David Zayas (born August 15, 1962) is a
Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his roles as
Angel Batista
Angelo "Angel" Juan Marcos Batista (; Spanish ) is a fictional character in the Showtime television series ''Dexter'' and the novels by Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. He is portrayed in the television series by David Zayas. Batista spe ...
on
Showtime's series ''
Dexter'' and Enrique Morales on the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
prison drama series ''
Oz''.
Early life
Zayas was born in
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.
Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...
, and raised in
The Bronx, New York
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...
.
Career
Zayas joined the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
at age 19
and was a police officer with the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
for almost 15 years.
His experience as a police officer allowed him to develop as a
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
, leading to a series of acting jobs on television and film, mainly playing law enforcement officers, but playing characters on the other side of the law, as well, such as Enrique Morales on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
's long-running prison-drama ''
Oz''. Zayas was a main cast member of ''
Dexter'' for all of its eight seasons.
Zayas has been a member of the
LAByrinth Theater Company
LAByrinth Theater Company is a non-profit, Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City. Led by Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz for many years, its artistic director is Ortiz. The New York Times described it in 2014 as "an ethnically ...
since 1992, a New York City-based traveling actors group. He branched out into television and film projects, and has diversified with guest roles in such popular television series such as ''
New York Undercover
''New York Undercover'' is an American Police procedural, police drama that aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and ...
'', ''
Person of Interest
"Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
'',
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
''. At LAByrinth, he met his future wife, actress
Liza Colón.
Zayas played a corrupt police officer in ''
16 Blocks'' (2006) and an NYPD officer in ''
Michael Clayton
''Michael Clayton'' is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. Clooney plays lawyer Michael Clayton ...
'' (2007). He is featured in the
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
''
Shadowboxing
Shadowboxing is a combat sport exercise in which a person throws punches at the air as though there is an opponent. Practised primarily in boxing, it is used mainly to prepare the muscles before the person training engages in stronger physical ...
'' (2010), which appeared on the
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...
circuit. He appears in
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
's feature film ''
The Expendables'' (2010) and
The Brothers Strause's film ''
Skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skyline ...
'' (2010). In 2012, Zayas played Ernie Trask, a hotel super, in the twelfth episode of season 1 of ''
Person of Interest
"Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
''.
In the 2013 he portrayed Detective Esteban Flores in ''Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret'' a television movie about the
murder of Travis Alexander
Travis Victor Alexander (July 28, 1977 – June 4, 2008) was an American salesman who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Ann Arias (born July 9, 1980), in his house in Mesa, Arizona. Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013 ...
.
Zayas portrays mob boss
Don Salvatore MaroniProfile
screenrant.com; accessed November 9, 2014. in the Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
prequel, '' Gotham'', which premiered on Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
on September 22, 2014. Shortly thereafter, he appeared in ''Annie
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
'' (2014) as Lou, a gregarious bodega owner who helps Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...
's Hannigan learn to love herself.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zayas, David
1962 births
Living people
Male actors from New York City
New York City Police Department officers
People from the Bronx
Male actors from Ponce, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male stage actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Puerto Rican United States Air Force personnel
United States Air Force airmen
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors