Jon Seda

Jon Seda
Seda at the 2009 John Basilone Parade in Raritan, New Jersey
Born	Jonathan Seda New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–present

Jonathan "Jon" Seda (born October 14, 1970) is an American actor, possibly best known for his role as Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street.

Seda was an amateur boxer who, in 1992, auditioned for and was given a role in the boxing film Gladiator. He portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena and became widely known to both the Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities. He has made numerous television appearances, and appeared as legendary Marine John Basilone in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's follow up to Band of Brothers, The Pacific. Seda currently stars in the HBO series, Treme.^[1]

Early life

Seda's parents moved from Puerto Rico to Manhattan, where he was born. Shortly after his birth, they moved to a neighborhood in Clifton, New Jersey, where he received his primary and secondary education. After graduating from high school, Seda began to work out in a gym, after two friends convinced him that he should take up boxing. 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. ^{[citation needed]}

Career

Seda's film debut was in 1992, in the boxing film Gladiator 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 the 1994 movie I Like It Like That opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vélez. In 1996, he was nominated Best Actor for his role as "Blue" in the film The Sunchaser opposite actor Woody Harrelson at the Cannes Film Festival. ^{[citation needed]}

Seda became widely known to the Hispanic film audience when he portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena, a 1997 film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena, who was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda portrayed her husband. Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's: Homicide: Life on the Street. The writers took advantage of his boxing background, writing a shirtless practice bout into an episode which established his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. He also boxed opposite Jimmy Smits in the 2000 film Price of Glory.^[2]

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..^[2][3] 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, The Closer, 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, playing the part of Marine John Basilone.^[1] Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of Burn Notice.^[4]

Seda appeared in the second season of Treme as Nelson Hidalgo, a politically connected land developer from Dallas who helps out with the relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. He appeared in the 2011 film Larry Crowne, which starred, and was co-written and directed by, Tom Hanks. Hanks served as an executive producer on The Pacific, in which Seda starred.^[5]

Filmography

Films

Television

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

External links

• Jon Seda Bio at CBS - Close To Home
• Jon Seda at the Internet Movie Database