Jon Seda

Jonathan Seda (born October 14, 1970) is a Puerto Rican actor. Seda was an amateur boxer who auditioned for and was given a role in the 1992 boxing film ''Gladiator''.
He played the role of Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in the movie ''Selena'', and portrayed U.S. Marine John Basilone, recipient of the Medal of Honor, in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's ''The Pacific''. On television, he had roles as Detective Antonio Dawson in NBC's '' Chicago P.D.'', and as Paul Falsone in NBC's '' Homicide: Life on the Street''.

Early life

Seda was born in Manhattan to parents of Puerto Rican descent and raised in Clifton, New Jersey. After graduating from Clifton High School, Seda was convinced by two friends that he should take up boxing, so he began working out in a gym.

He boxed in several gyms in New Jersey and soon was a runner up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves competition. As an amateur boxer, Seda had a record of 21 wins and one loss.

Career

Seda's film debut was in the boxing film ''Gladiator'' (1992), in which he played the role of Romano, a Cuban boxer. He has since worked in various films and TV series. In 1995, Seda was nominated Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his role in the movie '' I Like It Like That'' (1994), opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vélez. In 1996, he was nominated for the Palme d'Or (Best Actor Award) at the Cannes Film Festival, for his role as Blue in the film '' The Sunchaser,'' opposite actor Woody Harrelson.

Seda became widely known to the Hispanic film audience when he portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in ''Selena'' (1997), a film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, who was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda played Selena's husband.

Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's: ''Homicide: Life on the Street''. The writers, taking advantage of his boxing background, wrote a shirtless practice bout into an episode, which established his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. Seda also boxed opposite Jimmy Smits in the film ''Price of Glory'' (2000).Jon Seda Biography
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His first leading role on the large screen was as the protagonist in 2002's ''King Rikki'', a re-imagining of Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' in East L.A.''King Rikki''
at IMDb.

Seda has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including ''Bad Boys II'' (2003) as Roberto, as well as numerous television appearances. Aside from ''Homicide'', he has had notable roles as Dino Ortolani in '' Oz'', Matty Caffey in ''Third Watch'', Paul Falsone (in a ''Homicide'' crossover with ''Law & Order''), ''House'', and '' CSI: Miami''. He is featured as one of the three leads in the HBO World War II mini-series ''The Pacific'' (released on March 14, 2010), portraying Marine John Basilone. Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of ''Burn Notice'', and in 2007 he made a cameo appearance in Ludacris' song " Runaway Love", as an abusive, alcoholic stepfather.

Seda appeared in '' Treme'' seasons 2-4 as Nelson Hidalgo, a politically connected land developer from Dallas who helps out with the relief efforts in post- Katrina New Orleans