Clifton Collins Jr.
Clifton Craig Collins Jr. (born June 16, 1970) is an American actor.[1] After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by Robert Redford in the 2001 film The Last Castle. His extensive work includes featured roles in films such as One Eight Seven (1997), Traffic (2000), Capote (2005), Star Trek (2009) and Pacific Rim (2013). Collins extensive work on television series includes Crisis Center (1997), Thief (2006), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, The Event (2010–2011), and Westworld (2016–2020).
Clifton Collins Jr. | |
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.jpg) Collins Jr. at the 2013 Weekend Of Horrors 11 | |
| Born | Clifton Craig Collins Jr. June 16, 1970 |
| Other names | Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse(s) | Megan Ozurovich (m. 2012) |
Early life
Collins was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the grandson of actor Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez. He is sometimes credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez in honor of his grandfather. His father is of German descent and his mother is of Mexican ancestry.[2]
Career
He first broke through the mainstream in 1997 with a performance as tagger César Sánchez in the film One Eight Seven. In 1998, he was in Ray Bradbury's cult film The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. He next portrayed a gay hitman named Francisco "Frankie Flowers" Flores for the Mexican drug cartels in Steven Soderbergh's 2000 ensemble drama Traffic.[3]
For his portrayal of a USMC prisoner in the 2001 film The Last Castle Collins was nominated for the 2002 American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Award for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture. In 2002, he played the role of Buddy in the film Confessions of an American Girl.
In 2005, Collins won rave reviews for his subtle portrayal of killer Perry Smith in the fact-based film Capote, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2006.
He starred in the 2005 film Dirty alongside Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. Collins starred on FX Networks' series Thief and received an Emmy nomination.[4] Collins also played a supporting role on FX Networks' series The Shield as undercover ICE agent Hernan. He also has a small role in 2006's Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.
In 2007, Collins took the lead role in the indie feature The Perfect Game, playing former baseball player Cesar Faz, who coaches a local Mexican youth league team, leading them all the way to the Little League World Series.[5]
In 2008, Collins directed two music videos for the country music group Zac Brown Band: "Chicken Fried" and "Whatever It Is".
Collins starred in the comedy Sunshine Cleaning with Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin. He played Winston, the owner of a cleaning supply shop who builds meticulously detailed model airplanes with only one arm. Collins played the role with one arm bound tightly behind his back.[6] In 2009's Star Trek, Collins plays Ayel, a Romulan, second in command to the villain Nero.
In 2009, Collins joined Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker in the psychological thriller The Experiment.[7] Collins starred in Extract, a 2009 film by director Mike Judge. He co-produced the film National Lampoon's TV: The Movie in which he played Officer Sanchez alongside Jacob Vargas. He also voiced the fictional video game character Cesar Vialpando in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In 2009, he played Romeo in the film The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.[8]
In 2010, Collins joined the cast of NBC's drama The Event as Thomas.[9] The following year, he guest on two episodes of CSI: NY as a man named Raymond Harris, an ex-convict who seeks revenge against Mac Taylor and his partner to get some answers regarding a 17-year grudge against them. The episodes also guest starred the now late Peter Fonda, who Collins previously worked with in San Andreas, as Taylor's ex-partner, who ends up getting killed by Harris.
In 2015, HBO's science fiction drama Westworld added Collins as Lawrence / El Lazo, a charming but lethal outlaw, with a knack for maneuvering and negotiating the various criminal elements.[10]
Writing
He wrote his first book, Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars with Gustavo "Goose" Alvarez, in 2015.[11]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Grand Canyon | Carlos' friend No. 2 | |
| 1993 | Fortress | Nino Gomez | |
| Menace II Society | Vato No. 2 | ||
| Poetic Justice | Mailroom supervisor | ||
| 1994 | The Stoned Age | Tack | |
| 1995 | One Tough Bastard | Jarhead No. 2 | |
| Dead Presidents | Betancourt | ||
| 1996 | Sgt. Bilko | Soldier No. 2 | |
| 1997 | One Eight Seven | Cesar Sanchez | |
| The Bad Pack | Townsman 1 | ||
| 1998 | The Replacement Killers | Loco | |
| The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit | Martinez | ||
| 1999 | My Sweet Killer | Horton | |
| Light It Up | Robert 'Rivers' Tresmont | ||
| 2000 | Road Dogz | Raymo Serrano | |
