Jon Seda

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Jon Seda
Seda at the 2014 Imagen Awards
Born
OccupationActor
Years active1991–present
Spouse
Lisa Gomez
(m. 2000)
Children4

Jon Seda is an American actor. Seda was an amateur boxer who auditioned for and was given a role in the 1992 boxing film Gladiator. He played the role of Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in the movie Selena, and portrayed U.S. Marine John Basilone, recipient of the Medal of Honor, in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's The Pacific. On television, he had roles as Detective Antonio Dawson in NBC's Chicago P.D., and as Paul Falsone in NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street.

Early life[edit]

Seda was born in Manhattan to parents of Puerto Rican descent[1] and raised in Clifton, New Jersey.[2][3] After graduating from Clifton High School,[4] Seda was convinced by two friends that he should take up boxing, so he began working out in a gym.

He boxed in several gyms in New Jersey and soon was a runner up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves competition. As an amateur boxer, Seda had a record of 21 wins and one loss.[5]

Career[edit]

Seda's film debut was in the boxing film Gladiator (1992), in which he played the role of Romano, a Cuban boxer. He has since worked in various films and TV series. In 1995, Seda was nominated Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his role in the movie I Like It Like That (1994), opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vélez.[6] In 1996, he was nominated for the Palme d'Or (Best Actor Award) at the Cannes Film Festival, for his role as Blue in the film The Sunchaser, opposite actor Woody Harrelson.[7]

Seda became widely known to the Hispanic film audience when he portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena (1997), a film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, who was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda played Selena's husband.

Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's: Homicide: Life on the Street. The writers, taking advantage of his boxing background, wrote a shirtless practice bout into an episode, which established his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. Seda also boxed opposite Jimmy Smits in the film Price of Glory (2000).[8]

Seda (left) with Joseph Mazzello and James Badge Dale at a screening for The Pacific

His first leading role on the large screen was as the protagonist in 2002's King Rikki, a re-imagining of Shakespeare's Richard III in East L.A.[8][9]

Seda has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including Bad Boys II (2003) as Roberto, as well as numerous television appearances. Aside from Homicide, he has had notable roles as Dino Ortolani in Oz, Matty Caffey in Third Watch, Paul Falsone (in a Homicide crossover with Law & Order), House, and CSI: Miami. He is featured as one of the three leads in the HBO World War II mini-series The Pacific (released on March 14, 2010), portraying Marine John Basilone.[10] Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of Burn Notice,[11] and in 2007, he made a cameo appearance in Ludacris' song "Runaway Love", as an abusive, alcoholic stepfather.

Seda appeared in Treme seasons 2-4 as Nelson Hidalgo, a politically connected land developer from Dallas who helps out with the relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. He appeared in the film Larry Crowne (2011), which starred and was co-written and directed by Tom Hanks. Hanks also served as an executive producer on The Pacific, in which Seda starred.[12] In 2013, Seda starred alongside Sylvester Stallone, Christian Slater, and Jason Momoa in the Walter Hill-directed action thriller Bullet to the Head.

In 2012, Seda began portraying Detective Antonio Dawson in Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise, first starring in Chicago Fire in a recurring role and then, in 2014, as part of the main cast of the spin-off Chicago P.D. In 2017, Seda carried his role over into another spin-off, Chicago Justice, which was canceled after its first season. His daughter Haley made a guest appearance on Chicago P.D. as a key witness in a bombing.[13] In July 2017, it was announced that Seda would return to Chicago P.D. following the cancellation of Chicago Justice.[14] On April 19, 2019, it was reported that NBC/Wolf Entertainment officials informed Seda that they would not be renewing his contract, which led to his leaving the series shortly after six seasons.[15]

In 2020, Seda was cast in the lead role of Dr. Benjamine Glass in the pilot of the NBC apocalyptic drama series La Brea, written by David Appelbaum,.[16] With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting production of the pilot, NBC allowed Seda's contract to expire along with most of the other pilot cast members. However, with the pilot being picked up straight-to-series in January 2021, Seda returned to the show, with his character rewritten as Dr. Sam Velez.[17]

Personal life[edit]

Seda married his longtime girlfriend, Lisa Gomez, in 2000.[18] The couple have four children.

Filmography[edit]

Films[edit]

Year Title Role
1992 Gladiator Romano Essadro
Zebrahead Vinnie
1993 Carlito's Way Dominican
New York Cop Mario
1994 I Like It Like That Chino Linares
1995 12 Monkeys Jose
Boys on the Side Pete
1996 Dear God Handsome
The Sunchaser Brandon 'Blue' Monroe
Primal Fear Alex
1997 The Price of Kissing Billy
Selena Chris Pérez
2000 Price of Glory Sonny Ortega
Little Pieces Kyle
2001 Double Bang Sally 'Fish' Pescatore
Love the Hard Way Charlie
2002 Undisputed Jesus 'Chuy' Campos
King Rikki Rikki Ortega
2003 Bad Boys II Roberto
2007 One Long Night Richard
2011 Larry Crowne Officer Diamond
2012 Bullet to the Head Louie Blanchard
2018 Canal Street Detective Mike Watts

