Édgar Ramírez
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| Édgar Ramírez | |
 Édgar Ramírez |
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| Born | Édgar Ramírez March 25, 1977 San Cristóbal, Táchira State, Venezuela |
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Édgar Ramírez (born March 25, 1977) is a Venezuelan actor best known for his role as Paz, a CIA assassin in the movie The Bourne Ultimatum. He is set to portray Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Joe Carnahan's upcoming film Killing Pablo.[1][2]
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[edit] Early Life
Born Edgar Ramírez Arellano in Caracas, Venezuela to Soday Arellano (an Attorney) and Filiberto Ramírez (A Military). He has a sister named Nataly and a nephew by the name of Enrique Alberto. [3] Most of his childhood was spent traveling, since his dad was a military and had to travel and live in different countries. Thanks to this experience Ramirez speaks five languages fluently, which include: Spanish, German, English, French and Italian.
Ramirez attended Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, for college in Venezuela and graduated in 1999, with a degree in mass comunication, minoring in political communications, since he intended to become a diplomat in international relations. While in college he worked as a journalist, reporting on politics. Later, he became executive director of "Ngo Dale al Voto," a Venezuelan organization similar to Rock the Vote. He and his team created campaigns for radio, television and movie theaters. However, he was always attracted to the performing arts and while in college was involved with the arts as a hobby. Ramirez was in charge of international promotions of a short film he did alongside with friends. [4] Screenwriter Alejandro González Iñárritu - then a professor in Mexico - , was invited to the school's short film festival as part of the jury, that's when he saw Ramirez work in the short film and proposed for Ramirez to star in the film Amores Perros. Ramirez passed it up, since he was in the middle of his thesis and had to attend Harvard National Model UN that year as a delegate from his school. Three years later Iñárritu returned to Venezuela from the Cannes Film festival in France, where the film had won the Prize of the Critic's Week. The film went on to also be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. At that moment Ramirez made his decision to try out and pursue his acting interests. [5]
[edit] Acting career
His first recognition as an actor was the successful soap opera Cosita Rica, for Venevisión which aired in September 2003 to August 2004 lasting 270 episodes.
In 2005, he made his major motion picture debut playing Choco, Domino Harvey's love interest in the film Domino directed by Tony Scott.
He was in Vantage Point directed by Pete Travis. In this high-budgeted Sony Pictures political thriller, Ramírez joined an all-star international cast including Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Forrest Whitaker, Eduardo Noriega and Ayelet Zurer.Ramírez plays Javier, an ex-special forces soldier forced to kidnap the American President in order to get his brother back. Upcoming is Cyrano Fernandez, with Ramírez in the title role. This independent production was directed by Alberto Arvelo and is based on the French play Cyrano de Bergerac.
Ramírez has appeared in several other productions. Among those are La Hora Cero (The Magic Hour), a short film directed by Guillermo Arriaga, the acclaimed screenwriter of Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel (Mexico); Plan B, directed by Alejandro Garcia Wiederman (Venezuela); Yotama Se Va Volando (Yotama Flies Away), directed by Luis Armando Roche (Venezuela-France); Punto Y Raya (Step Forward), directed by Elia K. Schneider (Venezuela-Spain-Chile-Uruguay), submitted by Venezuela for Oscar consideration for 2004 Best Foreign Film, in which he played Colombian soldier Pedro. [6]
[edit] Future
Ramírez has reportedly been casted to portray real-life Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the lead role in the upcoming film Killing Pablo.[7][8] It will be directed by Joe Carnahan, with Christian Bale set to portray Major Steve Jacoby, and is based on Mark Bowden’s book Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. [9][10] The plot claims to tell the true story of how Pablo Escobar was killed and his Medellín Cartel dismantled by United States special forces and intelligence, the Colombian military, and a vigilante gang controlled by the rival Cali Cartel. Killing Pablo will be released sometime in 2011.[11]
[edit] Other work
Ramírez has also given his voice to language learning education, guest-starring on the audio CD supplement to the Fluenz Spanish 1 DVD software.
[edit] Philanthropic activities
Edgar Ramirez supports the campaign “No Dispares” (Don't Shoot), by Amnistía Internacional. An organization against violence, whose effort is to eliminate the number of injuries and deaths caused by the irresponsible use of guns.[12]
Ramirez was also part of "5 Senses in Action", an organization which benefits children with special needs. In July 13th, 2008, Ramirez took part of an outdoor activity, which stimulated sensory experience through gestures, playing and singing for special need children who are deaf and/or blind due to a congenital condition caused by environmental viruses. [13]
[edit] References
- ^ Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez to Play PABLO ESCOBAR
- ^ Devin Faraci (August 14, 2008) CARNAHAN IS GOING TO BE KILLING A NEW PABLO, AND WE KNOW WHO IT IS [Chud.com]. Accessed August 14, 2008.
- ^ http://www.rctv.net/Biografias/VerBiografia.aspx?BiografiaId=169
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmqqLDIew8&feature=related
- ^ http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp/aid/6999/tcid/1
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/
- ^ Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez to Play PABLO ESCOBAR
- ^ Devin Faraci (August 14, 2008) CARNAHAN IS GOING TO BE KILLING A NEW PABLO, AND WE KNOW WHO IT IS [Chud.com]. Accessed August 14, 2008.
- ^ What is actor Christian Bale doing next? www2.journalnow.com. Accessed January 17, 2009.
- ^ Dave McNary (October 1, 2007) Yari fast-tracking Escobar biopic Variety. Accessed November 29, 2007.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284236/
- ^ http://everythingaboutedgarramirez.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/edgar-ramirez-nueva-imagen-de-amnistia-internacional/
- ^ http://everythingaboutedgarramirez.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/5-senses-in-action/
