Paul Calderón

Paul Calderón is a Puerto Rican actor, writer, director and producer. He is a founding member of the Touchstone Theatre, the American Folk Theatre and the LAByrinth Theater Company. He is also a member of the Actors Studio, auditioning and accepted as a member in 1984 alongside Melissa Leo and two other actors. He is best known for portraying Raymond Cruz in the 1998 crime comedy film Out of Sight and the 2023 neo-Western crime drama miniseries Justified: City Primeval.
Early life
Calderón was born in Puerto Rico, and moved to New York City as a child. After a stint in the United States Army, he studied acting under the G.I. Bill. He became a member of the Actors Studio in 1984, and was a founding member of the LAByrinth Theater Company.
Career
Calderón got his big break in 1984 in a revival of Miguel Piñero's Short Eyes directed by Kevin Conway at the Second Stage Theatre. In 1995 he won an Obie and an Audelco Award for his performance in Blade to the Heat at the Public Theater. His most notable Broadway role was opposite Robert De Niro in Cuba and His Teddy Bear.
He appeared Off-Broadway in such plays as Requiem for a Heavyweight; Two Sisters and a Piano and Dancing on Her Knees, both written by Nilo Cruz; Troilus and Cressida at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, in the role of Achilles; and Divine Horsemen for the LAByrinth Theater Company, a play which he had written, directed and produced. He wrote and directed Master of the Crossroads, based on his own short story; it was premiered at the Bridge Theater in Manhattan, starring Kate Jackson. He has had various short stories published in literary journals. His last published story was "Primitive Grace" for the international e-magazine Noir Nation.
In the 1980s, Calderón appeared in several TV series. He acted in three episodes of Miami Vice, playing a different character in each. He also appeared in the extended music video of "Bad" by Michael Jackson (who played the film's main character, Darryl).
Calderón appeared in Abel Ferrara's 1992 crime drama Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel.
Calderón was almost cast as Jules Winnfield in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, since director Quentin Tarantino had been impressed by his audition, but the role eventually went to Samuel L. Jackson, and Calderón was given a role as a bartender, Paul, who speaks the line, "Hey, my name's Paul and this shit's between y'all," to John Travolta's character, Vincent Vega.
He has performed in numerous feature films, including King of New York, Sea of Love, The Last Castle, The Firm, Four Rooms, Out of Sight, La Soga, Cop Land, Addiction, and 21 Grams.
He has made many guest appearances on television series, including recurring roles on Dream Street, Law & Order and Miami Vice. In 2012, he guest-starred in the Blue Bloods episode "Domestic Disturbance", playing Lieutenant Martin Perez. (He reprised the role in the 2016 Blue Bloods episode "Back in the Day".) Calderón worked on two films in 2012: West End, directed by Joe Basille; and Biodegradable, a futuristic film shot in the Dominican Republic with an all Latino cast, directed by Juan Basanta. In 2014, he played Arquimedes, the bodyguard of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson in seven episodes of the fifth (final) season of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He played Alejandro, a recurring role on Fear the Walking Dead. Since 2017, he has appeared as Detective Santiago "Jimmy" Robertson on the Amazon TV series, Bosch.
In 2023, he would reprise his role from Out of Sight as Raymond Cruz in the FX miniseries Justified: City Primeval.
Personal life
Calderón lives in Brooklyn with his wife Catherine. They have two children.
Filmography
Tenement (1985) – Hector
Rockabye (1986 television film) – Street Vendor
Band of the Hand (1986) – Tito
Sticky Fingers (1988) – Speed
Sea of Love (1989) – Juan
The Chair (1989) – Pizza
King of New York (1990) – Joey Dalesio
Q&A (1990)
CrissCross (1992) – Blacky
Bad Lieutenant (1992) – Cop #1
The Firm (1993) – Thomas Richie
Pulp Fiction (1994) – Paul
New York Undercover (1994) – Carlos Ortiz
Clockers (1995) – Jesus at Hambones
The Addiction (1995) – Professor
Four Rooms (1995) – Norman (Segment: "The Man from Hollywood")
Cop Land (1997) – Hector
OK Garage (1998) – Carl
Out of Sight (1998) – Raymond Cruz
One Tough Cop (1998) – Sgt. Diaz
Oxygen (1999) – Jesse
Girlfight (2000) – Sandro Guzman
Once in the Life (2000) – Manny Rivera
The Last Castle (2001) – Sergeant Major Dellwo
Kill the Poor (2003) – Carlos
21 Grams – Brown
The Sentinel (2006) – Deputy Director Cortes
La Soga (2009) – Rafa
The Hungry Ghosts (2009) – Carl
Lie to Me- “Unchained”-S1 E5 (2009) – Manny Trillo
Boardwalk Empire (2014) – Arquimedes (7 episodes)
Fear the Walking Dead (television series; 2016) – Alejandro (6 episodes)
Bosch (television series; 2017—2021) – Detective Santiago Robertson (30 episodes)
Antrum (2018) – Dr. Ivan Gaston
Justified: City Primeval (television series; 2023) – Raymond Cruz
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
References
External links
Living people
Obie Award recipients
People from East Harlem
Actors from the Lower East Side
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male stage actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Year of birth missing (living people)