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Daybreak Payne TV movie
1994 NYPD Blue Sal Molina Episode: "You Bet Your Life"
1995 Under Fire Unknown role Unknown episodes
New York Undercover Bobby Lunas Episode: "Knock You Out"
1996 Mistrial Eddie Rios TV movie
1997, 2003 Oz Dino Ortolani 4 episodes
1997–1999 Homicide: Life on the Street Detective Paul Falsone Guest (Season 5), main role (Seasons 6–7)
1997 Law & Order Detective Paul Falsone Episode: "Baby, It's You"
1999–2000 Third Watch Matty Caffey Recurring role
2000 Thin Air Luis DeLeon TV movie
Homicide: The Movie Detective Paul Falsone
Good Guys/Bad Guys
2001–2002 UC: Undercover Jake Shaw Main role
2003 Hack Nick Duarte Episode: "Dial 'O' for Murder"
2004 Las Vegas Junior Gomez Episode: "Die Fast, Die Furious"
The Jury Victor Torres Episode: "Last Rites"
2004–2005 Kevin Hill Damian 'Dame' Ruiz Main role
2006 Ghost Whisperer John Gregory 2 episodes
2006–2007 Close to Home Ray Blackwell Main role
2008 CSI: Miami Hector Salazar Episode: "Tipping Point"
2009 House Donny Episode: "Brave Heart"
One Hot Summer Ariel Silva TV movie
Legally Mad Joe Matty unaired pilot[19]
2010 Cutthroat Frankie TV movie
Numb3rs Lonnie Moses Episode: "Arm in Arms"
The Pacific Sergeant John Basilone Miniseries
Burn Notice Cole Episode: "Center of the Storm"
The Closer Detective Frank Verico Episode: "Off the Hook"
Hawaii Five-0 Sergeant Cage Episode: "Mana'o"
2011–2013 Treme Nelson Hidalgo Main role (Seasons 2–4)
2012–2019 Chicago Fire Antonio Dawson Recurring role
2014–2019 Chicago P.D. Main role (Seasons 1–4, 5–6), guest (season 4)
2016 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode: "Nationwide Manhunt"
2017 Chicago Justice Main role
2021–2024 La Brea Dr. Sam Velez[20] Main role

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jon Seda". HBO Connect. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014.
  2. ^ "HBO's 'The Pacific' behind-the-scenes: Sepinwall on TV". March 12, 2010.
  3. ^ "'Homicide' alum is knocking them out". Articles.baltimoresun.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  4. ^ Moss, Linda. "Actor Jon Seda felt special connection to World War II hero John Basilone, in HBO's The Pacific", NewJerseyNewsroom.com, May 30, 2010, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 11, 2012. Accessed September 17, 2018. "Seda himself was especially moved by the reaction of Charles Tatum, who actually served with Basilone and was on Iwo Jima with him. Tatum, who is portrayed in The Pacific, visited the set of the miniseries when it was shooting in Los Angeles. Seda said that Tatum shook his hand and said, 'We're all in agreement: You're John.' The actor, a graduate of Clifton High School, was left speechless by Tatum's praise."
  5. ^ "Boxing Hall names TV and movie actor grand marshal". Rome Sentinel. April 21, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  6. ^ NATALE, RICHARD (January 11, 1995). "A Bit More Dependence Than In the Past : Movies: Independent Spirit Award nods expand definition to encompass works financed by production companies owned by major studios" – via LA Times.
  7. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (March 28, 1998). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ a b Jon Seda Biography Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at StarPulse.Com
  9. ^ King Rikki at IMDb.
  10. ^ Mustac, Frank (November 11, 2009). "Veterans Day interview: Film actor Jon Seda humbly describes portraying Detective Antonio Dawson".
  11. ^ "Burn Notice Enlists Jon Seda for Guest Spot". TVGuide.com.
  12. ^ "Larry Crowne (2011)". IMDb. July 2011.
  13. ^ "Chicago P.D. Exclusive Video: Whose Real-Life Daughter Is a Key Witness to the Crime?". TV Guide. May 4, 2015.
  14. ^ Gelman, Vlada (July 12, 2017). "Chicago P.D.: Jon Seda to Return as Series Regular for Season 5". TV Line. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  15. ^ "'Chicago': Jon Seda, Colin Donnell & Norma Kuhling Exit NBC Drama Franchise". Deadline Hollywood. April 19, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 4, 2020). "Jon Seda Joins Drama Pilot 'La Brea' In NBC Return". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  17. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 4, 2021). "'La Brea': Eoin Macken To Star, Jon Seda To Return As NBC Series Also Casts Jack Martin & Lily Santiago". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  18. ^ "Actor Jon Seda, age 45, talks about how he couldn't have made it in Hollywood without support from his wife and children". Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  19. ^ Schneider, Michael (May 11, 2009). "NBC passing on 'Legally Mad'". Variety. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 5, 2020). "Jon Seda Joins Drama Pilot 'La Brea' In NBC Return". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

External links[edit]