View for person of id: 16429
Jacob Vargas
Born: 18th Aug 1971 Michoacan, Mexico
Dept: Acting
Jacob Vargas (born August 18, 1971) is a Mexican-American actor. He began his acting career when he was discovered breakdancing in a schoolyard at age 12. His introduction to acting came with a bit part as a breakdancer on the hit TV show Diff'rent Strokes (1978).
His first movie role was in the TV movie The Children of Times Square (1986). He started to appear in more films including Last Resort (1986), Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), The Principal (1987), Little Nikita (1988), American Me (1992), and Gas Food Lodging (1992). In 1995, he won the very first ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca (1993) and Gregory Nava's My Family (1995).
He next starred in films including Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995), Selena (1997), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), and the cult favorite Next Friday (2000) as Ice Cube's nemesis, Joker.
His next role was Tijuana cop Manolo, 'Benicio del Toro"s partner in Steven Soderbergh's Academy Award- winning film Traffic (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award.
In 2001, he executive produced and starred in the independent film Road Dogz (2002). He wrote, directed and acted in EDNY (2003). He also co-produced and starred in the stage play "Latinologues", which ran on Broadway in 2005 and is available on DVD.
He voiced for Pepito in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). Next, he played Sammi the chef in John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Marine sniper Juan Cortez in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' war drama Jarhead (2005), a straight-arrow DEA agent in the action drama The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2006), a politically charged busboy Miguel in Emilio Estevez's historical drama Bobby (2006), and a psychologically tortured drone pilot Rudy Ramirez in Alex Rivera's sci-fi political love story Sleep Dealer (2008).
He had roles in The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Death Race (2008), Cesar Chavez (2014, Heaven is For Real (2014), The Tell-Tale Heart (2016), Plan B, (2021), and Kimi (2022).
His major TV roles are as Bob on Surfside Girls, Tony Medina on Mr. Iglesias, Horacio on Mosaic, Domingo Colon on Marvel's Luke Cage, Allesandro Montez on Sons of Anarchy and later on Mayans M.C., Guillermo on Moonlight, Ernesto Tiant on Greetings from Tucson, and Dr. Roberto Martinez on Max Steel. He had recurring roles on Colony, Blue, and Six Feet Under.
He has also guest starred on a number of shows including National Treasure: Edge of History, The Mentalist, Burn Notice, Psych, Numb3rs, Medium, CSI: NY, Cold Case, The Pretender, JAG, ER, Full House, and Hunter.
He has voiced for characters on animated series including Solar Opposites, Young Justice, and a recurring role on Tarantula.
[ToDo] Show list of extra photos here.
Film and Tv Credits
Total number of credits listed: 100
Film: 61 (61%)
Television: 39 (39%)
Remaining genres not in graph: Romance, TV Movie, Fantasy, Science Fiction, History, Music, War, Documentary, Kids, Western, Soap
Filmography
Dec 2022 (first aired)
While searching for history's greatest treasure, Jess Valenzuela unburies her family's secret past. ... view
Character:
Rafael (4 ep.)
2022
When police raid a house in El Paso, they find it full of dead Latinos, and only one survivor. He’s known as The Traveler, and when they take him to ... view
Character:
El Jefe
Aug 2022 (first aired)
Quick wits lead to daring discoveries for beachside besties Sam and Jade as they sleuth out supernatural mysteries in their sleepy hometown of Surfsid ... view
Character:
Bob (7 ep.)
2022
A tech worker with agoraphobia discovers recorded evidence of a violent crime but is met with resistance when she tries to report it. Seeking justice, ... view
Character:
Glasses Thug
2021
After a regrettable first sexual encounter, a straight-laced high school student and her slacker best friend have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill ... view
Character:
Pastor Pedro
2021
Puscifer (Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell, Carina Round) perform every song from the 2015 album Money Shot. ... view
Character:
Bartesian
2020
The inspiring tale of a runaway foster child who will stop at nothing to live with the only family she knows: her homeless, mentally-ill veteran fathe ... view
Character:
Donald
Aug 2020 (first aired)
Worlds collide in this special event featuring familiar faces, surprise cameos and stories of spirited competition from four different comedy series. ... view
Character:
Tony Ochoa (1 ep.)
May 2020 (first aired)
A family of aliens from a much better world must take refuge in middle America after the destruction of their planet. Their mission: protect the Pupa, ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Jun 2019 (first aired)
Hilarious high school teacher Gabriel Iglesias tries to make a difference in the lives of some smart but underperforming students at his alma mater. ... view
Character:
Tony Medina (21 ep.)
