Nicholas Gonzalez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicholas Gonzalez as D.J.

Nicholas Edward Gonzalez (born January 3, 1976 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American actor.

Gonzalez was a student at San Antonio’s Central Catholic High School. He became an accomplished cross-country and track runner, winning the Texas State Championship in the mile and two mile. After graduating in 1994 and turning down a presidential appointment to West Point, Nicholas pursued an English degree at Stanford University in California.

His interest and love of literature, history, and poetry led him to two terms at Oxford University in England. The following summer, he returned to Europe on a research grant where he studied with scholars at Oxford and Trinity College-Dublin to complete his thesis on James Joyce’s Ulysses.

While finishing his Bachelor of Arts in English in 1998, Nicholas was approached to do a one-man theatre piece called Gas by Marie Irene Fornes.

Alma Martinez, an actress and Stanford professor, encouraged him to become a professional actor. With her help, he connected with the theatrical movement in San Francisco. He polished his skills by performing in classic and contemporary theatre. “I’m happy when I’m on stage,” he declares.

In 1998, Nicholas moved to Los Angeles, where he quickly landed small parts in established television series such as ABC’s Dharma and Greg and NBC’s One World.

Nicholas then appeared as Fidel Castro’s son in the Lifetime Original Movie, My Little Assassin, starring Joe Mantegna and Gabrielle Anwar. But it was his role as Andy, the gay yuppie on MTV’s Undressed that really got people’s attention. For six nights he wowed viewers, and those episodes became the most requested in the series’ history.

Determined to continue working in film, Nicholas wrapped production of two films in 2000. The first, Scenes of the Crime, was shown at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It stars Jeff Bridges, Jon Abrahams, and Noah Wyle. It was directed by Dominique Forma. Look for Nicholas in the role of Marty. The second film was an independent project titled Spun, starring Mena Suvari, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, and John Leguizamo. It played at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Look for Nicholas in the role of Angel.

Nicholas’s most well-known role also came his way in 2000. Beating out 400 other actors, he landed the lead in Showtime’s original movie, Resurrection Blvd, which premiered June 26, 2000. Working alongside veteran Latino actors Elizabeth Pena, Esai Morales, Michael DeLorenzo, Rita Moreno, and Tony Plana, Nicholas took center-stage as Alex Santiago, the handsome pre-med student who drops out of school in order to become a professional boxer. The movie was successful and immediately expanded to become a regular weekly series.

While continuing his work on Resurrection Blvd, Nicholas appeared in episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger and That 70’s Show. He even found time for a family film with his RB co-star, Marisol Nichols. The Princess and the Barrio Boy (released as She’s in Love in Europe) proved to be Nicholas’s most popular role to date. In it, Nicholas plays a swimmer, a poor teen on an athletic scholarship, who attracts the interest of a rich but rebellious teenaged girl. The girl, a champion swimmer, tries to get back at her family by dating a boy from a working-class background. Edward James Olmos and Maria Conchita Alonso starred as the girl’s parents. In his turn as a romantic lead, Nicholas melted hearts on both sides of the Atlantic. The film is currently available on DVD and VHS.

Nicholas continued his career in films with two more titles. The first, Sea of Dreams, was filmed in Veracruz, Mexico, in May, 2003. Nick then headed off to Fiji for the summer, where he completed production of Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, which opened in theaters August 27, 2004.

When he’s not acting, Nicholas, who is single, enjoys playing golf, video games, and working out. He is an avid reader, consuming as many as eight books a week. Despite his busy schedule, he also finds time for charity work and his growing number of fans. He takes his responsibility as a Latino role model very seriously, volunteering his time to organizations such as the National Hispanic Institute and The Friends of El Faro.

Gonzalez is a supporter of animal rights and PETA. He posed for PETA's campaign "If you wouldn't wear your dog, please don't wear fur" advertisement [1]