Actor Biography

An award-winning actor who honed his craft on the theatrical stage of New York, John Ortiz is set to make his directorial debut at the Public Theatre in the play "Halfway Bitches Go To Heaven," written by Stephen Adly Guirgis. He won the Obie Award for Best Actor in the off-Broadway production of "References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot" and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his performance in the indie film "Jack Goes Boating." He is equally at home on stage, in feature films and on television.

In film, Ortiz can most recently be seen in "The Fallout," which premiered at SXSW, and the Duplass Brother feature "Horse Girl." He can also be seen in "Ad Astra" starring Brad Pitt. His other recent works in film include the recent "Transformers" spinoff "Bumblebee," where he starred opposite of Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, as well as "Peppermint" opposite of Jennifer Garner. Before that, his credits include in "Kong: Skull Island" (Legendary); "God Particle" (Paramount), produced by J.J. Abrams; "Replicas" (Company Films) with Keanu Reeves; and "Going In Style" (Warner Bros.) with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin, and directed by Zach Braff. He also starred opposite of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in the Academy Award®-nominated film "Silver Linings Playbook." His additional film credits include "The Drop," "Cesar Chavez," "Public Enemies," "Fast & Furious 6," "Pride and Glory," "American Gangster," "Alien vs. Predator: AVP2," "Miami Vice," "El Cantante," "Amistad," "Carlito's Way," "Narc," "Ransom," "Riot," "Side Streets," "Sgt. Bilko," "Before Night Falls," "The Opportunists" and "The Last Marshall."

In television, he recently was one of the series leads in the Netflix series "Messiah" starring opposite Michelle Monaghan. Other works in television include "Togetherness," "The Handmaid's Tale," "The Guest Book," "Luck," "Rake," "The Job" and "Lush Life."

Along with acclaimed actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ortiz is the co-founder of LAByrinth Theater Company, where he has produced and performed in many productions including "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," directed by Hoffman; "Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train" for which he was awarded a Drama Desk nomination; "Guinea Pig Solo"; and "Jack Goes Boating," all of which were staged at the Public Theater in New York. Most recently, he starred in the title role of "Othello" opposite Hoffman. The production, directed by Peter Sellars, premiered in Vienna and toured internationally.

Other New York theater credits include the Broadway production of "Anna in the Tropics"; "The Skin of our Teeth" with John Goodman at the Public Theater; "Cloud Tectonics" at Playwrights Horizon; as well as "The Persians" and "Merchant of Venice," both of which were directed by Peter Sellars and performed in Paris, London, Berlin and Edinburgh, among others cities. Regionally, Ortiz has performed at the Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory and Cincinnati Playhouse.

A devoted fan of the New York Yankees and the New York Knicks, Ortiz was born and raised in Brooklyn and still resides there with his wife and son.