Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for playing Paco Aguilar in Blood In Blood Out. He had supporting film roles in the 1990s in Demolition Man (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994), and The River Wild (1994). From 1995 to 1999, he starred as Detective Reynaldo Curtis on the NBC drama series Law & Order.
Bratt was born on December 16, 1963, in San Francisco, California[1][2] the third of five children of Eldy (née Banda), a nurse and political activist, and Peter Bratt Sr., a sheet metal worker.[3] His mother was born in Lima, Peru, and is of Quechua descent. She moved to the United States with her family at age 14.[4] His father is American, and his paternal grandfather, George, was a Broadway actor.[5]
An activist for Native American rights, his mother took Bratt (age 6) and her other children to participate in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. Led by young people from San Francisco, it raised national awareness of issues facing Native Americans and attracted participants from across the country.[6] Bratt attended Lowell High School in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Bratt earned a B.F.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1986, where he joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.[7] Enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, he left before receiving his degree to star in the 1987 television film Juarez.[6]
Career
Early work
Bratt started his professional acting career at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where he starred in the television filmJuarez. This received critical acclaim, and he landed a supporting role in the television film Police Story: Gladiator School. He had his first film role as Esteban in Lovers, Partners & Spies, which did not perform well at the box office. Bratt worked extensively in television, with roles in the Knightwatch and Nasty Boys series. In 1989, he starred in the film Nasty Boys, based on the television series.
In 1999, Bratt decided to leave Law & Order. "I've felt like it was time to get back home to my family," Bratt said. "How do you walk away from the best job in the world and a group of people that you've grown to love? It's not easy, and it was an extremely difficult decision that I had to make."[8][9] On May 26, 1999, Bratt's final episode was aired. In 2009, Bratt returned as the now-retired Curtis on Law & Order, where he was reunited with his former boss, Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), in the episode that aired on December 11, 2009. He returned to his film career that same year.
Later work
Bratt at 2010 San Francisco Memorial Day parade Grand Master
In 2000, Bratt appeared in The Next Best Thing. That same year, he played opposite Sandra Bullock in the romantic comedy Miss Congeniality and had a small role in the ensemble work Traffic. In 2004, the actor co-starred in Catwoman. Bratt often portrays Hispanic characters, especially in his later work. Bratt said, "I've played 'Latin-looking spiv, third from the right so many times I can't count." In 2001, he starred in the biopic film Piñero, for which he received an American Latino Media Arts Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. He played Puerto Rican actor and poet Miguel Piñero. Piñero was bisexual and when talking about Bratt having to portray his bisexuality, Bratt stated that this was "certainly something I wasn't afraid of." He went on to say, "Whether you're talking about Miguel's sexuality or his time spent in jail or his petty crime or his drug addiction, each one of those things is a component that makes up the entirety of the man."[10] In 2009, Bratt performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. That year he starred in and produced the film La Mission, directed by his brother, Peter Bratt. His later films include The Woodsman, Thumbsucker, The Great Raid, Trucker, Snitch, Ride Along 2, The Infiltrator, and Doctor Strange.
In 2002, he began dating actress and former Bond girlTalisa Soto; they married on April 13 in San Francisco. The two had met ten years earlier during a casting audition. During the filming of Piñero (2001) they began to develop a relationship. Their first child, daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, was born on December 6, 2002; their second child, son Mateo Bravery Bratt, was born on October 3, 2005.[12][13]
He narrated We Shall Remain (2009), a PBS mini-series about Native Americans, and part of its American Experience.[15]
Bratt has supported and served as a board member of the San Francisco Bay Area's Friendship House Association of American Indians and the Native American Health Center.[16] Bratt also has supported area organizations such as the Tribal Athletics Program, and United Indian Nations.[6]
In 2017, Bratt served as consulting producer for the film Dolores, which explores the life of Dolores Huerta, an American labor leader and civil rights activist. The film received critical acclaim and several awards.
In 2023, Bratt co-executive produced Wings of Dust, a documentary about water contamination in the Peruvian community of Espinar.
^Anderson, Hayley (February 17, 2022). "Law and Order exit: Why did Benjamin Bratt leave Law and Order as Rey Curtis?". Express. ProQuest2629526033. In a statement via the New York Post, Bratt said: "After four years I've felt like it was time to get back home to my family. "How do you walk away from the best job in the world, and a group of people you've grown to love?" He said it was an "extremely difficult decision" and hoped he would be able to work with his Law and Order co-stars again.
^"Bratt leaving Law & Order". The StarPhoenix. Associated Press. May 4, 1999. p. D2. ProQuest348451137. Benjamin Bratt is leaving the show at the end of the season to be replaced by Jesse L. Martin, who plays Calista Flockhart's doctor- boyfriend on Ally McBeal, producer Dick Wolf said. "How do you walk away from the best job in the world and a group of people that you've grown to love?" Bratt said. "It's not easy, and it was an extremely difficult decision that I had to make."
^ abcdefgh"Benjamin Bratt (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 14, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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