Alejandro "Alex" Meraz (born January 10, 1985) is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known for playing the werewolf named Paul Lahote in the film ''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar ecl ...

''.

Life and career

Meraz was born in Mesa, Arizona and is of

Purépecha The Purépecha (endonym pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the pejorative " Tarascan ...

descent. He attended the New School for the Arts, and is an avid painter and illustrator. Besides

break-dancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

, which he was active in during the early 2000s under the name "Nomak," Alex excels in indigenous and contemporary dancing. He has studied

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

, winning numerous tournaments in

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

and the martial art of Capoeira. Alex's first big film was '' The New World'' as one of the Powhatan core warriors, inspiring him to continue acting. Thereafter he was in the running for the film ''

Apocalypto ''Apocalypto'' () is a 2006 action adventure film produced, co-written, and directed by Mel Gibson. The film features a cast of Native American and Indigenous Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dali ...

'' but in the end was turned down. His big break came when he was cast as werewolf Paul Lahote in the film ''

''. He also starred in the latest season of ''CSI: New York''. Meraz played a Seal Team member in the 2016 action film '' Suicide Squad''. On December 31, 2007, he married Kim. A ''Twilight'' fan, she suggested that he audition for ''New Moon'', believing he was perfect for the part. They have a son, for whom his mentor, actor Raoul Trujillo, is the godfather. In June 2012 the couple had another son.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Alex Meraz's official Twitter account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meraz, Alex 1985 births American male dancers American male film actors American male karateka American capoeira practitioners Living people American male actors of Mexican descent American people of Purépecha descent People from Mesa, Arizona Male actors from Arizona Hispanic and Latino American male actors