Jon Seda

Jon Seda (born October 14, 1970) is an American actor. Seda was an amateur boxer who auditioned for and was given a role in the 1992 boxing film Gladiator. He played the role of Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in the movie Selena, and portrayed U.S. Marine John Basilone, recipient of the Medal of Honor, in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's The Pacific. On television, he had roles as Detective Antonio Dawson in NBC's Chicago P.D., and as Paul Falsone in NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street.

Early life Seda was born in Manhattan to parents of Puerto Rican descent and raised in Clifton, New Jersey. After graduating from Clifton High School, Seda was convinced by two friends that he should take up boxing, so he began working out in a gym.

He boxed in several gyms in New Jersey and soon was a runner up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves competition. As an amateur boxer, Seda had a record of 21 wins and one loss.

Career Seda's film debut was in the boxing film Gladiator (1992), in which he played the role of Romano, a Cuban boxer. He has since worked in various films and TV series. In 1995, Seda was nominated Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his role in the movie I Like It Like That (1994), opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vélez. In 1996, he played Blue, opposite actor Woody Harrelson, in the film The Sunchaser, which premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

Seda became widely known to the Hispanic film audience when he portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena (1997), a film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, who was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda played Selena's husband.

Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's: Homicide: Life on the Street. The writers, taking advantage of his boxing background, wrote a shirtless practice bout into an episode, which established his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. Seda also boxed opposite Jimmy Smits in the film Price of Glory (2000).

His first leading role on the large screen was as the protagonist in 2002's King Rikki, a re-imagining of Shakespeare's Richard III in East L.A.

Seda has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including Bad Boys II (2003) as Roberto, as well as numerous television appearances. Aside from Homicide, he has had notable roles as Dino Ortolani in Oz, Matty Caffey in Third Watch, Paul Falsone (in a Homicide crossover with Law & Order), House, and CSI: Miami. He is featured as one of the three leads in the HBO World War II mini-series The Pacific (released on March 14, 2010), portraying Marine John Basilone. Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of Burn Notice, and in 2007, he made a cameo appearance in Ludacris' song "Runaway Love", as an abusive, alcoholic stepfather.

Seda appeared in Treme seasons 2-4 as Nelson Hidalgo, a politically connected land developer from Dallas who helps out with the relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. He appeared in the film Larry Crowne (2011), which starred and was co-written and directed by Tom Hanks. Hanks also served as an executive producer on The Pacific, in which Seda starred. In 2013, Seda starred alongside Sylvester Stallone, Christian Slater, and Jason Momoa in the Walter Hill-directed action thriller Bullet to the Head.

In 2012, Seda began portraying Detective Antonio Dawson in Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise, first starring in Chicago Fire in a recurring role and then, in 2014, as part of the main cast of the spin-off Chicago P.D. In 2017, Seda carried his role over into another spin-off, Chicago Justice, which was canceled after its first season. His daughter Haley made a guest appearance on Chicago P.D. as a key witness in a bombing. In July 2017, it was announced that Seda would return to Chicago P.D. following the cancellation of Chicago Justice. On April 19, 2019, it was reported that NBC/Wolf Entertainment officials informed Seda that they would not be renewing his contract, which led to his leaving the series shortly after six seasons.

In 2020, Seda was cast in the lead role of Dr. Benjamine Glass in the pilot of the NBC apocalyptic drama series La Brea, written by David Appelbaum. With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting production of the pilot, NBC allowed Seda's contract to expire along with most of the other pilot cast members. However, with the pilot being picked up straight-to-series in January 2021, Seda returned to the show, with his character rewritten as Dr. Sam Velez.

Personal life Seda married his longtime girlfriend, Lisa Gomez, in 2000. The couple have four children.

Filmography

Films Year Title Role 1992 Gladiator Romano Essadro Zebrahead Vinnie 1993 Carlito's Way Dominican New York Cop Mario 1994 I Like It Like That Chino Linares 1995 12 Monkeys Jose Boys on the Side Pete 1996 Dear God Handsome The Sunchaser Brandon 'Blue' Monroe Primal Fear Alex 1997 The Price of Kissing Billy Selena Chris Pérez 2000 Price of Glory Sonny Ortega Little Pieces Kyle 2001 Double Bang Sally 'Fish' Pescatore Love the Hard Way Charlie 2002 Undisputed Jesus 'Chuy' Campos King Rikki Rikki Ortega 2003 Bad Boys II Roberto 2007 One Long Night Richard 2011 Larry Crowne Officer Diamond 2012 Bullet to the Head Louie Blanchard 2018 Canal Street Detective Mike Watts

Television Year Title Role Notes 1993 Daybreak Payne TV movie 1994 NYPD Blue Sal Molina Episode: "You Bet Your Life" 1995 Under Fire Unknown role Unknown episodes New York Undercover Bobby Lunas Episode: "Knock You Out" 1996 Mistrial Eddie Rios TV movie 1997, 2003 Oz Dino Ortolani 4 episodes 1997–1999 Homicide: Life on the Street Detective Paul Falsone Guest (Season 5), main role (Seasons 6–7) 1997 Law & Order Detective Paul Falsone Episode: "Baby, It's You" 1999–2000 Third Watch Matty Caffey Recurring role 2000 Thin Air Luis DeLeon TV movie Homicide: The Movie Detective Paul Falsone Good Guys/Bad Guys 2001–2002 UC: Undercover Jake Shaw Main role 2003 Hack Nick Duarte Episode: "Dial 'O' for Murder"2004 Las Vegas Junior Gomez Episode: "Die Fast, Die Furious" The Jury Victor Torres Episode: "Last Rites" 2004–2005 Kevin Hill Damian 'Dame' Ruiz Main role 2006 Ghost Whisperer John Gregory 2 episodes 2006–2007 Close to Home Ray Blackwell Main role 2008 CSI: Miami Hector Salazar Episode: "Tipping Point" 2009 House Donny Episode: "Brave Heart" One Hot Summer Ariel Silva TV movie Legally Mad Joe Matty unaired pilot 2010 Cutthroat Frankie TV movie Numb3rs Lonnie Moses Episode: "Arm in Arms" The Pacific Sergeant John Basilone Miniseries Burn Notice Cole Episode: "Center of the Storm" The Closer Detective Frank Verico Episode: "Off the Hook" Hawaii Five-0 Sergeant Cage Episode: "Mana'o" 2011–2013 Treme Nelson Hidalgo Main role (Seasons 2–4) 2012–2019Chicago Fire Antonio Dawson Recurring role 2014–2019 Chicago P.D. Main role (Seasons 1–4, 5–6), guest (season 4) 2016 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode: "Nationwide Manhunt" 2017 Chicago Justice Main role 2021–2024 La Brea Dr. Sam Velez Main role