Vico Ortiz (born October 10, 1991) is a Puerto Rican actor,

drag king Drag kings have historically been mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. As documented in the 2003 ''Journal of Homosexuality,'' in more r ...

, and activist. They are best known for portraying Jim Jimenez on the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

television series ''

Our Flag Means Death ''Our Flag Means Death'' is an American period romantic comedy television series created by David Jenkins. Set in the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy, the series follows the misadventures of gentleman-turned-pirate Stede Bon ...

''. Ortiz is a recipient of the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award and the

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

Early life and education

Vico Ortiz was born on October 10, 1991, in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, where they were raised. They are fluent in Spanish and English; Spanish was the first language they learned. Ortiz received their education at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

in Los Angeles.

Career

Ortiz started their acting career in 2011 when they starred in the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Oprah's Audience Moves On''. For the following years, they had many small roles in other shorts and TV shows. Around 2017–2018, Ortiz told their agent that they wanted to go for roles of all genders, whether

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

like them, or not. When they were hired for non-queer roles, they started suggesting to the writers that their characters could be non-binary, and some shows accepted to make the change. In 2018, they starred in the

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

web series ''Recon'', about a group of teenagers attending a secret spy school, as Ren St. Claire, one of the main characters. Later that year, they starred in two episodes of the TV show ''Vida''. In 2019, they starred in another queer web series titled ''These Thems'', where they played Vero, a non-binary character befriending a 30-year old woman who had just come out. Ortiz also wrote the Spanish subtitles for the show. In 2021, they had recurring roles in both ''

The Sex Lives of College Girls , creator = {{nowrap, Mindy Kaling & Justin Noble , showrunner = {{Plainlist, * Mindy Kaling * Justin Noble , starring = {{Plainlist, * Pauline Chalamet * Amrit Kaur * Reneé Rapp * Alyah Chanelle Scott ...

'' and '' S.O.Z. Soldados o Zombies''. In 2022, they had their first main role in a television show, ''

''. Ortiz plays a non-binary pirate in this queer comedy about the romantic relationship between

Blackbeard Edward Teach (or Thatch; – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he ma ...

and

Stede Bonnet Stede Bonnet (c. 1688 – 10 December 1718) was an English pirate who was known as the Gentleman Pirate because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the is ...

which quickly became a hit. Ortiz says that their interactions with fans have changed their life, and that they felt encouraged to get top surgery after seeing

fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by Fan (person), fans of a work of fiction or celebrity depicting events, Character (arts), character, or other aspect of the work. As fan labor, fan art refers to artworks that are not created, commissione ...

of their character, Jim, getting

gender-affirming surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

from the show's cook and de facto surgeon Roach (played by Samba Schutte). In 2023, they had two recurring voice acting roles in the

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television show '' Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake''. They voiced the supporting characters Hunter, Skater Y and Fern. In 2024, Ortiz was a featured guest in the second season of the

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

digital series ''Dímelo''. In 2025, they had a recurring voice acting role on the Ambie-winning fiction podcast '' What Happened in Skinner''. In 2025, they also performed a solo cabaret-style show called "Rise of a King" at FUERZAfest in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Personal life

Ortiz is

. They use''

they/them Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'', and ''themselves'' (also ''themself'' and ''theirself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun derived from plural they. It typically occu ...

'' pronouns in English and '' elle/le/e'' in Spanish. In an episode of the

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

Gender Reveal, they identified as

genderfluid Gender fluidity (commonly referred to as genderfluid) is a non-fixed gender identity that shifts over time or depending on the situation. These fluctuations can occur at the level of gender identity or gender expression. A genderfluid person m ...

as well as non-binary, comparing their gender to a

waterbed A waterbed, water mattress, or flotation mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water. Waterbeds intended for medical therapies appear in various reports through the 19th century. The modern version, invented in San Francisco and patented in ...

, "constantly moving, but in a fun way". Ortiz performs as a

named "Vico Suave". Their character takes inspiration from both their Hispanic/Caribbean and American culture, as well as "men who are comfortable with their femininity", such as

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...

and

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (; born March 10, 1994), better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Known as the " King of Latin Trap", Bad Bunny is credited with helping Spanish-language rap music achieve m ...

. They have another drag king persona named AJ when performing with their boy band the Backstreet Butches. Ortiz's drag king career started when a friend convinced them to participate in a show before they even knew what drag was. In July 2023, Ortiz revealed they are in a

polyamorous Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mono ...

relationship and shared photos of their partners. Ortiz is an activist in subjects such as Puerto Rican federal voting rights,

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

, and gender neutrality in the Spanish language.

Filmography

Television

Film

Web series

Podcast

Accolades

Other accolades

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

— Visibility Award (2022) * ''Out'' — Out100 Honoree (2022) * 29 Queer Film Festival — Coyote Courage Award (2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Vico American non-binary actors 21st-century Puerto Rican actors 21st-century Puerto Rican LGBTQ people LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people Puerto Rican LGBTQ actors Puerto Rican non-binary people Living people 1991 births American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Non-binary drag performers Genderfluid drag performers Genderfluid actors