David Zayas (born August 15, 1962) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his roles as

Angel Batista Angelo "Angel" Juan Marcos Batista (; Spanish ) is a fictional character in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime television series ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter'' and the novels by Jeff Lindsay (writer), Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. He is ...

on the Showtime series ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...

'' and Enrique Morales on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

prison drama series '' Oz''.

Early life

Zayas was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

, and raised in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

Career

Zayas joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

at age 19 and was a police officer with the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

for almost 15 years. His experience as a police officer allowed him to develop as a

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

, leading to a series of acting jobs on television and film, mainly playing law enforcement officers, but playing characters on the other side of the law, as well, such as Enrique Morales on

's long-running prison-drama '' Oz''. Zayas was a main cast member of ''

'' for all of its eight seasons. Zayas has been a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company since 1992, a New York City-based traveling actors group. He branched out into television and film projects, and has diversified with guest roles in such popular television series such as ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...

'', ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

'', ''FBI'' (playing Mexican drug lord Antonio Vargas), and ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

''. At LAByrinth, he met his future wife, actress Liza Colón. DexterBenzZayasHallLee

Zayas played a corrupt police officer in '' 16 Blocks'' (2006) and an NYPD officer in '' Michael Clayton'' (2007). He is featured in the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

'' Shadowboxing'' (2010), which appeared on the

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

circuit. He appears in

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

's feature film '' The Expendables'' (2010) and The Brothers Strause's film ''

Skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

'' (2010). In 2012, Zayas played Ernie Trask, a hotel super, in the twelfth episode of season 1 of ''

''. In 2013 he portrayed Detective Esteban Flores in '' Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret'', a television movie about the murder of Travis Alexander. Zayas portrays mob boss Don Salvatore MaroniProfile
screenrant.com; accessed November 9, 2014. in the

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

prequel, '' Gotham'', which premiered on Fox on September 22, 2014. Shortly thereafter, he appeared in '' Annie'' (2014) as Lou, a gregarious bodega owner who helps

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

's Hannigan learn to love herself.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zayas, David 1962 births Living people Male actors from the Bronx Male actors from Ponce, Puerto Rico New York City Police Department officers Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male stage actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican United States Air Force personnel United States Air Force airmen 20th-century Puerto Rican male actors 21st-century Puerto Rican male actors