Wilson Jermaine Heredia (born December 2, 1971) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Angel Dumott Schunard in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', for which he won the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

and

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Heredia also originated the role at London's

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was ...

in the

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194� ...

district and in the 2005

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

Life and career

Heredia was born in

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 ...

, New York, the son of immigrants from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

– a seamstress mother and a building superintendent father. He has appeared in several films, including his portrayal of Cha-Cha, the drag queen, in 1999's '' Flawless'', where he worked opposite former ''Rent'' castmate Daphne Rubin-Vega. The film also stars

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

and

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produc ...

. Heredia also appeared in the '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' episode "Nocturne". Along with five other principal members of the original

cast, Heredia appeared in the film release of ''

'', directed by

Chris Columbus Christopher Columbus was an explorer born in Genoa, Italy. Christopher Columbus or Chris Columbus may also refer to: People * Chris Columbus (musician) (1902–2002), American jazz drummer * Chris Columbus (filmmaker) (born 1958), American direc ...

. Heredia stated that he enjoys the transformational process involved in assuming the persona of the cross-dressing Angel, but dislikes having makeup on his face and found the high heels he had to wear as part of his costume extremely painful. Heredia says he enjoyed the blackly comedic parody of ''Rent'' in the film '' Team America: World Police'', which features a fictional Broadway musical called ''Lease''. He enjoys filming because the close up shots allow him to "cut loose" and go wild a lot more than the stage allows. On January 9, 2006, he presented an award at the

Critics' Choice Awards The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writ ...

with

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...

, Taye Diggs, and

Tracie Thoms Tracie Nicole Thoms is an Emmy-nominated American television, film, and stage actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Rent'', ''Cold Case'', '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''Death Proof'', and the short-lived Fox television series ''Wo ...

, his costars from the ''Rent'' motion picture. He appeared along with Dawson and Thoms on the 2007 film '' Descent'', playing the character of Diego. Heredia has also guest starred on ''Medium'' and ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'', and in 2009 he filmed a pilot called ''Three Chris's''. He made his return to Broadway in ''La Cage aux Folles'' on February 15, 2011, in the role of Jacob (replacing

Robin de Jesús Robin de Jesús is an American film and theater actor of Puerto Rican descent. He has received Tony Award nominations for his roles in ''In the Heights'', '' La Cage aux Folles'', and '' The Boys in the Band''. Life and career Robin de Jesús ...

). He starred alongside

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'' and '' Hairspray'' and movie roles in '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', ''Independence Day'', an ...

(who won a Tony Award for writing the Book of the musical) as Albin/Zaza and Broadway veteran

Christopher Sieber Christopher Luverne Sieber (born February 18, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles Kevin Burke in '' Two of a Kind (American TV series)'' and Agatha Trunchbull in '' Matilda the Musical''. He was nominated for the Tony A ...

as Georges. , Heredia lives in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. He starred in San Francisco Playhouse's production of ''Camelot'', as

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

, and Berkeley Playhouse's production of ''A Little Princess'' as Pasko.

References

External links

* * *
Heredia blog archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heredia, Wilson Jermaine 1971 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American people of Dominican Republic descent American male television actors Drama Desk Award winners Hunter College alumni Hispanic and Latino American male actors Living people Male actors from New York City Musicians from Brooklyn Tony Award winners