Jesse Borrego

Mexican-American actor Jesse Borrego was born in San Antonio, Texas, and studied there at the University of the Incarnate Word. He received his degree in performance from the California Institute of the Arts in 1984. He quickly parlayed his studies into tangible success when he landed the role of Jesse V. Valesquez on the television version of the hit movie "Fame," which lasted for four seasons. He returned to the stage in both New York and Los Angeles for a few years, continuously working small roles on TV, until he got a juicy part in Taylor Hackford's "Blood In, Blood Out," an intense look at the East L.A. gang scene of the 1970s based on the life of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca. Although his performance was critically praised, it failed to light the spark to stardom. Borrego drifted from small role to small role, mostly as typecast Latinos in a variety of films, until a big break with the recurring character of Gael Ortega on the hit Fox series "24" in 2003. This led to similar work in the procedural crime dramas "Medical Investigation," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami," and "ER," and a meaty part in Showtime's serial-killer thriller "Dexter." Borrego has his own company, Lupita Productions, focusing on concert and theatrical performances, and is also a member of the theater group Tribal Players.