# Jacob Vargas

Jacob Vargas is a Mexican-American actor, producer, and dancer.

## Early life

Vargas was born in Michoacán, and raised in Pacoima, Los Angeles. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. He attended high school at San Fernando High School in San Fernando, California.

## Career

Vargas has been a working actor for over thirty years.
In 1992, Vargas appeared in American Me. In 1995, Vargas won the very first ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, and Gregory Nava's My Family. In 1995, Vargas would appear in Get Shorty. In 1997, Vargas appeared in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. In 1999, Vargas became the voice of Max Steel.
In 2000, Vargas played Benicio del Toro's partner Manolo in director Steven Soderbergh's drug trafficking pic Traffic, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award. The same year he also played the Joker from the Joker Brothers in the Next Friday. He played A.B. Quintanilla, the brother of the late Tejano singer Selena in the biopic film of the same name. In 2002, Vargas would play Caesar Chavez in FX Network's film RFK. In 2004, Vargas played Sammy the chef in John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix.
In 2005, Vargas co-starred with Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne in The Death and Life of Bobby Z. and also played Marine sniper Cortez in Sam Mendes' war drama Jarhead. In 2006, Vargas played a politically charged busboy in Emilio Estevez's historical drama Bobby. In 2010, Vargas played Ramirez, a building security officer, in Devil. 2011, Vargas played the father of Water Enrique Murciano and Power Nicholas Gonzalez in this true story.
From 2013 to 2014, Vargas played Montez on two seasons of Sons of Anarchy and six episodes of Mayans M.C.
In 2014, Vargas played Richard Chavez opposite Michael Peña in the biopic Cesar Chavez directed by Diego Luna.
In 2015, Vargas played Edison "Elvis" Peña in the film The 33, It is the true story of the 33 Chilean miners that were trapped for 69 days.
In 2016, Vargas reoccurred as Domingo Colon in the Netflix series Luke Cage. In 2016, Vargas also reoccurred in Colony, Amazon Studio's Hand of God and he co-stars in Hulu's Crushed. In 2019, Vargas co-starred in Max Carlson's Princess of the Row opposite Martin Sheen and Ana Ortiz. He also co-starred in Peel.
From 2019 to 2020, Vargas was a regular on the Netflix series Mr. Iglesias.
In 2020, Jacob Vargas and Justina Machado were Masters of Ceremonies at the National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Awards.

