Freddy Rodriguez

:otheruses4|the actor|the cyclist|Fred Rodriguez|the baseball player|Freddy Rodriguez (baseball)Infobox actor
name = Freddy Rodriguez

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caption = Freddy Rodriguez at the Tribeca Film Festival
birthdate = Birth date and age|1975|1|17|mf=y
location = flagicon|USA Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Freddy Rodriguez (born January 17, 1975) is an American actor known for playing the characters Hector Federico "Rico" Diaz on HBO's "Six Feet Under" and El Wray in the Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror". Currently, he is a recurring cast member on the series "Ugly Betty" playing the heart-throb Gio.

Biography

Early life

Rodriguez was born in Chicago, Illinois to Puerto Rican parents. [ [http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-0703300193apr01,1,6990541.story?coll=chi-ent_movies-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true "Chicago Tribune" aticle] ] [ [http://www.sdlatinofilm.com/guests_top10.html San Diego Film Festival] ] He is a graduate of Lincoln Park High School in Chicago.

Career

His first recognizable role on film was when he landed the part of Pedro Aragon, Jr. in "A Walk in the Clouds" with Keanu Reeves and Giancarlo Giannini. Afterwards, Rodriguez went on to film roles such as an obnoxious jock in "Can't Hardly Wait". He played a Vietnam veteran in "Dead Presidents" with Chris Tucker and Larenz Tate and was also seen on "Scrubs" as Carla's brother Marco. He also played Federico on the HBO series "Six Feet Under". As a voice actor, he contributed the voice of Más y Menos on "Teen Titans".

He starred in "The Pest" as "Ninja". He also starred in the film "Poseidon" as a waiter who briefly survives the horrible rogue wave that overcame the ship. He also played a vicious inner city drug dealer named Hector in the 2005 movie, "Havoc". In 2006, he played Reggie, a character who only exercised one half of his body, in M. Night Shyamalan's film "Lady in the Water". He has recently starred alongside Eva Longoria and Christian Bale in "Harsh Times", his first leading character in a major theater release. He was seen on an episode of the hit hospital television show "ER", where he played a dying comic inspired by Bill Hicks. He also played a jockey in the movie "Dreamer" with co-star Dakota Fanning.

Also alongside Roselyn Sanchez in the 2003 movie "Chasing Papi", playing as "Victor" (directed by Linda Mendoza).He also played busboy José Rojas in the 2006 film "Bobby". Most recently, he starred as El Wray in "Planet Terror", Robert Rodriguez's portion of the double-feature film, "Grindhouse". He appeared in the music video for the Santana song "Into the Night" and also made a cameo appearance as a flight attendant in the music video for the song "Glamorous" by Fergie. Most recently, Rodriguez had a very brief cameo appearance in Fall Out Boy's 2008 music video "Beat It". He also starred in the popular video game "Saints Row" as the voice of Angelo Lopez.

On July 13, 2007, Rodriguez was added to the cast of the ABC dramedy series "Ugly Betty", in which he plays Giovanni Rossi, a sandwich shop owner who is expected to become a love interest for Betty Suarez (played by America Ferrera). He made his debut on the series at the start of the second season. [ [http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-uglybetty-freddyrodriguez,0,7629143.story?coll=zap-tv-headlines From Zap2it (July 13, 2007)] ] Rodriguez has also announced on his home office website that he is currently in the works for a film adaptation of the book Bodega Dreams and will star in the film and also serve as executive producer.

Personal life

Rodriguez has been married for 12 years to his high school sweetheart, Elsie Rodriguez. On a recent appearance on Tyra, Tyra Banks' Daytime Talkshow, he revealed that he believes the secret to a strong, long-lasting marriage is a "strong spritual upbringing", and stated that they tend to stay away from the public eye. The couple have two sons, Elijah and Giancarlo.

Footnotes

External links

*imdb name|id=0735843|name=Freddy Rodriguez
* [http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_entertainment/freddy/ Let Freddy Rodriguez show you around.] — An Associated Press/asap Flash interactive, multimedia piece showing inside some of Freddy Rodriguez's world.
* [http://freddyfan.oranc.co.kr/ WE LOVE FREDDY RODRIGUEZ - Freddy Fanatics ] - Nadie's Freddy Rodriguez Fansite
* [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800247629/bio]