Name
Jacob Vargas
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1971-08-18 (55 years old)
Place of Birth
Michoacan, Mexico
Biography
Jacob Vargas (born August 18, 1971) is a Mexican-American actor. He began his acting career when he was discovered breakdancing in a schoolyard at age 12. His introduction to acting came with a bit part as a breakdancer on the hit TV show Diff'rent Strokes (1978).
His first movie role was in the TV movie The Children of Times Square (1986). He started to appear in more films including Last Resort (1986), Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), The Principal (1987), Little Nikita (1988), American Me (1992), and Gas Food Lodging (1992). In 1995, he won the very first ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca (1993) and Gregory Nava's My Family (1995).
He next starred in 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) as Ice Cube's nemesis, Joker.
His next role was Tijuana cop Manolo, 'Benicio del Toro"s partner in Steven Soderbergh's Academy Award- winning film Traffic (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award.
In 2001, he executive produced and starred in the independent film Road Dogz (2002). He wrote, directed and acted in EDNY (2003). He also co-produced and starred in the stage play "Latinologues", which ran on Broadway in 2005 and is available on DVD.
He voiced for Pepito in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). Next, he played Sammi the chef in John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Marine sniper Juan Cortez in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' war drama Jarhead (2005), a straight-arrow DEA agent in the action drama The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2006), a politically charged busboy Miguel in Emilio Estevez's historical drama Bobby (2006), and a psychologically tortured drone pilot Rudy Ramirez in Alex Rivera's sci-fi political love story Sleep Dealer (2008).
He had roles in The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Death Race (2008), Cesar Chavez (2014, Heaven is For Real (2014), The Tell-Tale Heart (2016), Plan B, (2021), and Kimi (2022).
His major TV roles are as Bob on Surfside Girls, Tony Medina on Mr. Iglesias, Horacio on Mosaic, Domingo Colon on Marvel's Luke Cage, Allesandro Montez on Sons of Anarchy and later on Mayans M.C., Guillermo on Moonlight, Ernesto Tiant on Greetings from Tucson, and Dr. Roberto Martinez on Max Steel. He had recurring roles on Colony, Blue, and Six Feet Under.
He has also guest starred on a number of shows including National Treasure: Edge of History, The Mentalist, Burn Notice, Psych, Numb3rs, Medium, CSI: NY, Cold Case, The Pretender, JAG, ER, Full House, and Hunter.
He has voiced for characters on animated series including Solar Opposites, Young Justice, and a recurring role on Tarantula.
Known For
7.194
After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible ...
6.324
Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breakin...
5.592
A group of National Guard trainees on a routine mission find themselves up against canniba...
6.5
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zim...
6.007
When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are s...
5.848
Newlyweds Nick and Suzanne decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for thei...
- 1998 The Hi-Lo Country as Delfino Mondragon
- 2000 Traffic as Manolo Sanchez
- 2000 Next Friday as Joker
- 2008 Death Race as Gunner
- 2008 Sleep Dealer as Rudy Ramirez
- 1995 Get Shorty as Yayo Portillo
- 2004 Flight of the Phoenix as Sammi
- 2005 The Wendell Baker Story as Reyes Morales
- 1994 Mi Vida Loca as Ernesto
- 2007 The Hills Have Eyes 2 as Crank
- 2006 National Lampoon's TV: The Movie as Tijuana Cop 2 / Announcer / Charlotte
- 1993 Airborne as Snake
- 1991 Seeds of Tragedy as Cholo #2
- 2008 Love Lies Bleeding as Detective Billy Jones
- 2010 Devil as Ramirez
- 1995 My Family as Young Jose
- 1992 Gas Food Lodging as Javier
- 1990 The Great Los Angeles Earthquake as Miguel
- 2002 Road Dogz as Danny Pacheco
- 2002 Dragonfly as Victor
- 2013 Go for Sisters as Navajas
- 1986 Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story as Enrique Mendoza
- 2014 Cesar Chavez as Richard Chavez
- 2014 Heaven Is for Real as Michael
- 1986 Last Resort as Carlos
- 2014 The Journey of a Female Comic
- 1988 Little Nikita as Miguel
- 2005 Jarhead as Juan Cortez
- 2017 Beyond Skyline as Garcia
- 2010 The Odds as Sergio Vargas
- 2022 Satanic Hispanics as El Jefe
- 2015 The 33 as Edison 'Elvis' Peña
- 2007 The Death and Life of Bobby Z as Jorge Escobar
- 2014 Water & Power as Asuncion Garcia
- 2016 The Tell-Tale Heart as Adams
- 2016 Crossing Point as Jesus
- 2002 Truth Be Told as Gonzalez
- 1997 Selena as A. B. Quintanilla
- 2019 The Public as Ernesto Ramirez
- 1997 Romy and Michele's High School Reunion as Ramon
- 2016 Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life as Animation Voice (voice)
- 2007 Are We Done Yet? as Mike the Plumber
- 1987 Ernest Goes to Camp as Bubba Vargas
- 2019 Peel as Chuck
- 2004 Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother as Vincent Enano
- 1992 American Me as Paulito - Age 15
- 2001 Dr. Dolittle 2 as Pepito (voice)
- 1987 The Principal as Arturo Diego
- 2020 Princess of the Row as Donald
- 1997 Santa Fe as Jesus
- 1995 Crimson Tide as Sonarman #2
- 2014 Red Sky as Jorge 'P-Dawg' Vasquez
- 2006 Bobby as Miguel
- 2022 Kimi as Glasses Thug
- 2021 Billy D and the Hall of Feathered Serpents featuring Money Shot by Puscifer as Bartesian
- 2021 Plan B as Pastor Pedro
- 2003 E.D.N.Y.
