Music career

On May 24, 2011 Gonzalez released his mixtape album hosted by DJ G-Spot titled "The Invisible Man" citing "I called it the invisible man because of my frustration trying to get my music career going for at least 7 years and feeling ignored by the industry. So I felt invisible to them (music industry)." He also appeared on the song "Bully Rap" off of

Sean Price Sean Duval Price (March 17, 1972August 8, 2015) was an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock. Early life and educa ...

's last album '' Mic Tyson'', it was released on October 30, 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Rick 1979 births American male film actors American male television actors Hispanic and Latino American male actors American people of Puerto Rican descent American people of Dominican Republic descent Living people Male actors from New York (state) People from Bushwick, Brooklyn Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni