Jacob Vargas

Jacob Vargas began his acting career at age 12, after being discovered breakdancing in a schoolyard. His initial roles included a bit part as a breakdancer on the television series ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ in 1978 and his first movie role in the TV movie ‘The Children of Times Square’ in 1986. He continued to build his filmography throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, appearing in films such as ‘Last Resort’ (1986), ‘Ernest Goes to Camp’ (1987), ‘The Principal’ (1987), ‘Little Nikita’ (1988), ‘American Me’ (1992), and ‘Gas Food Lodging’ (1992). A significant early achievement was winning the inaugural ALMA Award for Emerging Artist of the Year in 1995 for his contributions to both Allison Anders’ ‘Mi Vida Loca’ (1993) and Gregory Nava’s ‘My Family’ (1995).

Vargas later gained recognition for his roles in a variety of films, including ‘Crimson Tide’ (1995), ‘Get Shorty’ (1995), ‘Selena’ (1997), ‘Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion’ (1997), and the cult favorite ‘Next Friday’ (2000), where he played Ice Cube’s nemesis, Joker. A pivotal role came in 2000 as Tijuana cop Manolo, Benicio del Toro’s partner in Steven Soderbergh’s Academy Award-winning film ‘Traffic.’ This performance earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award. His career further diversified with roles such as Sammy the chef in ‘Flight of the Phoenix’ (2004) and Marine sniper Juan Cortez in Sam Mendes’ ‘Jarhead’ (2005). He also appeared in ‘The Death and Life of Bobby Z’ (2006) and Emilio Estevez’s historical drama ‘Bobby’ (2006), playing a politically charged busboy. Vargas was the voice of Max Steel in 1999, demonstrating his versatility across different media. He has two daughters, Rosa (born 2004) and Victoria (born 2011), with his wife, Sylvia Arzate.

Expanding his professional scope beyond acting, Vargas ventured into production, executive producing and starring in the independent film ‘Road Dogz’ (2002). He also co-produced and starred in the Broadway stage play ‘Latinologues’ in 2005. His television career includes notable recurring roles like Allesandro Montez on ‘Sons of Anarchy’ (2013–2014) and ‘Mayans M.C.’ (2019–2021), Domingo Colon on Marvel’s ‘Luke Cage’ (2016), and Tony Ochoa on the Netflix series ‘Mr. Iglesias’ (2019–2020), where he was a series regular. More recently, he has appeared in ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ (2023) and ‘Surfside Girls’ (2022). Through his production company, Third Son Productions, Vargas continues to develop feature film and television projects.