Jon Seda

New Jersey-born leading man of Puerto Rican extraction, Jon Seda was trying to become a professional boxer when his mother suggested he take acting lessons "as a back-up." As a result, he was cast as Romano, the Cuban boxer, in the 1992 feature "Gladiator." His breakthrough role was as the cheating husband of Lauren Velez in Darnell Martin's "I Like It Like That" (1994). Seda went on to play Chris Perez, the musician-husband of "Selena" (1997). Raised in Clifton, New Jersey, Seda was the second oldest of six children. His first expectations about acting were that he might get a part as an extra. Seda won the role in "Gladiator." From there, he played a tough street kid in "Zebrahead" (1992) and a Dominican hoodlum in Brian De Palma's "Carlito's Way" (1993). More recently, he was Jose, one of the tortured inmates, in Terry Gilliam's futuristic "12 Monkeys" (1995). He won further critical applause for his work as a gangbanger with a brain tumor who takes a doctor hostage in Michael Cimino's little-seen "Sunchaser" (1996) and as a co-worker and rival in love to Leon in "The Price of Kissing" (1997). Seda's early TV credits included episodes of "NYPD Blue" and "New York Undercover," on which he played a boxer. He was a cop killer whose trial is disrupted in "Mistrial" (HBO, 1996). Seda made guest appearances as an undercover detective on NBC's acclaimed drama series "Homicide: Life in the Street" (NBC) in 1996 and joined the series as a regular in the fall of 1997. Seda worked with director Darnell Martin again for the premiere episode of the HBO drama series "Oz" (1997). As hot-headed Dino Ortolani, the actor delivered a mesmerizing portrayal of a tough convict in a brutal prison environment who meets a gruesome death. More recently, Seda is Dr. Sam Valez on the NBC series "La Brea" (2021-).