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10 most interesting facts about Benjamin Bratt
If left to my own devices, this article will simply focus on how handsome this man is. Bratt has one of those faces, heights and bodies that simply makes no sense, because he is perfect in all forms. On top of all that, he is aging like fine wine. Seriously, how can a man in his fifties look so damn good!
After a little appreciation of his physical physic, let’s get serious because Bratt is more than eye candy. He is an American actor and producer who is popularly known for his portrayal of Detective Rey Curtis on the NBC drama series Law & Order.
Bratt has enjoyed a successful career both in film and on television, earning himself a Screen Actors Guild Award and being nominated for two others. He has received four ALMA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award.
If you have not already fallen in love with Benjamin Bratt here are 10 most interesting facts about Benjamin Brat;
1. Abandoned by his father
Babies hand trying to hold on to the father’s hand – Pixabay
A father’s love and presence in his child’s like is very important and crucial. According to mental health experts, children from divorced families have a harder time adjusting to their social environment than children from stable families.
Peter Bratt Sr., father of Benjamin Bratt, and Eldy, Bratt’s mother, divorced in 1968. At the time, Benjamin Bratt was only four years old, the couple had been married for seven years and had five kids. If that was not painful enough, his father started a new family after leaving them.
To add on to it Eldy bought a house two blocks away from Peter Bart Sr. In theory this a receipt for drama but in this case, it was a recipe for healing. This is because the house was also close to some aunts, uncles and cousins.
To encourage her children to have a relationship with their father, Eldly never disparaged her ex-husband. She always reminded her children that Peter Brat Sr. was and is still their father. Which worked because Benjamin was encouraged by his father to pursue acting.
2. An exceptional mother
Not only was Eldy a forgiving woman who was able to cultivate a relationship between her children and her ex-husband, but she was also a dedicated mother to her children. Bratt has confessed in several interviews, when growing up, many of his age mates always wished that Eldy was their mother.
Despite the challenges she faced as a single mother to five children, she was able to be present in all her children’s life. As Bratt puts it, she was in every corner you turned. The family was not rich, but Eldy was able to provide them with the necessary things they required.
She was also able to make time for her family. Bratt recalls during an interview, “On most weekends, you would find us at the drive-in. My mom would pile us into a station wagon, and we’d go see films that were entirely inappropriate for 5 to 12-year-olds, but what an education!”
With such love and attention, Eldy was able to raise responsible adults who have positively impacted the world in their own ways.
3. Fighting for Native American rights from a young age
Graffiti from the occupation of Alcatraz as it appeared in 2010 – Wikipedia
Willingly or unwillingly, Eldly took Bratt (age 6) and her other children to participate in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. Eldly was inspired to participate as she is indigenous to Peru and the movement called for all Indians no matter where you came from.
The Occupation of Alcatraz was a 19-month-long protest when 89 Native Americans and their supporters occupied Alcatraz Island. It had a brief effect on federal Indian Termination policies and established a precedent for Indian activism.
The family’s dedication to the movement did not end at Alcatraz, their house was a heaven for Native American activists. As a result, the children grew up understanding the challenges Native Americans were facing and how that can challenge this unfair treatment.
4. He had no interest in acting
Rosario Dawson & Benjamin Bratt, 2022 – Wikimedia Commons
Bratt did not show any interest in acting until when he joined college. As a child, Bratt enjoyed watching films, but he never pictured himself acting in any of those films. That is, until he got a little encouragement from his father.
In the process he also learnt that his grandfather on his father’s side, George Bratt, was a professional actor on Broadway back in the 1920s as part of a group called the Grand Streer Follis.
Bratt started his professional acting career at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. His start in professional acting was not met with a big bang as his first two pilots, Juarez and Lovers, Partners & Spies, did not sell.
Despite not making any blockbusters during the start of his career, he was able to make headlights due to his exceptional acting skills. He was then able to land a supporting role in the television film Police Story: Gladiator School (1988).
From there, Bratt was able to land more famous roles in both television and film.
