Esai Morales facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Esai Morales
|
|
|---|---|
Morales in 2025
|
|
| Born |
Esai Manuel Morales Jr.
October 1, 1962 |
| Education | School of Performing Arts |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Elvimar Silva
(m. 2010) |
| Children | 1 |
Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in movies like Bad Boys and La Bamba. He has also appeared in many TV shows, including NYPD Blue, Caprica, Ozark, and Titans. In 2023, he played the main villain, Gabriel, in the spy action movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and he returned for the sequel, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, in 2025.
Contents
Esai Morales's Early Life
Esai Morales was born in Brooklyn, New York. His family is from Puerto Rico. His father, Esai Morales Sr., was a welder, and his mother, Iris Margarita, was a union activist. From a young age, Esai wanted to be an actor. He went to the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan to study acting.
Esai Morales's Acting Career
Esai Morales started his acting journey in theater and television shows in New York.
First Big Roles
His first major movie was Bad Boys (1983). This film was about two rival teenagers sent to a juvenile correction facility. In 1985, he appeared in an episode of the TV series Fame. He also worked with famous actor Burt Lancaster in the 1986 TV miniseries On Wings of Eagles. In this show, he played Rashid, an Iranian character in a true story about Ross Perot. Morales also had roles in popular TV shows like Miami Vice, The Equalizer, and 24.
Playing Real-Life Characters
In 1987, Esai Morales played Bob Morales in La Bamba. Bob was the real-life half-brother of the 1950s rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens. Esai also took on roles that showed his interest in social and political issues. These included movies like The Burning Season (1994) and My Family/Mi Familia (1995).
TV Series and Voice Acting
In the 1990s, he guest-starred in episodes of The Outer Limits and Tales from the Crypt. From 2001 to 2004, he was a main cast member on the long-running series NYPD Blue. He played Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez, who was the head of a detective squad. In 2005, he lent his voice to the video game True Crime: New York City.
In 2006, Morales joined the cast of the Fox series Vanished, playing FBI agent Michael Tyner. In 2008, he had a role in the CBS drama Jericho as Major Edward Beck. He appeared in all seven episodes of the show's second season.
Science Fiction and Recent Work
Esai Morales played Joseph Adama in the science fiction TV series Caprica (2009–2010). This show was a prequel to Battlestar Galactica. In 2011, he starred in the movie Gun Hill Road and the web drama Los Americans.
In 2015, director Robert Rodriguez cast him as Lord Amancio Malvado in the horror series From Dusk till Dawn: The Series. In 2017, he had a main role in the first season of the Netflix series Ozark. In 2019, he played the villain Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, in the superhero series Titans.
His most recent major roles include playing Gabriel, the main villain, in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) and its sequel Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025). He also starred in the western thriller Cottonmouth, which was released in 2024.
Awards and Recognition
In 2005, Esai Morales received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA). He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art. This award recognized his important work as an actor and a role model.
Esai Morales's Activism
Esai Morales calls himself an "actorvist," which means he is an actor who is also an activist. He helped start the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. He was inspired by his mother, who was an organizer for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. He also cares about environmental issues and was a founding member of the Earth Communications Office (E.C.O.).
In 2007, he took part in a special event called The Gift of Peace. This event was a fundraiser to support a plan to create a "Department of Peace" in the U.S. government.
Personal Life
Esai Morales is a vegetarian. He has one daughter, who was born in 2010.
Images for kids
-
Morales (right) with Grace Park (left) and Eric Stoltz (center)
See also
In Spanish: Esai Morales para niños
