Jonny Cruz (born Jonathan Willie Hernández; December 1, 1982) is an American actor, scriptwriter, producer, filmmaker and musician. He has been featured as an actor in movies like ''
Walking Tall: Lone Justice'', ''
Infiltrators'' and ''
Haunting at the Beacon''. He has also appeared on television series like ''
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...
'', ''
Prison Break
''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...
'' and ''
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23''. As producer, Jonny has run films such as ''
Small Timers'', ''
Hold
Hold may refer to:
Physical spaces
* Hold (compartment), interior cargo space
* Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane
* Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...
'', the web series ''
Cool Wheels'' and plays the guitar with his musical team ''
Power Up
POWER UP (the "Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up") is an American non-profit organization and film production company with the stated mission "to promote the visibility and integration of gay women in entertainment ...
'' in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California in the United States. He is also the voice of
Lúcio
Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, he is regard ...
in the video game ''
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...
'' and the voice of Lucas Rivera in ''
Need for Speed Heat''. His experience in
filmmaking
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
has also covered activities as producer, director, writer, editor, SFX artist, voice artist and cinematographer.
Biography
Early life
Jonny Cruz was born Jonathan Willie Hernández in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
, on December 1, 1982, and is the son of Maritza Pagan and Orlando Hernández, younger brother of two children with his sister Sharlene. Jonny chose to use Cruz as his professional last name in honor of his Grandmother Nayda Cruz. He attended school in El Paso and studied abroad in
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, in early grade school. Cruz started acting and performing in his early years in the fourth grade with his first role as
Brom Bones in the play ''
Sleepy Hollow''. He continued his studies and never lost the chance to keep performing at Eastwood High School and went on to study acting and filmmaking at the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
. The ability to be so completely lost in the moment and find perfection through performance and filmmaking attracted Cruz to the art form. Cruz found himself fascinated with
Improv comedy
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...
performance and joined the well known ''
Four Day Weekend Performance Team '' in
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
. While performing, Cruz continued to shoot short videos to showcase his comedic and technical talents.
[Personal Interview with the artist]
Career
Cruz studied
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
, acting, filmmaking and communication media, all of which he used to understand the complex process of film making. His computer skills allowed him to work as web designer and his passion for acting always prompted him to audition for movie roles as they came. Cruz stated, “I loved to learn so, I would spend endless hours working on the computer learning editing software, visual FX programs, I felt that I could pretty much make a movie on my own from beginning to end after learning all the different aspects of movie making”.
So in 2005, with enough knowledge on technical and theoretical aspects of movie making, Cruz made his first incursion as writer, director and producer, besides his acting role, with ''
Cool Wheels'' where he co-worked with college friends
Robby Storey and
Kim Matula. He then went on to produce, write, act and direct ''
Small Timers'', his first feature-length film. ''
Small Timers'' took six years to complete due to severe technical difficulties, and Cruz stated that completing the film was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.
In 2013, Cruz featured as Jimmy Romero in the film ''
Infiltraitors'', his third production with Sabbatical Pictures. His first and second works with this company were ''
Exit Speed'' and ''
Haunting at the Beacon''. ''Infiltrators'' was Cruz's first lead in a feature film. Also in 2013, Cruz performed Victor in the action film ''
Gone Missing''.
Since 2016, Cruz has appeared as the voice of
Lúcio
Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, he is regard ...
in the highly popular game ''
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...
,'' and reprised the role for ''
Heroes of the Storm
''Heroes of the Storm'' is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Announced at BlizzCon 2010, it was released on June 2, 2015 for macOS and Windows. The game features various crossover ...
''.
Music
Cruz has made music for his own movies, such as ''
Small Timers'' and plays the guitar and performs
musical improv with his team ''
Power Up
POWER UP (the "Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up") is an American non-profit organization and film production company with the stated mission "to promote the visibility and integration of gay women in entertainment ...
'', who with he has played shows in Los Angeles and Hollywood as well as shows at iOwest, Comedy Sportz and The Clubhouse and UCB in California.
Extra activities
Cruz teaches “Self Confidence & Improv” for famous author
Neil Strauss
Neil Darrow Strauss (born March 9, 1969), also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author and journalist. His book ''The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', describes his experiences in the seducti ...
consisting of a motivational speaking and helping people to find their best self through facing their fears, Improv being one of the tools to help gain confidence.
He also supports “
A Course in Miracles
''A Course in Miracles'' (also referred to as ''ACIM'') is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman. The underlying premise is that the greatest "miracle" is the act of simply gaining a full "awareness of love's presence" in a person's life. Schucman ...
”, which is a foundation for inner peace and is method of coping with fear by shifting your perspective from fear to love, parting from the statement that “fear is an illusion that we create”.
He also streams on the popular streaming platform
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...
as a side hobby. It all started on October 5, 2020 when he posted a post on Facebook where he said he is going Grandmaster in the popular FPS ''
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...
'' and needed help from players to rank up. His first stream was on October the 6th 2pm PST, he started to level up in quickplay with viewers who tuned in to see the
Lúcio
Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, he is regard ...
voice actor from their favourite game playing
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...
. Over time he has created a loyal fanbase of viewers and friends who come regularly to his stream to chat, play games and just hang out. Now he streams each week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday where he starts off the stream with Scrims (private lobby 6 versus 6) with his viewers to warm up. Right now (September 2021), he is at 3900sr which is 100sr from his goal of going Grandmaster.
Filmography
Films
Shorts
Television
Video games
Web series
Music
Cruz made musical beat compilations in ''
Small Timers''. Does
Musical Improv with his team ''
Power Up
POWER UP (the "Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up") is an American non-profit organization and film production company with the stated mission "to promote the visibility and integration of gay women in entertainment ...
'', a cappella style with harmonies and beat-boxing.
Theater
Cruz played Juan Francisco “Frankie” in ''
Charity: Part III of A Mexican Trilogy'', directed by
José Luis Valenzuela, starring
Ofelia Medina.
[Ofelia Medina protagonizara estreno mundial de “Charity: Part III of A Mexican Trilogy” en Los Angeles Theatre Center, ]
References
External links
*
*
“Haunting at the Beacon” Cast and Crew
“Haunting at the Beacon” Release memo
“Small Timers” AD
*
A Course in Miracles Introduction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Jonny
1982 births
Living people
American male writers
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Film producers from Texas
Male actors from El Paso, Texas
University of Texas at Arlington alumni
21st-century American male actors