Early life

Cruz was raised in East Los Angeles, California, and is of Mexican ancestry. He attended East Los Angeles College and is fully literate in both Spanish and English. He grew up in a neighborhood that regularly saw gang activity, a reality he brings to his roles, particularly as Sanchez and a range of gang-affiliated characters. He attributes having become interested in American literature early in life as how he avoided the gangs himself.

Career

His film roles include Ding Chavez in Clear and Present Danger, Hector in "Out For Justice", Tom Berenger's second-in-command Joey Six in The Substitute, U.S. Marine Sergeant Rojas in The Rock, as Jesus in From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, USM Private Vincent DiStephano in Alien: Resurrection, and Ramirez in Under Siege. He appeared as Chuey, a gang member from the Vatos Locos, in the gang film Blood In Blood Out. In 2005, he played Chino in Havoc. He appeared in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, credited as "The Messenger," and in Training Day as a gang member named Sniper. He played a Los Angeles firefighter in Collateral Damage. He had guest roles in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Siege of AR-558", the X-Files episode "El Mundo Gira", and the second season of 24. He also made an appearance as the father of a murdered girl in CSI. He played a short-lived but well-known role as Tuco Salamanca, a violent and psychotic meth dealer in Breaking Bad in 2008 and 2009. He later reprised the role of Tuco in the Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul. He had a recurring role as Paco on My Name Is Earl, and as Alejandro Perez on Nip/Tuck.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Maid to Order	Sam
1988	Twice Dead	Gang member
1989	I Know My First Name is Steven	Punk
1990	Gremlins 2: The New Batch	Messenger
1991	Dead Again	Store clerk
1991	Out for Justice	Hector
1992	Under Siege	Ramirez
1993	Blood In Blood Out	Chuey
1994	Clear and Present Danger	Ding Chavez
1995	Operation Dumbo Drop	Staff Sergeant Adams	Uncredited
1996	The Substitute	Joey Six
1996	The Rock	Sergeant Rojas	Uncredited
1996	Up Close and Personal	Fernando Buttanda
1996	Broken Arrow	USAF Lieutenant Colonel	Uncredited
1997	Alien: Resurrection	Private Vincent DiStephano
1999	From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money	Jesus
1999	The Last Marshal	T-Boy
2000	Blood Money	Gutierrez	Television film
2001	Training Day	Sniper
2002	Collateral Damage	Junior
2004	Just Hustle	Spanish Professor
2004	My Name is Modesty	Garcia
2005	Havoc	Chino
2005	Brothers in Arms	Reverend
2006	10 Tricks	Sal
2015	Cleveland Abduction	Ariel Castro	Television film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Hunter	Tomas Delgado	Episode: "La Familia"
1990	Freddy's Nightmares	Johnny 'Mac' McFarland	Episode: "Life Sentence"
1993	Murder, She Wrote	José "Joseph" Galvan	Episode: "Double Jeopardy"
1995	Walker Texas Ranger	Sgt. Perez	Episode: "Case Closed"
1997	The X Files	Eladio Buente	Episode: "El Mundo Gira"
1998	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Vargas	Episode: "The Siege of AR-558"
2000	Harsh Realm	Sgt. Escalante	2 episodes
2002-2003	The Division	Roland / Ray Sanchez	3 episodes
2003	24	Rouse	2 episodes
2003-2008	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Miguel Durado / Donald Balboa	2 episodes
2003-2006	Nip/Tuck	Alejandro Perez	2 episodes
2005-2012	The Closer	Detective Julio Sanchez	105 episodes
2005-2008	My Name is Earl	Paco	5 episodes
2007	Day Break	Luis Torres	2 episodes
2008-2009	Breaking Bad	Tuco Salamanca	4 episodes
2012	White Collar	Sheriff Morales	Episode: "Most Wanted"
2012-present	Major Crimes	Detective Julio Sanchez	48 episodes
2015-2016	Better Call Saul	Tuco Salamanca	3 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]