# Zak Santiago

Zak Santiago (born January 3, 1972) is a Canadian actor and DJ.

## Early life/personal life

Zak Santiago Alam, professionally known as Zak Santiago, was born on January 3, 1981 in Vancouver, British Columbia to a Spanish and Irish mother and Romani father.
Growing up, Zak studied at the Royal Conservatory. By 1994 he pursued interests in both performing and as a disc jockey and attended his first acting class at Gastown Actors Studio.
He has also studied classical piano, ballet, flamenco and boxing. In 1998, Zak ended his amateur boxing career to focus exclusively on dance. In 2000, he was accepted to Madrid’s world-renowned Amor de Dios Academy where he studied under several legends of flamenco.
He is fluent in English, Spanish and French.
On Santiagos' Facebook, Instagram and X pages, he posts the following bio: "Visting Professional, Vancouver Coastal Health (VGH); Prison Ministry, BC Corrections Adult Custody Division; Parish Deacon, Holy Rosary Cathedral."
Per his Facebook page, Santiago graduated from the University, British Columbia in July, 2023 with a Master's Degree (MA) in Theological Studies and also received the Chancellor's Award. He is heavily involved in prison ministry and has plans to work towards another Master's and a grad diploma to help him in his vocation.

## Career

Santiago has appeared in many television shows. He was in the episode "My Room" in season 1 of Dead Like Me, as an angry man who decided to kill the tattoo artist who had botched his tattoo. In 2004, he played Dominguez in the movie The Five People You Meet In Heaven, based on the 2003 book.
Roles in other series include, Young Blades, Smallville, Robson Arms, Flight 93, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Shut Eye, and The L Word.
In 2008, he appeared in the theatrical release movie, The Eye, starring Jessica Alba.
Continuing on in television, in 2009, Santiago had a lead role in The Assistants which aired on The N and also played the Ten of Clubs in the Syfy miniseries Alice.
He has a recurring role as Ramón, the dance instructor, restaurant owner, DJ, and wedding officiant in the Signed, Sealed, Delivered series.
Alongside his acting career, Santiago also works as a DJ.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1999 | Late Night Sessions | Danny |
| 2000 | Trixie | Gang Member |
| 2001 | Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal | Gabriel Mendoza |
| 2001 | Josie and the Pussycats | Megastore DJ |
| 2003 | How It All Went Down | Tico's Partner |
| 2005 | Underclassman | Anderson |
| 2005 | Severed | Ramon |
| 2006 | Canes | Antique Dealer |
| 2006 | Deck the Halls | Fireworks Guy |
| 2007 | Shooter | Senior Agent |
| 2007 | Normal | Bob the Social Worker |
| 2008 | The Eye | Emilio |
| 2008 | Ace of Hearts | Officer Sanchez |
| 2008 | Tortured | Dictaphone Holder |
| 2009 | Driven to Kill | Detective Lavastic |
| 2010 | The Tortured | Young Cop |
| 2010 | Amazon Falls | Aron |
| 2011 | The House | Geoff Blank |
| 2012 | Maximum Conviction | MP Fields |
| 2012 | Random Acts of Romance | Matt |
| 2013 | Concrete Blondes | Lars |
| 2013 | The Dick Knost Show | Rico |
| 2014 | The Grim Sleeper | Officer Gates |
| 2014 | Perfect Sisters | Detective Santiago Gates |
| 2014 | Bad City | Emcee |
| 2014 | What an Idiot | Steve |
| 2016 | Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House | Michael Roland |
| 2016 | The Assignment | Lawyer |
| 2017 | Cult of Chucky | Nurse Carlos |
| 2017 | Meditation Park | Jonathan |
| 2018 | Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls | Smegman |
| 2019 | Promiseland | John / Voice of Cartel Leader |
| 2021 | American Badger | John / Voice of Cartel Leader |
| 2021 | The Four Fathers | Enrique Garza |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Poltergeist: The Legacy | Pierce | Episode: "Shadow Fall" |
| 1998 | Viper | Jerry Podwil | Episode: "Internal Affair" |
| 1998–1999 | The Crow: Stairway to Heaven | Curtis Bilbao | 5 episodes |
| 1999 | Night Man | Player #2 | Episode: "Dust" |
| 1999 | Sweetwater | Jorge | Television film |
| 1999 | Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy | Logger | Episode: "Float Like a Butterfly" |
| 2000 | Higher Ground | Rocko | Episode: "Worlds Apart" |
| 2000 | Level 9 | Morph | Episode: "Digital Babylon" |
| 2001 | Da Vinci's Inquest | Irish Billy Mulvaney | Episode: "Shoulda Been a Priest" |
| 2002 | Dark Angel | Kurt | Episode: "Love in Vein" |
| 2002 | Jeremiah | Sam | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | The Twilight Zone | Cheto | Episode: "The Pool Guy" |
| 2003 | The Dead Zone | Raul | Episode: "The Man Who Never Was" |
| 2003 | Out of Order | Angry Juror | 6 episodes |
| 2003 | Dead Like Me | Willy | Episode: "My Room" |
| 2003 | Stargate SG-1 | Rogelio Duran | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | The Goodbye Girl | Dance Class Instructor | Television film |
| 2004 | Traffic | Carole's Agent | 3 episodes |
| 2004 | The L Word | Oscar | 4 episodes |
| 2004 | Kingdom Hospital | Dr. Sonny Gupta | 9 episodes |
| 2004 | The Five People You Meet in Heaven | Dominguez | Television film |
| 2004 | Human Cargo | Ramirez | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Ladies Night | Gates | Television film |
| 2005 | Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber | Geoffrey | Television film |
| 2005 | Murder at the Presidio | Private Sulway | Television film |
| 2005 | Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story | Ed Rivera | Television film |
| 2005 | Young Blades | Ramon de la Cruz | 13 episodes |
| 2005–2006 | Intelligence | Harvey Guilford | 3 episodes |
| 2005–2008 | Robson Arms | Hal Garcia | 23 episodes |
| 2006 | Flight 93 | Ahmed al-Haznawi | Television film |
