Esai Morales
Michael Tyner

Born to Puerto Rican parents in Brooklyn, NY, Esai Morales developed an interest in acting at a young age. Morales attended New York’s prestigious High School for the Performing Arts.

Morales made his stage debut in “El Hermano” at the Ensemble Studio Theater and appeared in Joe Papp’s production of “The Tempest” for New York’s Shakespeare in the Park festival. His theater experience also includes sharing the stage with Al Pacino in “Salome,” and he earned a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in “Tamer of Horses” for the Los Angeles Theater Center. In 2002, Morales made his musical theater debut starring in the San Francisco run of “The Mambo Kings.”

Morales’ best-known television role is his portrayal of “Lt. Tony Rodriguez” in the Emmy Award-winning drama series “NYPD Blue.” In 2002, he received an Alma Award for Best Actor in a Television Series. He also received accolades for his performance in the drama series “American Family.”

In 1983, Morales made his film debut in “Bad Boys” opposite Sean Penn and went on to star in “La Bamba,” which remains the most commercially successful Latino-themed motion picture to date. Other film credits include “The Burning Season” and “The Disappearance of Garcia Lotrca.” He can be seen in “Fast Food Nation,” “The Virgin of Juarez,” “American Fusion,” “Heartless” and “Kill Kill Faster Faster.”

In 1997, Morales co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA), created to advance the presence and quality of Latinos in media, telecommunications and entertainment. He is a board member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and serves on the advisory board of Women in Film (WIF).

Morales lives in Los Angeles.