Guillermo Díaz (born March 22, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for films ''
Half Baked'' (1998), ''
200 Cigarettes
''200 Cigarettes'' is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Risa Bramon Garcia and written by Shana Larsen. The film follows multiple characters in New York City on New Year's Eve 1981. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of brothers B ...
'' (1999) and ''
Stonewall
Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to:
* Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction
* Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics
* Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...
'' (1995). He is best known for his role as Diego "Huck" Muñoz in the drama series ''
Scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
''. Díaz has made guest appearances on ''
Chappelle's Show'', ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...
'', ''
Weeds'', ''
ER'', ''
Broad City
''Broad City'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. It was developed from their independent web series of the same name, which was produced between 2009 and 2011. The sitcom, like the web seri ...
'', and ''
Girls''.
Early life and career
Díaz was born in New Jersey to Cuban parents, and grew up in
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the uppermost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defe ...
. In 1994, he landed his first speaking role as Spike in
Boaz Yakin
Boaz Yakin ( he, בועז יכין, born June 20, 1966) is an Israeli-American screenwriter, film director, and producer based in New York City. He has written screenplays to films like ''The Rookie'', ''Fresh'', '' A Price Above Rubies'', ' ...
's ''
Fresh''. From there he began working on ''
Party Girl'' as Leo,
Parker Posey's roommate. His next role was a drag queen (La Miranda) in
Nigel Finch's ''
Stonewall
Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to:
* Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction
* Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics
* Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...
''. In 1996, Díaz worked in
Jim McKay
James Kenneth McManus (September 24, 1921 – June 7, 2008), better known professionally as Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist.
McKay was best known for hosting ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' (1961–1998). His introd ...
's ''
Girls Town'' as Dylan, after which he appeared in ''
I'm Not Rappaport''.
Díaz played Paco de la Vega al Camino Cordoba Jose Cuervo Sanchez Rodriguez Jr., a high school gang member in ''
High School High''. He later appeared in ''
Freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
'' as Flaco, another gang member. While in Los Angeles, he did guest spots on ''
ER'' and ''
Party of Five''.
After finishing work on the West Coast, Díaz traveled back east to play a stoner named Eric in Brian Sloan's film ''
I Think I Do''. A similar role followed as Scarface in the film ''
Half Baked''. One of his co-stars was
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series '' Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of ...
, who later cast him in several episodes of ''
Chappelle's Show''. In 1999, he landed a non-speaking role in ''
200 Cigarettes
''200 Cigarettes'' is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Risa Bramon Garcia and written by Shana Larsen. The film follows multiple characters in New York City on New Year's Eve 1981. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of brothers B ...
'', and went on to act in both
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
's directorial debut ''
Chelsea Walls'' and the movie ''
Just One Time'', where as secondary characters one critic thought that he and
Jennifer Esposito provided what little "comic spark" existed in the film.
Díaz played Guillermo García Gómez, a drug dealer/trafficker, in seasons 2-6 of the series ''
Weeds''. In 2009, he starred on the series ''
Mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
'', where his portrayal of the gay nurse Angel received negative criticism in online forums for being too flamboyant.
In 2010, he appeared in the thriller film ''
Exquisite Corpse
Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', literally exquisite cadaver), is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. ...
''.
After having portrayed several Mexican thugs (
cholos), Díaz was cast in 2010 as a Latino gangster named Poh Boy in ''
Cop Out''. When asked about being typecast, he said: "I
sed to worry
sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs,
and is available today for most operating systems.
sed wa ...
but not really anymore. Now I'm just grateful that I'm working. I try to make everything different."
In 2010, Díaz did a photoshoot for ''
Pinups Magazine''. The photoshoot featured full frontal nudity from Díaz.
In 2011, Díaz appeared alongside
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
in a music video for the single "
I Wanna Go", and took part in a scene referencing his character Scarface from ''Half Baked''.
In 2012, Díaz began his role as Huck in the drama series ''
Scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
''.
Díaz was one of the many celebrities that acted in
Beyoncé and
Jay Z's video for "Run" in 2014.
Personal life

Díaz is
gay. In 2011, he told ''
Out
Out may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
* ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander
* ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...
'' magazine that his rough upbringing in New York City, during which he hid his sexuality so as not to become a target, ultimately made him a better actor. He said: "I went to school in the Bronx. I learned to constantly try to cover up the fact that I was gay. That façade of being somebody I'm really not just to protect myself definitely helped with acting."
He was named one of ''Out'' Magazine's 100 most influential
gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people for 2013.
Díaz has said on multiple occasions that he is a fan of
Madonna. He has been to all of her tours apart from
The Virgin Tour and
The Who's That Girl Tour. He also has her face tattooed on his right arm.
In November 2017, Díaz was nominated to ''Out'' magazine's "OUT100" for 2017 in recognition of his work and his visibility.
In popular culture
In 2006, he joined the cast of a series of improv-based commercials for
Sierra Mist titled ''Mist Takes''. A Spanish version of the advertisements began airing, and the bilingual Díaz also starred in those with other Latino comedians.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other media
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Guillermo
American male film actors
American male television actors
American people of Cuban descent
American gay actors
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
Living people
People from Washington Heights, Manhattan
1975 births
Male actors from New Jersey
Male actors from New York City
LGBT people from New York (state)
LGBT people from New Jersey