Benjamin Bratt

Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor and producer who has worked in film and on television. He had supporting roles in the 1990s in such box office hits as ''Demolition Man'' (1993), ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), and ''The River Wild'' (1994). From 1995 to 1999, he starred as New York City Police Department (NYPD) Detective Rey Curtis on the NBC drama series ''Law & Order.''

In the 2000s, Bratt appeared in ''Miss Congeniality'' (2000), ''Traffic'' (2000), '' Piñero'' (2001), ''Catwoman'' (2004), and ''Trucker'' (2008), ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013), ''Snitch'' (2013), ''Coco'' (2017), among other films. On television, Bratt has portrayed Dr. Jake Reilly on ABC's ''Private Practice'' (2011–2013), Steve Navarro on '' 24: Live Another Day'' (2014), and Jahil Rivera on ''Star'' (2016–2018). He has also done voice acting in animated feature films.

Bratt produced the film ''Dolores'' (2017), which explores the life of Dolores Huerta, an American labor leader and civil rights activist. The film received critical acclaim and several awards.

Bratt has received a Screen Actors Guild Award and been nominated for two others. He has received four ALMA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. He is an activist in the American Indian Movement.

Early life

Bratt was born on December 16, 1963, in San Francisco, California, the third of five children of Eldy (née Banda), a nurse and political activist, and Peter Bratt Sr., a sheet metal worker. His mother was born in Lima, Peru, and is of Quechua descent. She moved to the United States with her family at age 14. His father is an American of German and English ancestry. Bratt's paternal grandfather, George, was a Broadway actor.

An activist for Native American rights, his mother took Bratt (age 6) and her other children to participate in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. Led by young people from San Francisco, it raised national awareness of issues facing Native Americans, and attracted participants from across the country. Bratt attended Lowell High School in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Bratt earned a B.F.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1986, where he joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, he left before receiving his degree in order to star in the 1987 television film ''Juarez''.

Career

Early work

He started his professional acting career at the Utah Shakespearean Festival, where he starred in the television film ''Juarez'' (1987). This received much critical acclaim, and he landed a supporting role in the television film '' Police Story: Gladiator School'' (1988). Also, he played his first film role as Esteban in ''Lovers, Partners & Spies'' (1988), which did not perform well at the box office. Bratt worked extensively in television, with roles in the ''Knightwatch'' and ''Nasty Boys'' series. In 1989, he starred in the film ''Nasty Boys'', based on the television series.

Hollywood breakthrough and success

After several low-budget films and television films, including ''One Good Cop'' and ''Shadowhunter'', in 1993, Bratt appeared in two Hollywood films. He portrayed a gang member turned LAPD officer named Paco Aguilar in ''Blood In, Blood Out'', and Officer Alfredo Garcia from the year 2032 in ''Demolition Man''.

The following year, he played supporting roles in the popular films of ''The River Wild'', ''Clear and Present Danger'', and ''James A. Michener's Texas.''

Returning to television, he played Detective Reynaldo Curtis in the popular series ''Law & Order'' replacing Chris Noth, which gained him international recognition. Bratt appeared in 95 episodes over 5 seasons, 14 years, and 2 stints on the NBC show. For his role, in 1999 he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 1998 and 1999 he received ALMA awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series from American Latino Media Arts for this role on ''Law & Order''.

In 1999, Bratt decided to leave ''Law & Order''. "I've felt like it was time to get back home to my family," Bratt said, "How do you walk away from the best job in the world and a group of people that you've grown to love? It's not easy, and it was an extremely difficult decision that I had to make." On May 26, 1999, Bratt's final episode was aired. In 2009, Bratt returned as the now-retired Curtis on ''Law & Order'', where he was reunited with his former boss, Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), in the episode that aired on December 11, 2009. He returned to his film career that same year.

Later work

In 2000, Bratt co-starred with Madonna and Rupert Everett in ''The Next Best Thing''. That same year, he played opposite Sandra Bullock in the romantic comedy '' Miss Congeniality'' and had a small role in the ensemble work ''Traffic'', which included Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 2004, the actor co-starred in ''Catwoman'' with Halle Berry and Sharon Stone. Bratt often portrays Hispanic characters, especially in his later work. Bratt said, "I've played 'Latin-looking spiv, third from the right so many times I can't count." In 2001, he starred in the biopic film '' Piñero'', for which he received an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor. He played Puerto Rican actor and poet Miguel Piñero.

He produced the 2009 film '' La Mission'', directed by his brother, Peter Bratt. Peter Bratt also directed ''Follow Me Home'', which Bratt produced and starred in.

In 2017, Bratt served as a Consulting Producer for the documentary film ''Dolores'', directed by Peter Bratt; they supported the American Indian Movement. The film received critical acclaim and many awards. In 2009, Bratt performed in ''The People Speak'', a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's ''A People's History of the United States.'' Bratt was passionate about his opportunity to play a Tlicho Indian in the film ''The Lesser Blessed