| 2006 | Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York | Jose | Television film |
| 2006 | The Evidence | Nicholas Lopez | Episode: "Five Little Indians" |
| 2006 | Godiva's | Emile | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story | Carlos Guerrero | Television film |
| 2006 | Saved | Ignatio | Episode: "Secrets and Lies" |
| 2006 | Rapid Fire | Russell | Television film |
| 2006 | Smallville | Deputy Morales | Episode: "Subterranean" |
| 2006 | Home by Christmas | Mario | Television film |
| 2007 | A Family Lost | Marcus Vegarra | Television film |
| 2007 | Cleaverville | Gus | Television film |
| 2007 | The 4400 | Colin McGrath | Episode: "The Truth and Nothing But the Truth" |
| 2007 | Flash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera | Zack | Episode: "Life Source" |
| 2008 | The Capture of the Green River Killer | Seth Imperia | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story | Brian Santos | Television film |
| 2008 | Eureka | Dr. Sebastian Marx | Episode: "Show Me the Mummy" |
| 2009 | The Assistants | Zach Del Toro | 13 episodes |
| 2009 | Defying Gravity | Juan | 3 episodes |
| 2009 | Alice | 10 of Clubs | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | The Farm | Alfredo Martinez | Television film |
| 2009, 2010 | Stargate Universe | Cpl. Rivers | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Human Target | Agent Fouts | Episode: "Lockdown" |
| 2010 | At Risk | Roy | Television film |
| 2010 | The Front | Roy | Television film |
| 2010 | Psych | Manny | Episode: "Shawn and Gus in Drag (Racing)" |
| 2010 | Caprica | Pann | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Smoke Screen | Detective Javier | Television film |
| 2011 | V | John Fierro | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | The Troop | Lee Stanley | Episode: "Mirrors" |
| 2011 | Killer Mountain | Ram | Television film |
| 2011 | Sanctuary | Captured Abnormal | Episode: "Resistance" |
| 2011–2013 | The True Heroines | Hugo Rodriguez | 5 episodes |
| 2012 | Rags | Diego | Television film |
| 2012 | Fairly Legal | Rick Nuñez | Episode: "Borderline" |
| 2012 | The Music Teacher | Gary | Television film |
| 2012 | True Justice | Edi Gogol | 11 episodes |
| 2012 | Fringe | Cecil | Episode: "Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There" |
| 2012 | Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome | Captain Diaz | Television film |
| 2013 | Health Nutz | Constable Kornstick | Episode: "Last Chance" |
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time | Prince Henry | Episode: "The Miller's Daughter" |
| 2013 | Chupacabra vs. the Alamo | Commander Wilcox | Television film |
| 2013 | Whisper of Fear | Romero | Television film |
| 2013 | King & Maxwell | Gustavo | Episode: "Wild Card" |
| 2013 | Cult | Det. Mario Zavala | 5 episodes |
| 2013 | Baby Sellers | Rafael Ochoa | Television film |
| 2013–2014 | Continuum | Agent Miller | 9 episodes |
| 2013 | Delete | Captain | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Motive | Virgil Maddox | Episode: "For You I Die" |
| 2014 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered | Ramon Rodriguez | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Hell on Wheels | Marcos Fuentes | Episode: "Life's a Mystery" |
| 2014 | Witches of East End | Mathias | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | Til Death Do Us Part | Ethan | Television film |
| 2015 | Fatal Memories | Glenn Roberts | Television film |
| 2015 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris with Love | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2015 | Love, Again | Nico | Television film |
| 2015 | Ghost Unit | Mateo | Episode #1.1 |
| 2015 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Impossible Dream | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2016 | The 100 | Semet | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | iZombie | Pablo Balaban | Episode: "Pour Some Sugar, Zombie" |
| 2016 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: One in a Million | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2016 | Shut Eye | White Tony | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Cross | 13 episodes |
| 2017 | The Arrangement | Dimitri Fonseca | Episode: "The New Narrative" |
| 2017 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Higher Ground | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2017 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2017 | Ghost Wars | Rodney Doyle | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | The Christmas Princess | Ignacio Marquez | Television film |
| 2018 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Road Less Travelled | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2018 | The X-Files | Mr. Green | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: To the Altar | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |
| 2018 | Travelers | Daniel Sosa | Episode: "Yates" |
| 2019 | Blood & Treasure | Everado Sanchez | Episode: "Return of the Queen" |
| 2019 | Wu Assassins | Sgt. Joe Torres | Episode: "Ladies' Night" |
| 2019 | My Wife's Secret Life | Ari Sheffler / Detective | Television film |
| 2020 | The Christmas Yule Blog | Oscar Ortiz | Television film |
| 2021 | The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice | Arresting Officer | Television film |
| 2021 | Debris | Gary Garcia | Episode: "Do You Know Icarus?" |
| 2021 | Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made | Ramon Rodriguez | Television film |

## Awards and nominations

In 2004 Santiago won a Leo award for Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series for his performance as Ramirez in Human Cargo. He was nominated for Leo awards in 2006 for Young Blades episode "Enchanted", in 2013 for Random Acts of Romance and 2018 for Christmas Princess.