Actor Esai Morales. Photo By By Ford – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Esai Morales   


 

Esai Morales is an American actor and activist. He is Hispanic with Puerto Rican ancestry and is proud of his heritage. Esai is famous for his role in the TV series NYPD Blue where he acted as Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez and is also popular for acting in movies like La Bamba and Fast Food Nation. 

The actor has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arpa Foundation and an Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. He also won the Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival, Best Actor award in 2007. 

Here are the top 10 fascinating facts about Esai Morale. 

1. Esai Is The Son Of An Activist 

From Left to Right: Actors Grace Park, Eric Stoltz, and Esai Morales. Photo By oscalito – Wikimedia Commons

Esai Manuel Morales Jr. was born on 1st October 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the only son of his parents Esai Morales Sr., a welder, and Iris Margarita, a dressmaker. His parents separated when he was very young, and he was raised by his mother.  

His mum, Iris, was a union leader and activist for The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) which was one of the largest labor unions in the United States. Its members were employed in the women’s clothing industry. 

Esai was so concerned about his mother’s smoking habit that he would hide her cigarettes to try and get her to stop.  

2. He Learnt Acting In School 

Esai grew up in New York, but he only spoke Spanish until he was about 5 years old. Thereafter, he began learning English. When he was a teenager, Esai watched a movie that influenced his life choices. The movie was Dog Day Afternoon, a 1975 crime drama film that featured one of the most influential actors in the world today, Alfredo James Pacino.  

Al Pacino, as he is popularly known, delivered a dynamic performance in the movie and this inspired Esai to become an actor. He went to the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan, New York just like Al Pacino. 

Talking of New York, here are the best suburbs to live in.

3. Theater Was Where He Started His Career 

Actors on stage in a theater. Photo by Yiran Ding on Unsplash

After graduating, Esai began his career with theater performances, and he loved being on stage. Some of his major roles were in El Hermano at the Ensemble Theatre Studio and New York’s Shakespeare Festival in The Park in The Tempest. 

Most people assume that Bad Boys, the 1983 coming-of-age film starring Sean Penn and set in a juvenile detention center, was Esai’s first movie. It wasn’t his first, but it was his first major role.  

His first ever role in a movie was in Forty Deuce in 1982, and so far, he has acted in over 50 movies. La Bamba, The Waiter, Death in Granada, Spin Cycle, The Virgin of Juarez, Gun Hill Road, Superfly, and Art of Love are some of them. 

4. Esai Has Acted In More Than 60 TV Shows  

This actor is versatile. He has not only done stage and films but he has featured as a voice actor in video games and has also acted in television shows. 

Some of the shows he has done include Hit the Floor, Adam Ruins Everything, Alfonso, How To Get Away With Murder, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Ozark, and NCIS: Los Angeles among others.  

Esai mostly acts in different roles, but in the past, some roles have reflected his socio-political interests. A good example is when he portrayed a hopeful member of a struggling immigrant family in a play in 2007. 

5. He Is An “Actorvist” 

Photo by Ahmet Yalçınkaya on Unsplash

Just like his mum who was an activist for a worker’s union, Esai does the same in his industry for his fellow actors. Together with four others, Esai created the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts in 1997. Its purpose was to assist Latinos in the media, telecommunications, and entertainment industries. The foundation has helped improve the terms for existing and emerging Hispanic artists and professionals. 

Esai is also active in the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) which is the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists labor union. He has previously held leadership positions, like being their spokesperson and he recently vied for the Guild’s Presidency. 

6. Crossword Puzzles Often Use His Name

The name “Esai” is a common answer to crossword questions because it is considered a very rare word to find in English. This is because it is a four-letter word that is made up of 75% vowels and begins and ends with a vowel. 

Read about the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York here.

7. Esai Is A Father Of One 

Esai is in a relationship with his long-term girlfriend Elvimar Silva. The two live together even though they are not married but have been partners since 2007.  

The couple has a daughter, Mariana Oliveira Morales, who was born in 2010. She loves cats. 

8. He Is Vocal About Environmental Issues 

Actor Esai Morales. Photo By By Ford – Wikimedia Commons

Esai, a self-proclaimed activist, has advocated for countless charitable organizations and different causes such as literacy, environment, health, immigration, arts funding, and social justice issues.  

He once did a play that was an open appeal and fundraiser for the passage of U.S. House Resolution 808, which sought to establish a Cabinet-level “Department of Peace” in the U.S. government, to be funded by a two percent diversion of the Pentagon’s annual budget. 

This actor is the Spokesperson for quitting smoking, and he was a founding board member of the Earth Communications Office (E.C.O). He freely gives his time and resources to assist the many charitable organizations and causes. 

9. Esai Lives A Healthy Lifestyle 

Esai lives a healthy lifestyle and he is intentional and careful about what he eats. He is vegetarian and his diet consists of proteins, complex carbs, healthy fats, and plenty of vegetables plus he avoids foods that are processed. 

He is a dog person and so he keeps fit by taking his dog on runs and walks. He exercises about 5 times a week. 

Another famous person that is keen on healthy living is Tom Brady.

10. He Was Cast As The Villan On Mission Impossible 

Photo by cottonbro studio – pexels

Esai has a role as the main antagonist in the 7th and 8th sequels of the spy action movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One which will be released in 2023 and Part Two which is meant for 2024. The two parts were to be filmed back-to-back. He will be acting opposite Tom Cruise who acts as secret agent Ethan Hunt. 

Here is an article on the 20 best US comedy actors.