Basics

Name: Kirk Acevedo Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York Nationality: Puerto Rican Age: 29(?)

Biography

Handsome, tall, dark-haired actor Kirk Acevedo has worked extensively on stage and screen from the early 1990s on, but gained the most notice for his regular role on the controversial prison-set drama "Oz" (HBO, 1997- ). Raised in the Bronx, Acevedo got his BFA from SUNY Purchase, the alma mater of several fellow "Oz" actors including Edie Falco, Robert Clohessy and Seth Gilliam. There he also met up with Shea Wigham with whom he would found The Rorschach Group, a New York theater company.^L^C5 Guest work on the NYC-filmed dramas "New York Undercover" (Fox) and "Law & Order" (NBC) marked the actor's entry into television work. The big screen called soon after, and turns in such independents as "Arresting Gena" and "Kirk and Kerry" (both 1997) resulted in a respectable amount of buzz. 1997 was a banner year for the actor, who earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for his intense turn in the revival of Sam Shepard's edgy "Tooth of Crime" and began his run on "Oz". In the latter, he was cast as Miguel Alvarez, a young street tough from a long line of incarcerated men whose vanity played a great role in his downfall. Mentally troubled as a result of his imprisonment and the death of his infant son, Alvarez cut his own face, though the long scar on his face detracted only slightly from his good looks. Internal battles within the drug running Latino prison gang and personal conflicts with the warden (Ernie Hudson) culminated in a prison break for Alvarez (a time off from the series during which the actor lensed his part in the 2001 HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers"), but before long he was back behind bars again. A deeply disturbed and remarkably compelling character, Alvarez was given life by Acevedo with a consistently courageous and emotionally true performance. ^L^C5 A supporting role in Terrence Malick's WWII-themed drama "The Thin Red Line" (1998) won the actor notice and a 1999 Alma Award. A small part in the stock market drama "Boiler Room", a turn in the prison-set feature "The Visit" and a featured supporting role in the Jamie Foxx action vehicle "Bait" rounded out 2000. The following year would see Acevedo return to World War II with his work in "Band of Brothers", a miniseries produced by "Saving Private Ryan" vets Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. He also had roles in two restaurant-centered independents. The 1999-lensed comedy "Into the Weeds" featured the actor as a psycho chef, while "Dinner Rush" (2001) co-starred Acevedo as the black sheep son whose gambling debts threaten to ruin his restaurant owner father's plans for expansion.