Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smitsis an American actor. He played attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and Matt Santos on the 1999-2006 serial political drama The West Wing. He also appeared as Bail Organa in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter. In 2012, he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as high-level pimp Nero Padilla...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth9 July 1955
CountryUnited States of America
I've been very lucky to work on a wide variety of projects, including two long-run and top-10 dramatic television shows. That is why it is so important to offer a helping hand to the next generation of young Latinos coming up behind me.
I've been in California for about 15 years now. You're always in your car and insulated. I miss New York so much.
If you're afraid to live your life in a glass bubble, how can you do what we do in this industry?
It's great to be able to play the bad guy role because you always get a lot to do, but I'm always looking at the why. How does a person get to that particular point? It's those little cogs in the wheel that make it interesting for me to play. Ultimately, I hope for the audience to be engaged with it because it is going to take a turn.
In my college years, I worked as a union labor organizer. I was just one of the many workers trying to do my part to help the community.
Just give me a good role that allows me to hone my craft, and I am a pretty happy camper.
You have to find what makes you stable in the storm. Then, no matter what's happening round you, no matter what the hype or the publicity, you can still manage to make leaps in your work as an artist.
People don't walk around thinking of themselves as bad people. You're part of the environment that you grow up in, and there can be decency in that. I always try to find a little glimmer of that, in anything that I do, because you can find places where there's humor or lightness in something that's deep and profound, and that tends to resonate more and make people more human. As an actor and performer, I think it resonates more with the audience when you do have the payoff.
Celebrity hits like a bomb.
I never thought television would or could be a long-term commitment.
I'm an actor. I love to act. That's my job. I'll leave the politicking to others.
You have to be like a sponge and use what you can and how it relates because TV is fluid. Things change on a week-to-week basis. Those are the things that I do with every character. If I'm involved in a boxing movie, I go see fights and learn about boxing. It's part of what we do.
There's something so familial and intimate between a boxer and his trainer.
I am a firm believer in education and have worked very hard to tell young Latinos that they must go to college and that, if possible, they should pursue an advanced degree. I am convinced that education is the great equalizer.