2019
An act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from th ... view
Character:
Ernesto Ramirez
2019
After his father takes his two brothers and high tails it, Peel is forced to grow up in a state of arrested development. Once his mother dies, he must ... view
Character:
Chuck
Sep 2018 (first aired)
Set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi bor ... view
Character:
Allesandro Montez (3 ep.)
Jan 2018 (first aired)
Explore the psychological underpinnings of love and murder in a small mountain resort town while following popular children’s book author and illust ... view
Character:
Horacio (6 ep.)
2017
Detective Mark Corley storms his way onto an alien spaceship to rescue his estranged son. When the ship crashes in Southeast Asia, he forges an allian ... view
Character:
Garcia
Sep 2017 (first aired)
A diverse anthology of ambitious, moving tales inspired by Philip K Dick's short stories. ... view
Character:
Mario (1 ep.)
2016
A quiet teenage artist Rafe Katchadorian has a wild imagination and is sick of middle school and the rules that have been put before him. Rafe and his ... view
Character:
Animation Voice (voice)
Sep 2016 (first aired)
Given superstrength and durability by a sabotaged experiment, a wrongly accused man escapes prison to become a superhero for hire. ... view
Character:
Domingo Colon (6 ep.)
2016
A young American couple in love, Michael and Olivia vacation in Baja, but things take a frightening turn when Olivia is kidnapped by drug dealer, who ... view
Character:
Jesus
2016
A haunting account of a tormented man, haunted by the heart of a man he murdered, who continually re-admits himself into a medical facility, in a futi ... view
Character:
Adams
Jan 2016 (first aired)
In the near future a family must make difficult decisions as they balance staying together with trying to survive. They live in Los Angeles, which has ... view
Character:
Carlos (3 ep.)
2015
Based on the true story of the collapse of a mine in San Jose, Chile—that left 33 miners isolated underground for 69 days. ... view
Character:
Edison 'Elvis' Peña
Jun 2015 (first aired)
John Ellis, a disillusioned suburban ER doctor, who finds his existence transformed when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting, saving a young boy's li ... view
Character:
Ramon (1 ep.)
Aug 2014 (first aired)
A morally corrupt judge suffers a breakdown and believes that God is speaking directly to him, compelling him onto a path of vigilante justice. ... view
Character:
Julio Farkas (uncredited) (1 ep.)
2014
The ups and downs of female comic Kiki Melendez. ... view
Character:
2014
Twin brothers nicknamed "Water" and "Power" from the hard scrabble Eastside streets of Los Angeles rise like prince's through the city's political and ... view
Character:
Asuncion Garcia
2014
After their young son, Colton, undergoes emergency surgery, small-town parents Todd and Sonja Burpo are overjoyed at the child's miraculous recovery. ... view
Character:
Michael
2014
A biography of the civil-rights activist and labor organizer Cesar Chavez. Chronicling the birth of a modern American labour movement, Cesar Chavez t ... view
Character:
Richard Chavez
2014
Disgraced Top Gun fighter pilot Butch Masters leads a rogue squad in recovery of a WMD. Masters must navigate a fractured friendship, a love triangle, ... view
Character:
Jorge 'P-Dawg' Vasquez
2013
Bernice and Fontayne grew up so tight they could ‘go for sisters’. After twenty years apart, they are reunited when Bernice is assigned to be Font ... view
Character:
Navajas
Jun 2012 (first aired)
Blue is a mother with a secret life. She'll do anything to keep it from her son. But her past has other plans. ... view
Character:
Roy (4 ep.)
Nov 2010 (first aired)
Teenage superheroes strive to prove themselves as members of the Justice League. ... view
Character:
Sebastian Cardona / Cisco Ramon (voice) (1 ep.)
2010
A group of people are trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, and one of them is the devil. ... view
Character:
Ramirez
May 2010 (first aired)
Once upon the 1970s, Dan Stark and his partner, Frank Savage, were big-shot Dallas detectives. So big, in fact, that they were lauded as American hero ... view
Character:
Tico (1 ep.)
2010
A couple of Las Vegas police officers live a life almost as wild as the crimes they investigate. ... view
Character:
Sergio Vargas
2008
Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three s ... view
Character:
Rudy Ramirez
Sep 2008 (first aired)
Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes ... view
Character:
Chief Rick Anaya (1 ep.)
Sep 2008 (first aired)
The Sons of Anarchy (SOA) are an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States and overseas. The show focused on the original and fou ... view
Character:
Allesandro Montez (15 ep.)