5. Was it a worthwhile risk?
As mentioned earlier, Bratt got interesting in acting while in collage. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1986 he enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
The American Conservatory Theater is a non-profit theater company that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. The institution has produced a vital talent resource in the entertainment industry such as Academy Award winner Denzel Washington, Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage, Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose and so much more.
With such an impeccable reputation, you wonder why Bratt left before receiving his degree, and was it the right choice? Bratt left the American Conservatory Theater in 1987 in order to star in the television film Juarez.
His acting performance in the television film received much critical acclaim, and he landed a supporting role in the television film Police Story: Gladiator School (1988). From this role he was able to grow his acting career.
6. His breakout role
Bratt at San Francisco Memorial Day parade Grand Master, in 2010 – Wikipedia
Brat is most famous for his portrayal of Detective Reynaldo Curtis in the popular series Law & Order, replacing Chris Noth. He appeared in 95 episodes over 5 seasons, 14 years, and 2 stints on the NBC show.
This role gained him international recognition as well as acclaimed awards. For this role, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 1998 and 1999 he received ALMA awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series from American Latino Media Arts for this role.
Sadly, all good things come to an end. Bratt decided to leave the show in 1999 saying,” I’ve felt like it was time to get back home to my family. How do you walk away from the best job in the world and a group of people that you’ve grown to love? It’s not easy, and it was an extremely difficult decision that I had to make.”
On May 26, 1999, Bratt’s final episode was aired. After 10 years of waiting, he finally retuned as now-retired Curtis on Law & Order.
7. Relationship with Julia Roberts
Roberts attending the premiere of Jesus Henry Christ in 2011 – Wikipedia
Can you just imagine how beautiful the babies of American sweetheart, Julia Roberts, and the charming lady’s man, Benjamin Bratt, would have looked? There was a time when the possibility of seeing this child was there but now, we can only imagine or compute it via different apps.
The former couple met in a 1997 at a restaurant. As Julia puts it, “Bratt walked in, and I looked up at him, and it was like something hit me over the head with a bat.” The couple were together for nearly four years before their highly publicized breakup in 2001.
It was rumoured that the pair broke up because Brat got jealous of the friendship Julia shared with Goerge Clooney. Fortunately, Julia came to his defence and explained that the relation come to a kind and tender-hearted end. It was not as messy and dramatic as the media put it.
8. Finding the love of his life
Benjamin Bratt married his then pregnant girlfriend Talisa Soto on April 13, 2002 in San Francisco. Miriam Talisa Soto is an American former actress and former model who is best known for her portrayal of Bond girl Lupe Lamora in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill.
Their marriage came as a surprised to everyone since the pair started dating on the sets of Piñero in 2001 and Talisa was pregnant. Was it a love marriage or “doing my duty” kind of marriage. Despite the early criticism they faced at the start of their marriage, the couple has been together for nearly 20 years.
Today, the couple have a daughter named Sophia Rosalinda Bratt and a son named Mateo Bravery Bratt.
9. Raising a disabled daughter
Affectionate love between father and newborn baby – Unsplash
Bratt’s daughter, Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, suffered a brain injury during her birth, which resulted in her having physical disabilities. It was not easy for the newly-wed couple and as Bratt puts it, “Faced as parents was like being in a tunnel of darkness for the first few years of her life, because we didn’t know what to do.
Being devoted parents, the pair “educated” themselves in everything to do with their daughter’s condition and on how to best take care of her. With time their daughter was able to make good progress and in the words of Bratt himself,” she understands everything, she’s quick to laugh, she’s loving and a physically beautiful child.”
Bratt has also mentioned that also his young son, Mateo Bravery Bratt, has been supportive and pushing his elder sister as needed.
10. An activist in the American Indian Movement
Bratt on the red carpet at the premiere of The Great Raid in Washington – Wikipedia
Bratt’s father is an American of German and English ancestry, while his mother was born in Lima, Peru, and is of Quechua descent.
Having been raised by an activist for Native American rights, mother Bratt was inspired to walking in the same path as her. As a result, he is very vocal when it comes to matters affecting the Native American, as he is proud of his Indigenous American heritage.
In 2002, he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).