| Price of Glory | Jimmy Ortega | ||
| Tigerland | Pvt. Miter | ||
| Traffic | Francisco Flores | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | |
| 2001 | The Last Castle | Cpl. Ramon Aguilar | |
| 2002 | The Rules of Attraction | Rupert | |
| American Girl | Buddy | ||
| 2003 | I Witness | Claudio Castillo | |
| 2004 | Mindhunters | Vince Sherman | |
| 2005 | Life of the Party | Kipp | |
| Capote | Perry Smith | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | |
| Dirty | Officer Armando Sancho | ||
| 2006 | TV: The Movie | Tijuana Cop #1 / Minion / Miranda | |
| Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders | Kenneth Bianchi | ||
| Babel | Officer at Border Crossing | ||
| Little Chenier | T-Boy Trahan | Phoenix Film Festival Award for Best Cast | |
| 2008 | Under Still Waters | Jacob | |
| 2009 | Sunshine Cleaning | Winston | |
| Horsemen | Stingray | ||
| The Perfect Game | Cesar Faz | ||
| Crank: High Voltage | El Huron | ||
| Star Trek | Ayel | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast | |
| Brothers | Major Cavazos | ||
| The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | Romeo | ||
| 2010 | The Experiment | Nix | |
| Scott Pilgrim vs. The World | Vegan Police | Uncredited cameo | |
| 2011 | The FP | CC Jam | |
| Freeloaders | Vic | ||
| 2012 | Hellbenders | Lawrence | |
| 2013 | Pacific Rim | Ops Tendo Choi | |
| Parker | Ross | ||
| 2014 | Transcendence | Martin | |
| 2015 | Stung | Sydney | |
| Man Down | Charles | ||
| 2016 | Hacker | Zed | |
| Triple 9 | Franco Rodriguez | ||
| Transpecos | Hobbs | ||
| Punching Henry | Dramatic Actor | ||
| 2017 | Small Town Crime | Mood | |
| M.F.A. | Kennedy | ||
| A Crooked Somebody | Nathan | ||
| The Vault | Detective Iger | ||
| 2018 | Super Troopers 2 | Bus Driver | |
| The Mule | Gustavo | ||
| 2019 | Honey Boy | Tom | |
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Ernesto "The Mexican" Vaquero | ||
| Waves | Bobby | ||
| Running with the Devil | The Farmer | ||
| Lucky Day | DPO Ernesto Sanchez | ||
| TBA | After Yang | George | Post-production |
| Breaking News in Yuba County | Raj | Post-production | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Freddy's Nightmares | Mickey | Episode: "Interior Loft" |
| 1990 | The Flash | Javier O'Hara | Episode 5: "Double Vision", credited as Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez |
| 1991 | Jake and the Fatman | Roberto | Episode: "Street of Dreams" |
| 1995 | Madman of the People | Jorge | Episode: "Notes from the Underground" |
| 1996 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Fito | 2 episodes |
| 1997 | Crisis Center | Nando Taylor | 6 episodes |
| ER | Mr. Brown | Episode: "Tribes" | |
| NYPD Blue | Jimmy Cortez | Episode: "I Love Lucy" | |
| 2000–2001 | Resurrection Blvd. | James Garcia | 3 episodes |
| 2002 | The Twilight Zone | Andy Perez | Episode: "Last Lap" |
| 2003 | Alias | Javiar Parez | 3 episodes |
| Undefeated | Loco | Television movie | |
| 2006 | Thief | Jack "Bump" Hill | 6 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 2007 | The Shield | Hernan | 2 episodes |
| Masters of Science Fiction | Frendon Blythe | Episode: "Little Brother" | |
| 2008 | Fear Itself | Richard 'Family Man' Brautigan | Episode: "Family Man" |
| 2010 | Southland | Detective Ray Suarez | Episode: "The Runner" |
| 2010–11 | The Event | Thomas | 13 episodes |
| 2011 | CSI: NY | Raymond Harris | 2 episodes |
| Pound Puppies | Scar / Weasel | Voice Episode: "Rebel Without a Collar" | |
| 2013 | Red Widow | James Ramos | 8 episodes |
| The Blacklist | Hector Lorca | Episode: "The Stewmaker" | |
| 2015–17 | Ballers | Maximo Gomez | 7 episodes |
| 2016–2020 | Westworld | Lawrence / El Lazo | Main cast (Seasons 1-2); Guest (Season 3) |
| 2019 | Veronica Mars | Alonzo Lozano | 9 episodes |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Cesar Vialpando |
References
- "Clifton Collins Jr. Biography". filmreference.com. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- Beale, Lewis (April 13, 2010). "Clifton Collins Jr. feels safe at home with his Mexican heritage in 'The Perfect Game'". Daily News Latino. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- Roger Ebert (January 1, 2001). "Traffic Movie Review".
- "And the nominees are ..." July 7, 2006. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- Lyford, Kathy (June 4, 2007). "Clifton Collins Jr. to star in 'Game'". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- Wolcott, Gary (April 16, 2009). "Q & A with Clifton Collins Jr. of 'Sunshine Cleaning'". Tri-City Herald. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
- Kroll, Justin (July 5, 2009). "Clifton Collins Jr". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- Debruge, Peter (October 29, 2009). "Review: 'The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- "Clifton Collins Jr. Joins The Event". TVGuide.com.
- "Westworld".
- "Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars".
External links
- Official website
- Clifton Collins Jr. on IMDb
- Clifton Collins Jr. at the TCM Movie Database
- Clifton Collins Jr. at AllMovie
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