Raymond Cruz (born September 10, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his starring role as Detective Julio Sanchez in the series ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, G ...

'' and its spinoff '' Major Crimes'', as well as his recurring role as

drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss in charge of a drug trafficking network, organization, or enterprise. Crime barons may be difficult to bring to justice: usually, they do not possess illegal goods. Ra ...

Tuco Salamanca ''Breaking Bad (franchise), Breaking Bad'' is a crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan. It started with the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), and is followed by a prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Sau ...

in the crime drama ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' and its prequel series ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

''.

Early life

Cruz, who is of Mexican descent, grew up in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, ...

, in a neighborhood that regularly saw gang activity, and had relatives in such street gangs as Maravilla and Barrio South Gate. In an interview with ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'', Cruz stated he witnessed someone shot in front of him when he was 12 years old, noting that "his brains came out the back of his head." For his portrayal of Tuco Salamanca, he was able to relate to his experiences witnessing people who were

high High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

on meth. Cruz has said that becoming interested in

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

early in life helped him avoid joining such gangs himself. His favorite novel is

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman ...

's ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

''. Cruz attended 3 high schools after being expelled for writing editorials on the newspaper that caused him to be late to class as well as being considered inappropriate. Note: see 3:00 He attended

East Los Angeles College East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...

Career

Cruz's film roles include sniper Ding Chavez in ''

Clear and Present Danger ''Clear and Present Danger'' is a political thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published on August 17, 1989. A sequel to '' The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' (1988), main character Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence i ...

'', Hector in '' Out For Justice'',

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...

's second-in-command Joey Six in ''

The Substitute ''The Substitute'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Robert Mandel and starring Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, Marc Anthony, William Forsythe, Raymond Cruz and Luis Guzmán. It was filmed at Miami Senior High School. Pl ...

'',

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Sergeant Rojas in '' The Rock'', as Jesus in '' From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money'', USM Private Vincent DiStephano in ''

Alien Resurrection ''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the ''Alien'' franchise, and was fi ...

'', and Ramirez in ''

Under Siege ''Under Siege'' is a 1992 action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis and written by J. F. Lawton. It stars Steven Seagal (who also produced the film), Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, and Erika Eleniak. Seagal plays Casey Ryback, a former ...

''. He appeared as Chuey, a gang member from the Vatos Locos, in the gang film '' Blood In Blood Out''. In 2005, he played Chino in '' Havoc''. He appeared in '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', credited as "The Messenger," and in ''

Training Day ''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers followed over a 24-hour period ...

'' as a gang member named Sniper. He played a Los Angeles firefighter in ''

Collateral Damage "Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-milit ...

''. He had guest roles in the '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode " The Siege of AR-558", ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'' episode " El Mundo Gira", and the second season of '' 24''. He also made an appearance as the father of a murdered girl in ''CSI''. He played Det Julio Sanchez for the entire seven season run of ''

'' and continued in that role for all six seasons of the spin-off '' Major Crimes''. Cruz performed the well-known role of

, a sadistic and

psychotic In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or incoher ...

meth dealer in ''

'' in 2008 and 2009, a role he reprised in 2015-16 during the first two seasons of the ''Breaking Bad''

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

, ''

''. He had a recurring role as Paco on ''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...

'', and as Alejandro Perez on ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States for six seasons from 2003 to 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime, black comedy, family drama, sati ...

''.

Personal life

Cruz is married to fellow actress Simi Mehta with whom he co-starred on ''

'' in the episode " El Mundo Gira".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Raymund 1964 births Male actors from Los Angeles American male television actors American male actors of Mexican descent American male film actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Hispanic and Latino American male actors Living people