Benjamin Bratt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Benjamin Bratt
Bratt at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1963-12-16) December 16, 1963 (age 61) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education	University of California, Santa Barbara (BFA) American Conservatory Theater
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Talisa Soto ​ (m. 2002)​
Children	2
Relatives	Kauchani Bratt (nephew)

Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. He is famous for his roles in movies and TV shows. You might know him as Paco Aguilar in Blood In Blood Out. He also played Detective Reynaldo Curtis in the popular TV series Law & Order from 1995 to 1999.

Benjamin Bratt has been in many well-known films. These include Miss Congeniality (2000), Traffic (2000), and Catwoman (2004). He has also lent his voice to animated movies like Despicable Me 2 (2013) and Coco (2017). On TV, he played Dr. Jake Reilly in Private Practice and Jahil Rivera in Star.

He has won several awards for his acting, including four American Latino Media Arts Awards. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Early life and education

Benjamin Bratt was born on December 16, 1963, in San Francisco, California. He was the third of five children. His mother, Eldy, was a nurse and worked to help people. She was born in Lima, Peru, and her family came from the Quechua group. She moved to the United States when she was 14. His father, Peter Bratt Sr., was American. Benjamin's paternal grandfather, George, was an actor on Broadway.

Benjamin's mother was a strong supporter of Native American rights. When Benjamin was six, she took him and his siblings to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. This event helped people across the country learn about the challenges Native Americans faced. Benjamin went to Lowell High School in San Francisco. He later earned a degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1986. He also studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He left before finishing his degree to start his acting career in 1987.

Career

Early acting roles

Benjamin Bratt began his acting career at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. His first TV movie was Juarez (1987), which was well-received. He then got a role in another TV movie, Police Story: Gladiator School (1988). His first movie role was as Esteban in Lovers, Partners & Spies (1988). He also worked a lot in television, appearing in shows like Knightwatch and Nasty Boys. In 1989, he starred in the movie Nasty Boys, which was based on the TV series.

Becoming a well-known actor

After acting in several smaller films and TV movies, Benjamin Bratt appeared in two big Hollywood movies in 1993. He played Paco Aguilar, a gang member who becomes a police officer, in Blood In Blood Out. He also played Officer Alfredo Garcia in Demolition Man. The next year, he had supporting roles in popular films like The River Wild and Clear and Present Danger.

He then returned to television to play Detective Reynaldo Curtis in the series Law & Order. This role made him famous around the world. He played the same character in other shows like Homicide: Life on the Street and Exiled: A Law & Order Movie. For his work on Law & Order, he won three American Latino Media Arts Awards. He was also nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.

In 1999, Benjamin Bratt decided to leave Law & Order. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family. His last episode aired on May 26, 1999. However, he did return as the retired Detective Curtis in a Law & Order episode in 2009. After leaving the show, he focused on his film career again.

Later work in film and TV

In 2000, Benjamin Bratt starred with Madonna in The Next Best Thing. That same year, he was in the romantic comedy Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock. He also had a small part in the movie Traffic, which won an award for its cast. In 2004, he co-starred in Catwoman with Halle Berry. Benjamin Bratt often plays characters of Hispanic background. In 2001, he starred in the movie Piñero, where he played the Puerto Rican actor and poet Miguel Piñero. He won an ALMA Award for this role.

Bratt on the red carpet at the premiere of The Great Raid in Washington

He also produced the 2009 film La Mission, which was directed by his brother, Peter Bratt. They also worked together on Follow Me Home, where Benjamin produced and starred.

In 2017, Benjamin Bratt helped produce the documentary film Dolores. This film was about Dolores Huerta, a leader for workers' rights and civil rights. The film received many awards. In 2009, Bratt was in The People Speak, a documentary that used performances of letters and speeches from everyday Americans. He was also excited to play a Tlicho Indian in the film The Lesser Blessed because of his own Native American background.

Since 2000, Benjamin Bratt has appeared in many TV shows. These include playing Jahil Rivera on Star and William Banks in The Cleaner. He played Dr. Jake Reilly in 36 episodes of Private Practice. He also appeared in shows like Frasier, 24: Live Another Day, and Modern Family. His later popular films include The Woodsman, Snitch, Trucker, The Great Raid, and Ride Along 2.

Benjamin Bratt has voiced characters in five animated movies. He was El Macho, the main bad guy, in Despicable Me 2. He voiced Manny the cameraman in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel. In 2015, he voiced Superman in Justice League: Gods and Monsters. In the 2017 movie Coco, Bratt voiced Ernesto de la Cruz. This character was a famous Mexican singer and Miguel's idol. Bratt sings "Remember Me" in the film. This song won an Oscar for Best Original Song, and Coco won Best Animated Feature.

In 2016, Bratt played Jonathan Pangborn in Doctor Strange. This character used magic to heal himself. In 2019, Bratt starred with Nicolas Cage in the action-thriller film A Score to Settle. In 2023, he had a role in the TV series Poker Face.

Personal life

From 1998 to 2001, Benjamin Bratt dated actress Julia Roberts.

In 2002, he started dating actress Talisa Soto. They got married on April 13 in San Francisco. They had met ten years earlier during an audition. While filming Piñero (2001), their relationship grew. Their first child, a daughter named Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, was born on December 6, 2002. Their second child, a son named Mateo Bravery Bratt, was born on October 3, 2005.

In 2024, San Francisco State University gave Benjamin Bratt an honorary doctorate degree.

Activism and philanthropy

Benjamin Bratt has been involved with the American Indian Movement. He supports groups like the American Indian College Fund, which helps Native American students.

He narrated We Shall Remain (2009), a PBS mini-series about Native Americans.

Bratt has also supported and served on the board of the Friendship House Association of American Indians and the Native American Health Center in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also helps other local groups like the Tribal Athletics Program.

In 2002, Bratt and Priscilla López received the Rita Moreno Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

In 2017, Bratt was a consulting producer for the film Dolores. This movie tells the story of Dolores Huerta, an American labor leader and civil rights activist. The film was highly praised and won several awards.

In 2023, Bratt was an executive producer for Wings of Dust. This documentary was about water pollution in a community in Peru called Espinar.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Benjamin Bratt para niños