Vico Ortiz

Early life and education Vico Ortiz was born on October 10, 1991, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they were raised. They are fluent in Spanish and English; Spanish was the first language they learned.

Ortiz received their education at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.

Career Ortiz started their acting career in 2011 when they starred in the short film Oprah's Audience Moves On. For the following years, they had many small roles in other shorts and TV shows.

Around 2017–2018, Ortiz told their agent that they wanted to go for roles of all genders, whether non-binary like them, or not. When they were hired for non-queer roles, they started suggesting to the writers that their characters could be non-binary, and some shows accepted to make the change. Ortiz says that their interactions with fans have changed their life, and that they felt encouraged to get top surgery after seeing fan art of their character, Jim, getting gender-affirming surgery from the show's cook and de facto surgeon Roach (played by Samba Schutte).

In 2023, they had two recurring voice acting roles in the animated television show Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. They also voiced a nonbinary companion character in Elder Scrolls Online named Tanlorin.

In 2025, they had a recurring voice acting role on the Ambie-winning fiction podcast What Happened in Skinner. In 2025, they also performed a solo cabaret-style show called "Rise of a King" at FUERZAfest in New York City.

Personal life Ortiz is non-binary. They use they/them pronouns in English and elle/le/e in Spanish. In an episode of the podcast Gender Reveal, they identified as genderfluid as well as non-binary, comparing their gender to a waterbed, "constantly moving, but in a fun way".

Ortiz performs as a drag king named "Vico Suave". They have another drag king persona named AJ when performing with their boy band the Backstreet Butches.

Ortiz is an activist in subjects such as Puerto Rican federal voting rights, anti-racism, and gender neutrality in the Spanish language.

Web series

Podcast

Accolades Autostraddle TV Awards Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series Fan Favorite Out LGBTQ+ Actor

Other accolades Human Rights Campaign — Visibility Award (2022) Out — Out100 Honoree (2022) 29 Queer Film Festival — Coyote Courage Award (2024)