Alejandro Edda (born May 17, 1984) is a
Mexican–American actor, best known for his roles as Marco Rodriguez in the
AMC television series ''
Fear the Walking Dead'' (2016) and
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of ...
in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
original series ''
Narcos: Mexico'' (2018–2021). His voice roles in video games include
Gustavo
Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It has been a common name for Swedish monarchs since the reign of Gustav Vasa.
It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, ...
in ''
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'', Agent Ricardo "Ricky" Sandoval in ''
Ghost Recon: Wildlands'' (2017) and
Manny
Manny is a common nickname for people with the given name Manuel, Emanuele, Immanuel, Emmanuel, Herman, or Manfred.
People
* Manny Acosta (born 1981), Panamanian pitcher in the Mexican Baseball League
* Manny Acta (born 1969), Dominican Maj ...
in ''
The Last of Us Part II
''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...
'' (2020).
He has also appeared in roles for Hollywood films, including Pancho the Cop in the romantic comedy ''
Sundown'' (2016), Big Jim in ''
Reality High'' (2017) and
Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez in ''
American Made'' (2017).
Edda also appeared in the action horror film ''
The Forever Purge
''The Forever Purge'' is a 2021 American dystopian action horror film directed by Everardo Valerio Gout and written by series creator James DeMonaco, who also produced along with Jason Blum and Michael Bay. Originally intended as the final insta ...
'', which was theatrically released in July 2021.
Early life
Edda was born in
Puebla, Mexico in 1984. After high school, he studied arts at the Russian Conservatory of
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
. At the end of his senior year, he went to join his mother in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, to pursue an acting career.
He then moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
and studied at the
Meisner Acting Studio.
Career
Prior to his acting career, Edda used to be a wine delivery person, but he was fired before being fired from his job as a valet parker as well.
Edda started his acting career by appearing in commercials for
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino ...
.
After a series of short films, Edda joined the cast of the television series ''
The Bridge'' in 2013, for eight episodes. The actor continues his American breakthrough by playing supporting roles in other series such as ''
Fear the Walking Dead'' and ''
Lethal Weapon
''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and co-produced by Joel Silver. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, ...
''.
In 2017, he was part of the cast of the film ''
American Made'' directed by
Doug Liman
Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...
and distributed by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
. In this thriller, he plays the role of
Jorge Ochoa, a drug trafficker who is the founding member of the
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often consider ...
. This film marks its first box office success.
Edda also appeared as the voice and motion capture of Gustavo in the 2016
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
video game ''
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'', with fellow voice actors
Nolan North
Nolan North (born October 31, 1970) is an American actor best known for his voice acting roles.
After his breakthrough role as Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera '' Port Charles'' in 1997, North moved into voice acting when the show ended ...
and
Brandon Scott.
In 2018, he appeared in the biopic ''
Cocaine Godmother'' on the drug lord
Griselda Blanco
Griselda Blanco Restrepo (February 15, 1943 – September 3, 2012), known as ''the Black Widow'', was a Colombian drug lord of the Medellín Cartel, and in the Miami-based cocaine drug trade and underworld, during the 1970s through the early ...
. The same year, he appears as
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of ...
, leader of the
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...
in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
original series ''
Narcos: Mexico'', featuring actors such as
Diego Luna
Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' and the Disney+ series ''Andor''.
Following an early ca ...
and
Michael Peña
Michael Anthony Peña (; ; born January 13, 1976) is an American actor. He has starred in many films, including ''Crash'' (2004), ''World Trade Center'' (2006), ''Shooter'' (2007), '' Observe and Report'' (2009), '' Tower Heist'' (2011), '' Battle ...
. His character has appeared in the show's third and final season, which has proved to be the show's finale that aired on November 5, 2021, with
Bad Bunny
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", w ...
joining the show's cast.
He then provided the voice and motion-capture of
Manny
Manny is a common nickname for people with the given name Manuel, Emanuele, Immanuel, Emmanuel, Herman, or Manfred.
People
* Manny Acosta (born 1981), Panamanian pitcher in the Mexican Baseball League
* Manny Acta (born 1969), Dominican Maj ...
in the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
video game ''
The Last of Us Part II
''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...
''.
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acqu ...
's casting director, Becky Todd, contacted Edda while he was spending
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
with his grandmother in
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
, informing him that
Neil Druckmann wanted to speak with him; the two spoke on the phone, and Druckmann offered him the role of Manny. Edda, who has little other experience with video games, accepted as he found it to be a unique and creative experience. During production, Druckmann allowed Edda to be creative with his performance, adding small details to the character as he deemed appropriate; for example, Edda felt that Manny would drink
mezcal
Mezcal (, ), sometimes spelled mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. The word ''mezcal'' comes from Nahuatl , which means "oven-cooked agave", from and .What is MezcalElmezcal.org Traditionally the word ...
instead of whiskey, as had been suggested in the script, and the line was changed. Manny's design was based on Edda's physical appearance, which added more time to his work on the game; he worked on it for about two years.
He appeared in the role of Trinidad "T.T." Toledo, a Mexican farmhand, in the 2021 action horror film, and the fifth film of ''
The Purge'' franchise, ''
The Forever Purge
''The Forever Purge'' is a 2021 American dystopian action horror film directed by Everardo Valerio Gout and written by series creator James DeMonaco, who also produced along with Jason Blum and Michael Bay. Originally intended as the final insta ...
'', directed by Everardo Gout and starring
Ana de la Reguera
Anabell Gardoqui de la Reguera (; born 8 April 1977) is a Mexican actress. She has starred in telenovelas, films, the HBO television series ''Eastbound & Down'' and '' Capadocia'', the Amazon television series ''Goliath'', and the 2006 comedy '' ...
,
Tenoch Huerta
José Tenoch Huerta Mejía (; born 29 January 1981) is a Mexican actor. He has appeared in a number of movies in Latin America and Spain, starring in both feature films, short films, and '' Narcos: Mexico'', credited as Tenoch Huerta. He is f ...
(with whom he co-starred in ''Narcos: Mexico''),
Josh Lucas
Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including ''American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (20 ...
,
Cassidy Freeman
Cassidy Freeman (born April 22, 1982) is an American actress and musician. She is known for her roles as Tess Mercer in The CW's superhero drama ''Smallville'', Amber Gemstone in the HBO series '' The Righteous Gemstones'', and Cady Longmire ...
and
Will Patton
William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''. He also appeared in the films '' Remember the Titans'', '' Armageddo ...
.
Personal life
On July 17, 2009, Edda was married to Aura Serna and currently resides in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
. He has two sons Luciano Edda (b. March 2009) and Paolo Edda (b. February 2014). He later became a naturalized American citizen.
Trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
On January 28, 2019, Edda was a witness who was present at the trial of the real
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of ...
when he seized the opportunity to see the real crime lord himself be charged on multiple counts of
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
. The actor's appearance among the witnesses in the eleventh week of the trial happened in
Brooklyn Federal Court
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, ...
.
According to a
CNN news report, Edda states that "it was a rare opportunity". He also says that "what else could be better than to see the man in real life, learn his mannerisms".
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edda, Alejandro
1984 births
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century Mexican male actors
People from Los Angeles
Mexican emigrants to the United States
Mexican male film actors
Mexican male television actors
Mexican male voice actors
Male actors from Puebla
Living people
People with acquired American citizenship
Naturalized citizens of the United States