Freddy Rodriguez (actor)

This article is about the actor. For the cyclist, see Fred Rodriguez. For the baseball player, see Freddy Rodriguez (baseball).

Freddy Rodriguez
Rodriguez at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 2007
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present

Freddy Rodriguez (born January 17, 1975) is an American actor known for playing the characters Hector Federico "Rico" Diaz on HBO's Six Feet Under and El Wray in Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. Recently, he was a recurring cast member on the series Ugly Betty as Giovanni "Gio" Rossi.

Biography

Early life

Rodriguez was born in Chicago, Illinois to Puerto Rican parents - a housewife mother and a janitor father. He is a graduate of Lincoln Park High School in Chicago and graduated from Pulaski Fine Arts Academy in 8th grade.

Career

His first recognizable role on film was when he landed the part of Pedro Aragon, Jr. in A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and Giancarlo Giannini. Afterwards, Rodriguez went on to film roles such as an obnoxious jock in Can't Hardly Wait. He played a Vietnam veteran in Dead Presidents with Chris Tucker and Larenz Tate and was also seen on Scrubs as Carla's brother Marco. As a voice actor, he contributed the voice of Más y Menos on Teen Titans.

Arguably Rodriguez's most important role was as Federico Diaz, who he played on the hit HBO series Six Feet Under throughout its five seasons. For this role he received two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and a further three SAG nominations (also in the ensemble category).

He starred in "The Pest" as "Ninja". He also starred in the film Poseidon as a waiter who briefly survives the horrible rogue wave that overcame the ship. He also played a vicious inner city drug dealer named Hector in the 2005 movie, Havoc. In 2006, he played Reggie, a character who only exercised one half of his body, in M. Night Shyamalan's film Lady in the Water. He has recently starred alongside Eva Longoria and Christian Bale in Harsh Times, his first leading character in a major theater release. He was seen on an episode of the hit hospital television show ER, where he played a dying comic inspired by Bill Hicks. He also played a jockey in the movie Dreamer with co-star Dakota Fanning.

He also starred alongside Roselyn Sanchez in the 2003 movie "Chasing Papi", playing "Victor" (directed by Linda Mendoza). He played busboy José Rojas in the 2006 film Bobby. He starred as El Wray in Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez's portion of the double-feature film, Grindhouse. He played the role of Gustavo Brambila in the true-life story Bottle Shock. He appeared in the music video for the Santana song "Into the Night" and also made a cameo appearance as a flight attendant in the music video for the song "Glamorous" by Fergie. He also starred in the popular video game Saints Row as the voice of Angelo Lopez and in the latest Merry Mixit Gap Christmas Commercial videos. On July 13, 2007, Rodriguez was added to the cast of the ABC comedy series Ugly Betty, in which he plays Giovanni Rossi, a sandwich shop owner who became the love interest for Betty Suarez (played by America Ferrera). He made his debut on the series at the start of the second season, appeared in an episode of the third season and will reprise the role again late in the fourth season, which will be the series' final one.

Rodriguez debuted as executive producer in his latest film Nothing Like the Holidays, where he played Jesse Rodriguez, a soldier who served in Iraq, who comes home for Christmas. He has also announced on his home office website that he is currently in the works for a film adaptation of the book Bodega Dreams and will star in the film and also serve as executive producer.

Rodriguez has been cast in the 2010 CBS TV pilot drama "Chaos" as Rick Martinez, one of a team of rogue CIA agents.

Personal life

Rodriguez has been married for 12 years to Elise, his high school sweetheart, with whom he has two sons, Elijah and Giancarlo (who appeared in Six Feet Under as Rico's son, Julio, on a number of occasions). On an episode of the talkshow Tyra, he noted that he believes the secret to a strong, long-lasting marriage is a "strong spiritual upbringing" and stated that they tend to stay away from the "public eye."

Filmography

1. "Chaos" Rick Martinez (2010)
2. "Ugly Betty" Giovanni (2007-2010)
3. "Little Spirit: Christmas in New York" Leo's Father (2008)
4. "Nothing Like the Holidays" Jesse Rodriguez (2008)
5. "Bottle Shock" Gustavo Brambila (2008)
6. "Planet Terror" Wray (2007)
7. "Grindhouse" El Wray (2007)
8. "ER" Simon (2007)
9. "Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!" Rupert Garcia (2006)
10. "Bobby" Jose (2006)
11. "Saints Row" Angelo (2006)
12. "Lady in the Water" Reggie (2006)
13. "Poseidon" Marco Valentin (2006)
14. "Teen Titans" Mas (2005-2006)
15. "American Dad!" Hector (2005)
16. "Harsh Times" Mike Alonzo (2005)
17. "Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story" Manolin (2005)
18. "Six Feet Under" Federico (2001-2005)
19. "Havoc" Hector (2005)
20. "Scrubs" Mark Espinosa (2003-2004)
21. "Static Shock" Fade (2004)
22. "Dallas 362" Rubin (2003)
23. "Victor and Eddie" Eddie (2003)
24. "Chasing Papi" Victor (2003)
25. "Pledge of Allegiance" Sean Macintyre (2003)
26. "Beyond the City Limits" Topo (2001)
27. "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story" Leonel (2000)
28. "Oh, Grow Up" Deke (1999)
29. "Party of Five" Albert (1999)
30. "My Brother Jack" Joey Casale (1998)
31. "Can't Hardly Wait" Jock (1998)
32. "Shock Television" Eddie (1998)
33. "Joseph's Gift" Joseph Keller (1998)
34. "The Pest" Ninja (1997)
35. "Seduced by Madness: The Diane Borchardt Story" Michael Maldonado (1996)
36. "Dead Presidents" Jose (1995)
37. "A Walk in the Clouds" Pedro Aragon, Jr. (1995)
38. "The Fence" Young Terry Griff (1994)

External links

• Freddy Rodriguez at IMDb
• Let Freddy Rodriguez show you around. — An Associated Press/asap Flash interactive, multimedia piece showing inside some of Freddy Rodriguez's world.