## Personal life

He is married to Sylvia Arzate. They have two daughters, Rosa, born in 2004 and Victoria, born in 2011. Vargas has four brothers and one sister.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | The Children of Times Square | Alberto | TV movie |
| 1986 | Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story | Enrique Mendoza | TV movie |
| 1986 | Last Resort | Carlos | |
| 1987 | Ernest Goes to Camp | Butch "Too Cool" Vargas | |
| 1987 | The Principal | Arturo Diego | |
| 1988 | Little Nikita | Miguel | |
| 1989 | Crack House | Danny | |
| 1990 | The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake | Miguel | TV movie |
| 1991 | Never Forget | Student | TV movie |
| 1991 | Seeds of Tragedy | Cholo #2 | TV movie |
| 1992 | Gas Food Lodging | Javier | |
| 1992 | American Me | Paulito Santana - Age 15 | |
| 1992 | Steel Justice | Arturo Gomez | TV movie |
| 1992 | Judgment | Hispanic Boy | |
| 1993 | Mi Vida Loca | Ernesto "Bullet" | |
| 1993 | Airborne | "Snake" | |
| 1993 | Silent Rain | Dave Alvers | Short |
| 1993 | Fatal Instinct | Flower Delivery Man | |
| 1994 | Huck and the King of Hearts | Pedro | |
| 1995 | My Family | Young Jose Sánchez | |
| 1995 | Crimson Tide | Sonarman #2 | |
| 1995 | Hotel Oasis | Young Book Salesman | Short |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Yayo Portillo | |
| 1997 | Selena | A.B. Quintanilla | |
| 1997 | Romy and Michele's High School Reunion | Ramón | |
| 1997 | Santa Fe | Jesus | |
| 1998 | The Hi-Lo Country | Delfino Mondragon | |
| 2000 | Next Friday | "Joker" | |
| 2000 | Traffic | Manolo Sanchez | |
| 2001 | Come and Take It Day | Miguel | |
| 2001 | Dr. Dolittle 2 | Pepito (voice) | |
| 2001 | She-Bat | Zer | Short |
| 2002 | Road Dogz | Danny Pacheco | |
| 2002 | Final Breakdown | Gonzalez | |
| 2002 | Dragonfly | Victor | |
| 2002 | RFK | Cesar Chavez | TV movie |
| 2004 | Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother | Vincent Enano | Short |
| 2004 | Flight of the Phoenix | Sammi | |
| 2005 | The Wendell Baker Story | Reyes Morales | |
| 2005 | Jarhead | Private First Class Juan Cortez | |
| 2006 | The Virgin of Juarez | Detective Lauro | |
| 2006 | Bobby | Miguel | |
| 2006 | National Lampoon's TV: The Movie | Tijuana Cop #2 | |
| 2007 | The Hills Have Eyes 2 | Private First Class Carlos "Crank" Medina | |
| 2007 | Are We Done Yet? | Mike, The Plumber | |
| 2007 | The Death and Life of Bobby Z | Jorge Escobar | |
| 2008 | Love Lies Bleeding | Detective Billy Jones | Video |
| 2008 | Sleep Dealer | Rudy Ramirez | |
| 2008 | Death Race | Gunner | |
| 2009 | Tom Cool | - | |
| 2010 | Devil | Ramirez | |
| 2011 | Reunion | Male Lead | Short |
| 2011 | Machine Gun Justice | J.J. Magnum | Short |
| 2012 | Filmmaker Intervention | - | Short |
| 2012 | Gotten | Pimp | Short |
| 2012 | El cocodrilo | Eduardo | Short |
| 2013 | Go for Sisters | Navajas | |
| 2013 | Water & Power | Asuncion Garcia | |
| 2014 | The Tell-Tale Heart | Adams | |
| 2014 | Cesar Chavez | Richard Chavez | |
| 2014 | Red Sky | Jorge "P-Dawg" Vasquez | |
| 2014 | The Valley in the Struggle | The Narrator | Video |
| 2014 | Heaven Is for Real | Michael | |
| 2015 | The 33 | Edison Peña | |
| 2015 | In Between the Gutter and the Stars | Daniel | Short |
| 2016 | Crossing Point | Jesus | |
| 2016 | Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life | Animation Voices (voice) | |
| 2016 | King of LA | Ignacio | Short |
| 2017 | Beyond Skyline | Officer Garcia | |
| 2018 | The Public | Ernesto | |
| 2018 | Endgame | Alberto | Short |
| 2019 | Peel | Chuck | |
| 2019 | Princess of the Row | Donald | |
| 2021 | Plan B | Pastor Pedro | |
| 2022 | KIMI | Glasses Thug | |
| 2022 | Satanic Hispanics | El Jefe | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Hunter | Emilio Morales | Episode: "Fagin 1986" |
| 1986 | Disneyland | Student #2 | Episode: "The B.R.A.T. Patrol" |
| 1987 | The New Gidget | Enrique | Episode: "Oddballs" |
| 1987 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Taco Place Manager | Episode: "Episode #2.3" |
| 1989 | Hard Time on Planet Earth | Billy | Episode: "The Hot Dog Man" |
| 1991 | The New Adam-12 | Collins | Episode: "D.A.R.E." |
| 1991 | Nurses | Luis | Episode: "Begone with the Wind" |
| 1992 | Full House | Enrique | Episode: "Educating Jesse" |
| 1995 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Prince Luis (voice) | Episode: "Sleeping Beauty" |
| 1995 | JAG | Corporal Cortez | Episode: "War Cries" |
| 1995 | ER | "Diablo" | Episode: "A Miracle Happens Here" |
| 1996 | Malibu Shores | Benny | Main Cast |
| 1996 | The Pretender | Javi Padillo | Episode: "Every Picture Tells a Story" |
| 1997 | Clueless | Ricardo | Episode: "Salsa, Chlorine & Tears" |
| 2000–01 | Max Steel | Dr. Roberto Martinez (voice) | Recurring Cast |
| 2001 | Six Feet Under | Manuel "Paco" Bolin | Episode: "Familia" |
| 2002 | The Brothers García | "Chuey" | Episode: "West Side Stories" |
| 2002 | Watching Ellie | Miguel | Episode: "Gift" |
| 2002 | The Proud Family | Big Alto (voice) | Episode: "The Altos" |
| 2002–03 | Greetings from Tucson | Ernesto Tiant | Main Cast |
| 2003 | Kingpin | Ernesto "El Huevudo" Romo | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2004 | CSI: NY | Luis Torres | Episode: "Outside Man" |
| 2006 | Numbers | Victor Borrego | Episode: "Mind Games" |
| 2007–08 | Moonlight | Guillermo Gasol | Recurring Cast |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Angelo Rivera | Episode: "Dead Heat" |
| 2010 | Burn Notice | Omar Hernandez | Episode: "Friendly Fire" |
| 2010 | The Good Guys | Tico | Episode: "Little Things" |
| 2010 | Psych | Juan Lava | Episode: "The Polarizing Express" |
| 2011 | Medium | Eduardo Garcia | Episode: "Me Without You" |
| 2011 | CSI: Miami | Felix Medina | Episode: "Last Stand" |
| 2012 | Christine | Roy | Episode: "Roy" |
| 2013 | Kroll Show | Himself | Episode: "Soaked in Success" |
| 2013 | The Mentalist | Chief Rick Anaya | Episode: "The Red Barn" |
| 2013–14 | Blue | Roy | Recurring Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 3 |
| 2013–14 | Sons of Anarchy | Allesandro "Domingo" Montez | Recurring Cast: Season 6-7 |
| 2015 | Complications | Ramon | Episode: "Infection" |
| 2015–2017 | Hand of God | Julio Farkas | Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 |
| 2016 | Colony | Carlos | Recurring Cast: Season 1 |
| 2016 | Luke Cage | Domingo Colon | Recurring Cast: Season 1 |
| 2017 | Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams | Mario | Episode: "Real Life" |
| 2017 | Tarantula | Paja (voice) | Main Cast |
| 2018 | Mosaic | Horacio | Main Cast |
| 2019 | Young Justice: Outsiders | Cisco Ramon (voice) | Episode: "Exceptional Human Beings" |
| 2019–20 | Mr. Iglesias | Tony Ochoa | Main Cast |
| 2020 | Solar Opposites | - (voice) | Episode: "The Quantum Ring" |
| 2020 | Game On: A Comedy Crossover Event | Tony Ochoa | Episode: "Mr. Iglesias: Olympic Effort" |
| 2019–21 | Mayans M.C. | Allesandro "Domingo" Montez | Recurring Cast: Season 2–3 |
| 2022 | Surfside Girls | Bob | Recurring Cast |
| 2023 | National Treasure: Edge of History | Rafael | Recurring Cast |
| 2023 | Lopez vs Lopez | Javier | Episode: "Lopez vs Primos" |

### Audio books

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2015 | Rain of the Ghosts | Sebastian Bohique |