Jorge Garcia

**Jorge Garcia** is an American actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show *Becker*, but is probably best known for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series *Lost* from 2004 to 2010. Garcia performs as a stand-up comedian. He starred in the Fox television series *Alcatraz* and played a minor character on ABC's *Once Upon a Time*. He stars as Jerry Ortega on *Hawaii Five-0* and can be seen in the Netflix original movie *Ridiculous 6*. Garcia also appeared on the cover of Weezer's 2010 album *Hurley* in a close-up shot from a photo he took with vocalist Rivers Cuomo.

## Early life

Garcia was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Dora Mesa, is a Cuban-born professor, and his father, Humberto Garcia, is a Chilean-born doctor. He grew up in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, California and went to San Clemente High School. He wrestled in high school, where he was given the nickname "Baby-Faced Killer". As a senior, he was selected by the faculty as "Triton of the Year", the highest award given to a graduating senior.

Garcia graduated from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1995 as a Communication Studies major. He also studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school.

## Career

Garcia spent six years working at Borders Books and Music while auditioning. He was in a few commercials during that time. He later said that his first taste of street recognition came from starring in a Jack in the Box commercial which was aired frequently on local television. He began landing roles in television and film, but his career really took off when he played the role of Hugo Reyes (Hurley) in the television series Lost.

Garcia was the first actor to be cast on *Lost* after the producers saw him on *Curb Your Enthusiasm* the night before casting began, and created the character of Hugo Reyes specifically for him. Garcia appeared in the second episode of the eighth season of *Celebrity Poker Showdown*, where he lost to Michael Ian Black. He was a contestant on an episode of *Russian Roulette* on Game Show Network. He missed a question about the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and fell through the trap door.

Garcia is an associate producer and star in the independent film *When We Were Pirates*, in which he plays Jerry, who along with a group of close friends, learns that his childhood love of playing pirates helps him overcome some of the difficulties he faces later in life. He is seen singing in the studio for the upcoming project on an officially released YouTube clip.

During *Lost'*s run, Garcia wrote a blog about the show called *Dispatches from the Island*. He also hosted a weekly podcast, Geronimo Jack's Beard, in which he discussed the script of Season 6 along with his then girlfriend Bethany Leigh Shady.

Garcia is also featured on the front cover of Weezer's album *Hurley*, released on September 10, 2010. The album is named after his character from *Lost*. He performed as a guest vocalist at several Weezer concerts in 2010.

On 21 November 2010, *Entertainment Weekly* announced that Garcia was cast in the upcoming U.S. television series *Alcatraz*. On 22 November 2010, Garcia made a guest appearance on *How I Met Your Mother'*s episode "Blitzgiving". In the episode, references are made to Garcia's time on Lost.

In 2011, Garcia appeared as a recurring character in *Mr. Sunshine*, portraying a caretaker at the Sunshine Center. Starting in January 2012, Garcia portrayed Dr. Diego Soto, an Alcatraz expert, in the FOX series, *Alcatraz*. The show was a mid-season replacement for Fox's *Terra Nova*. Despite an impressive start, the series was officially cancelled by Fox on May 9, 2012, due to dropping viewership throughout its run. Garcia appeared on *The Nerdist* podcast posted June 18, 2012.

In 2013, Garcia played Steve Wozniak in the parody film, *iSteve*, produced for the Funny or Die website.

After appearing as a guest star in several season four episodes of *Hawaii Five-0*, Garcia, who plays the character of Jerry Ortega, was promoted to a series regular starting with season five.

In 2015, he joined the cast of *The Healer* starring with British actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Camilla Luddington and Jonathan Pryce.

Garcia launched a biweekly podcast with co-host Ralph Apel dedicated to kaiju films titled *Kaiju Podcast* on November, 14, 2016.

## Trivia

* He had to miss his sister's wedding back on the mainland because he was shooting Lost (2004) over in Hawaii.
* Besides his success as an actor, Jorge has been fairly successful as a stand-up comedian.
* He is well-known among friends for his enormous record collection.
* His beloved a dachshund-Chihuahua mix, Nunu, was hit and killed by a car on the day Garcia was scheduled to move to Los Angeles from Hawaii after wrapping "Lost.".
* The first actor to be cast on Lost (2004).
* In an interview given to Entertainment Weekly, Jorge says that he was invited to audition for Lost (2004) because someone involved with the show remembered his performance in Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Car Pool Lane (2004).
* Was on the High School Wrestling team. His nickname was the Baby Face Assassin.
* Used to be a newsstand operator. He gave this information when he appeared on GSN game show Russian Roulette.
* Was in the ABC Actors Showcase in Los Angeles.
* His picture is prominently featured on the cover of Weezer's album "Hurley", released on September 14, 2010. The album is named after his character from Lost (2004).
* Used to be a news stand operator. Ironically, his character Hector on 'Becker (1998)' became the proprietor of the news stand after the finale when Jake moved to Chicago.
* He also hosted a weekly podcast, Geronimo Jack's Beard, in which he discussed the script of Season 6 along with girlfriend Bethany Leigh Shady.
* He majored in communication studies at UCLA.
* He appeared on an album cover for the band Weezer.
* He was born in Nebraska to a family of Cuban and Chilean descent. He was in a relationship with Bethany Shady for over seven years, but the couple split in 2013.
* He appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, a television series starring Larry David.