2008
Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyla ... view
Character:
Gunner
2008
A struggling young couple stumbles upon a cache of dirty money after a shootout in their apartment building. ... view
Character:
Detective Billy Jones
Sep 2007 (first aired)
Mick St. John is a captivating, charming and immortal private investigator from Los Angeles, who defies the traditional blood-sucking norms of his vam ... view
Character:
Guillermo (5 ep.)
2007
A DEA agent provides former Marine Tim Kearney with a way out of his prison sentence: impersonate Bobby Z, a recently deceased drug dealer, in a hosta ... view
Character:
Jorge Escobar
Jun 2007 (first aired)
A formerly blacklisted spy uses his unique skills and training to help people in desperate situations. ... view
Character:
Omar Hernandez (1 ep.)
2007
Newlyweds Nick and Suzanne decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for their two kids. But their idea of a dream home is disturbed by a ... view
Character:
Mike the Plumber
2007
A group of National Guard trainees on a routine mission find themselves up against cannibalistic mutants in the New Mexico desert. ... view
Character:
Crank
2006
In 1968 the lives of a retired doorman, hotel manager, lounge singer, busboy, beautician and others intersect in the wake of Robert F. Kennedy's assas ... view
Character:
Miguel
2006
A celebration of the ever increasing depravity of television in our society-- it's a channel surfing adventure through the most utterly ridiculous spo ... view
Character:
Tijuana Cop 2 / Announcer / Charlotte
Jul 2006 (first aired)
Thanks to his police officer father's efforts, Shawn Spencer spent his childhood developing a keen eye for detail (and a lasting dislike of his dad). ... view
Character:
Juan Lava (1 ep.)
2006
When a reporter travels to Juarez to cover the ongoing story of the mass murder of local working women, she uncovers the amazing story of "The Virgin ... view
Character:
Detective Lauro
2005
Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit ... view
Character:
Juan Cortez
2005
Luke Wilson plays a good-hearted ex-con who gets a job in a retirement hotel. Three elderly residents help him win back his girlfriend as he lends the ... view
Character:
Reyes Morales
Jan 2005 (first aired)
Inspired by actual cases and experiences, Numb3rs depicts the confluence of police work and mathematics in solving crime as an FBI agent recruits his ... view
Character:
Victor Borrego (1 ep.)
Jan 2005 (first aired)
Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help ... view
Character:
Eduardo Garcia (1 ep.)
2004
When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are sent to shut the operation down and fly them out. On the flig ... view
Character:
Sammi
Sep 2004 (first aired)
Follow the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers identified as "Crime Scene Investigators". ... view
Character:
Luis Torres (1 ep.)
2004
Meet Blanche Monroe aka The Evil Stepmother, an out-of-work daytime drama queen. When her stunning stepdaughter (Snow White) is discovered by a hotsho ... view
Character:
Vincent Enano
Sep 2003 (first aired)
The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush ... view
Character:
Angelo Rivera (2009) (1 ep.)
Feb 2003 (first aired)
Kingpin is an American crime drama television series which debuted on the NBC network in the U.S. and CTV in Canada on February 2, 2003 and lasted 6 e ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
2003
A supercharged, brilliant prosecutor leads a team of U.S. attorneys in the Eastern District of New York. ... view
Character:
Sep 2002 (first aired)
The show follows Crime Scene Investigators working for the Miami-Dade Police Department as they use physical evidence, similar to their Las Vegas coun ... view
Character:
Felix Medina (1 ep.)
Sep 2002 (first aired)
In this autobiographical family comedy, based on the life of series creator Peter Murrieta, life is seen through the eyes of 15-year-old David Tiant a ... view
Character:
Ernesto Tiant (22 ep.)
2002
"Boyz N the Hood" meets "Blood In, Blood Out" in this gritty tale of life on the streets of East L.A. Danny (Jacob Vargas), Alfonso (Greg Serano) and ... view
Character:
Danny Pacheco
Feb 2002 (first aired)
A single woman, Ellie Riggs, tries to navigate her way through the Los Angeles music scene and her own messy personal life. ... view
Character:
Miguel (1 ep.)
2002
A grieving doctor is being contacted by his late wife through his patient's near death experiences. ... view
Character:
Victor
2002
Rayne Johnson is a shrewd investment company assistant who turns a mob slaying into a golden opportunity for a new improved lifestyle, managing to out ... view
Character:
Gonzalez
Sep 2001 (first aired)
Follow the adventures and misadventures of Penny, a 14-year-old African American girl who's doing her best to navigate through the early years of teen ... view
Character:
Punch Alto (voice) (1 ep.)
