Raymond Cruz is perhaps best-known for his portrayal of the frighteningly lethal ‘Tuco Salamanca’ in AMC’s critically acclaimed show Breaking Bad (2008), a character he later reprised for the first two episodes of the spin-off Better Call Saul (2015). The role garnered him a ‘Best Performance in a Television Series’ nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Cruz recently wrapped his sixth and final season of TNT’s Major Crimes (2012) as ‘Julio Sanchez,’ a detective within the Los Angeles Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, a role which originated on TNT’s The Closer (2005) and which offered Cruz a nomination of ‘Best Supporting Actor’ from the Imagen Foundation Awards. Other TV work includes Cleveland Abduction (2015), the TV Movie in which he starred as kidnapper ‘Ariel Castro,’ a role he felt personally connected to having known the victims of his crime personally. Other TV work includes CSI: Miami (2002), Lauren (2012), White Collar (2009), and Los Americans (2011), among others. Cruz has appeared in numerous films including the highly touted Collateral Damage (2002), Training Day (2001), and Alien: Resurrection (2000).
Raymond Cruz
Movies
Kick
A pair of naive young girls learn that even the most insignificant actions can have lasting consequences. Influenced by the hip-hop thug lifestyle and seeking to explore life outside of their insulated, culturally homogenized suburb, pretty young teenagers Allison and Emily set their sights on East L.A. to experience the…
Fun Facts
Often plays the roles of soldiers.
Mexican-American actor based in Los Angeles who grew up in the tough East Los Angeles hood.
Hobby and passion is riding and building motorcycles. His pride and joy is a 1972 Moto Guzzi El Dorado police bike that he worked on for two years.
He played an Army SF sniper in Clear and Present Danger (1994) and had the nickname, "Sniper""
Quotes
When I was a kid, they bused us down to a screening of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) in an old theater and it was just a great experience. I became fascinated by the fact that you could translate written material into performance. That's what compelled me to pursue this. I went to college and studied writing and I got involved in theater. It's always been my passion. I love the challenge of translating the written word into performance.
Live theatre provides a rush you can't get in film or television. But it is the TV and film work that offers the leisure to go off and do a play.