- 2001 Come and Take It Day as Miguel
- 1994 Huck and the King of Hearts as Pedro
- 2006 The Virgin of Juarez as Detective Lauro
- 1993 Fatal Instinct as Flower Delivery Man
- 2018 Endgame as Alberto
- 2006 "Jarhead" Diaries as Self
- 2001 Six Feet Under ( 1 episode ) as Manuel 'Paco' Bolin
- 2005 Numb3rs ( 1 episode ) as Victor Borrego
- 1996 The Pretender ( 1 episode ) as Javi Padillo
- 2003 Cold Case ( 1 episode ) as Angelo Rivera (2009)
- 2004 CSI: NY ( 1 episode ) as Luis Torres
- 1996 Clueless ( 1 episode )
- 2007 Burn Notice ( 1 episode ) as Omar Hernandez
- 1987 Full House ( 1 episode ) as Enrique
- 2003 Kingpin ( 1 episode )
- 2007 Moonlight ( 5 episodes ) as Guillermo
- 1984 Hunter ( 1 episode ) as Emilio Morales
- 1994 ER ( 1 episode ) as Diablo
- 2005 Medium ( 1 episode ) as Eduardo Garcia
- 2000 Max Steel ( 22 episodes ) as Dr. Roberto Martinez (voice)
- 2002 Greetings from Tucson ( 22 episodes ) as Ernesto Tiant
- 1996 Malibu Shores ( 10 episodes ) as Benny
- 2015 Complications ( 1 episode ) as Ramon
- 2008 The Mentalist ( 1 episode ) as Chief Rick Anaya
- 2010 Young Justice ( 1 episode ) as Sebastian Cardona / Cisco Ramon (voice)
- 2008 Sons of Anarchy ( 15 episodes ) as Allesandro Montez
- 2017 Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams ( 1 episode ) as Mario
- 2016 Marvel's Luke Cage ( 6 episodes ) as Domingo Colon
- 2012 Blue ( 4 episodes ) as Roy
- 1995 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child ( 1 episode ) as Prince Luis (voice)
- 2001 The Proud Family ( 1 episode ) as Punch Alto (voice)
- 2016 Colony ( 3 episodes ) as Carlos
- 2018 Mayans M.C. ( 3 episodes ) as Allesandro Montez
- 1995 JAG ( 1 episode ) as Corporal Cortez
- 2014 Hand of God ( 1 episode ) as Julio Farkas (uncredited)
- 2022 Surfside Girls ( 7 episodes ) as Bob
- 2022 National Treasure: Edge of History ( 4 episodes ) as Rafael
- 2018 Mosaic ( 6 episodes ) as Horacio
- 2020 GAME ON: A Comedy Crossover Event ( 1 episode ) as Tony Ochoa
- 2019 Mr. Iglesias ( 21 episodes ) as Tony Medina
- 2006 Psych ( 1 episode ) as Juan Lava
- 2020 Solar Opposites ( 1 episode )
- 2010 The Good Guys ( 1 episode ) as Tico
- 2002 CSI: Miami ( 1 episode ) as Felix Medina
- 2002 Watching Ellie ( 1 episode ) as Miguel