2001
A group of beavers ask Dr. Dolittle to save their habitat from loggers. The only hope is to get the forest preserved because it's the home of a protec ... view
Character:
Pepito (voice)
Jun 2001 (first aired)
When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least a ... view
Character:
Manuel 'Paco' Bolin (1 ep.)
2001
"Come and Take it Day" uses Texas history to tell a story of friendship, envy, betrayal, and greed. The fictional story centers around the hunt for th ... view
Character:
Miguel
2000
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Poli ... view
Character:
Manolo Sanchez
Feb 2000 (first aired)
A teenage boy with accidental body enhancements fights the enemies of peace as a super-powered secret agent. ... view
Character:
Dr. Roberto Martinez (voice) (22 ep.)
2000
A streetwise man flees South Central Los Angeles heading to the suburbs and his lottery-winner uncle and cousin to avoid a neighborhood thug with a gr ... view
Character:
Joker
1998
An intimate story of the enduring bond of friendship between two hard-living men, set against a sweeping backdrop: the American West, post-World War I ... view
Character:
Delfino Mondragon
1997
A cop finds that his wife and daughter are involved in a New Age cult when he returns home after eight months. ... view
Character:
Jesus
1997
Two not-too-bright party girls reinvent themselves for their high school reunion. Armed with a borrowed Jaguar, new clothes and the story of their suc ... view
Character:
Ramon
1997
In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young d ... view
Character:
A. B. Quintanilla
Sep 1996 (first aired)
CLUELESS is a television series spun off from the 1995 teen film of the same name. The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a p ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Sep 1996 (first aired)
Raised in a secret facility built for experimenting on children, Jarod is a genius who can master any profession and become anyone he has to be. When ... view
Character:
Javi Padillo (1 ep.)
Mar 1996 (first aired)
Malibu Shores is an American primetime teen drama/soap opera that aired on Saturday Night at 8:00PM EST from to June 1996 for ten episodes on NBC. Cre ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (10 ep.)
1995
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror fil ... view
Character:
Yayo Portillo
Sep 1995 (first aired)
Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. is a former pilot turned lawyer working for the military's JAG (Judge Advocate General) division, the elite legal wing of offic ... view
Character:
Corporal Cortez (1 ep.)
1995
After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible worldwide threat. U.S. submarine Capt. Frank Ramsey signs on ... view
Character:
Sonarman #2
1995
Traces over three generations an immigrant family's trials, tribulations, tragedies, and triumphs. Maria and Jose, the first generation, come to Los A ... view
Character:
Young Jose
Mar 1995 (first aired)
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an American anthology animated television series. ... view
Character:
Prince Luis (voice) (1 ep.)
Sep 1994 (first aired)
ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened e ... view
Character:
Diablo (1 ep.)
1994
Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie' ... view
Character:
Ernesto
1994
Taking place in the 1990's, Huck and his card shark friend, Jim, travel from California to Nevada searching for Huck's long-lost grandpa. Along the wa ... view
Character:
Pedro
1993
Ned Ravine is a police officer and lawyer who occasionally defends the delinquents he arrests. He crosses paths with seductive Lola Cain during an ass ... view
Character:
Flower Delivery Man
1993
Good-natured teen surfer Mitchell Goosen finds himself staying with his aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio when his parents head to Australia for work ... view
Character:
Snake
1992
Nora, a single mother raising two teenage daughters, Shade and Trudi, waits tables at a truck-stop diner in a small New Mexico town. The beautiful and ... view
Character:
Javier
1992
During his 18 years in Folsom Prison, street-gang leader Santana rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana ... view
Character:
Paulito - Age 15
1991
Coca leaves making their way from Peru to Downtown Los Angeles. ... view
Character:
Cholo #2
1990
After a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaite ... view
Character:
Miguel
1988
An FBI agent works to uncover an all-American family as Soviet sleeper agents, and gets caught up in friendship with their oblivious teenage son. ... view
Character:
Miguel
Sep 1987 (first aired)
After the death of his wife, Danny enlists his best friend and his brother-in-law to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle. ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
1987
Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school ... view
Character:
Arturo Diego
1987
Ernest, a lovable loser who works as a summer camp handyman and dreams of becoming a guidance counselor, must find a way to inspire a group of juvenil ... view
Character:
Bubba Vargas
1986
George Lollar takes his family on vacation with "Club Sand", a shoddy and untrustworthy company. On their tropical island, they find soldiers everywhe ... view
Character:
Carlos
1986
A kindly but firm priest mentors a troubled young boy at the famous Boys Town, a residential care community for troubled youth. ... view
Character:
Enrique Mendoza
Sep 1984 (first aired)
Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. D ... view
Character:
Emilio Morales (1 ep.)