Luis Guzman bio, net worth, wife, young, daughter, kids, age, ethnicity 2025

Luis Guzmán Biography

Luis Guzmán is an American actor of Puerto Rican descent who's appeared in films like "Crocodile Dundee II", "Carlito's Way", and "Boogie Nights". He often played supporting characters - gangsters (which he nailed thanks to his distinctive look) or cops - but later landed leading roles in projects like the drama "John from Cincinnati" and the thriller "Perpetual Grace, LTD". He is also known for his role as Gomez Addams in Tim Burton's series "Wednesday".

Childhood, Youth, Family

Luis was born in summer 1956 to hospital worker Rosa Guzman from the small town of Cayey in Puerto Rico. In one interview, the actor said his mother "15 minutes after giving birth" packed up and flew to New York with her newborn.

In New York, Rosa met a TV repairman, Benjamin Cardona, who soon became Luis's stepfather. The future actor's childhood and teen years were spent in western Lower Manhattan, in the Greenwich Village area. It was there that the beatnik movement emerged in the late 50s.

As a child, Luis was a troublemaker. At nine, he was suspended from school for a brutal fight. After that, the boy got his act together and started volunteering: he helped rebuild abandoned houses and tended other people's gardens.

Guzman studied at the oldest college in the City University of New York system, and after graduating, landed a job in social services, working with youth to help them choose careers.

His social work experience came in handy for creating convincing characters later, when he started doing part-time work in street theater and took his first steps in independent cinema.

Acting Career

Guzman always stood out from the crowd—not just for his distinctive looks, but for his natural charisma and quick wit that eventually drew him to the stage. For years, he dabbled in theater and later film purely for fun, while keeping his day job in social work.

At 19, Luis Guzman made his film debut playing a prisoner in Robert M. Young's prison drama "Short Eyes". The role was small, but it marked the beginning—though Guzman wouldn't reappear on screen for another seven years, in Bette Gordon's indie drama "Variety".

A more substantial role came his way in the crime series "Miami Vice," where he played drug lord Miguel Revilles. The casting director asked Luis to "kill him with one look" and immediately approved him for the role.

Moving forward, the actor didn't shy away from playing the "bad guy." He was often cast in similar roles thanks to his memorable "villainous" look. But even as the "bad guy," he brought humanity to his characters, expertly balancing aggression with humor.

Luis Guzman in the movie "Crocodile Dundee II"

He played a small role as Jose in the comedy action movie "Crocodile Dundee II" (1988) with Paul Hogan. In 1989, Guzman could be seen in the drama "True Believer" based on real events, the crime musical "Rooftops" and the comedy "Family Business".

Luis Guzman in the movie "True Believer"

In 1991, tragedy struck Luis's life, dividing it into "before" and "after." He and his wife were expecting their first child, but complications during childbirth claimed their son's life. Guzman took three months off, and when he returned to work, the first person he encountered was a 17-year-old girl holding her baby.

… It was 9 a.m., and she was sitting eating cake and drinking cola. And it broke my heart, because my wife took such good care of herself and the baby during pregnancy, and I took such good care of her... The baby was perfectly healthy, and we lost him! Life is unfair. At that moment I said to myself: "I can't anymore". And decided to become a full-time actor, working full time.

Luis Guzman

He threw himself into his acting career and started taking lessons, later describing himself as "a dull knife—like, there's a tool, but it needs to be sharpened." The result? The '90s proved incredibly fruitful for his career.

He starred as a detective in the drama "Q&A" with Nick Nolte and Timothy Hutton, appeared in the comedy action movie "The Hard Way" and the horror movie "Innocent Blood". In addition, he worked on the movie "Magnolia".

Guzman was once surprised when someone asked him about the movie "Ghost". Turns out he was often confused with Rick Aviles, the actor who played Patrick Swayze's character's killer. Eventually, Luis stopped denying he was in "Ghost" and started joking about it:

Even now I could walk through an airport or shopping mall, and someone will definitely ask - why did you kill Patrick Swayze? What was it like working with Whoopi Goldberg? If I had a penny for every time I was mistaken for him, I'd probably own a studio, an island, and a couple of private planes by now.

Luis scored a major acting success as Pachanga in Brian De Palma's crime drama "Carlito's Way" (1993), starring Al Pacino and Sean Penn. He worked with Chuck Norris on "Walker, Texas Ranger" and starred alongside Tom Berenger in "The Substitute".

Luis Guzman in the movie "Carlito's Way"

In the comedy thriller "Pronto", Guzman appeared as Bucky Torres, and in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama "Boogie Nights" played Maurice TT Rodriguez. The performance earned Luis his first award in 1997 from the Florida Film Critics Circle.

Luis Guzman in the movie "Boogie Nights"

From 1998 to 2000, he appeared in the hit series "Oz" as Raul Hernandez, a Puerto Rican prisoner and Latino gang member willing to commit any atrocity to achieve his goals.

Guzman earned a Screen Actors Guild Award alongside the cast of Steven Soderbergh's crime film "Traffic" (2000), where he played a witty cop. The film also won two Oscars, two Golden Globes and two Satellite Awards. It starred Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In 2007, the actor landed his first leading role. He starred as hotel manager Ramon Gaviota in the series "John from Cincinnati". Critics noted that "Guzman's character starts as backup, but then pulls viewers into a completely separate story."

Luis Guzman in the series "John from Cincinnati"

Another drug-themed project came in 2015. In the series "Narcos", Luis masterfully transformed into drug cartel founder Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha.

Guzman took on the important role of Eddie in the disaster film "9/11" about the September 11 attacks. Alongside Charlie Sheen and Whoopi Goldberg's characters, his character gets trapped in an elevator in one of the Twin Towers, fighting desperately for survival.

Guzman's career took a new turn when he landed the role of the patriarch in Tim Burton's acclaimed series "Wednesday," bringing his own spin to the gloomy Addams family. While some viewers initially questioned the casting choice, Luis nailed the role perfectly as both a caring dad and passionate husband.

Following "Wednesday," Guzman scored the leading role of Luis Torres in the drama "Story Ave," marking his debut as a producer. The film was released in the spring of 2023.

Personal Life of Luis Guzman

Luis married Angelita Galarza, a Spanish-Portuguese woman three years younger than him, in 1985.

In 1991, the couple lost a son during childbirth. The couple went on to have three children: daughters Margarita and Yemaya, and son Cemi, who became a film producer. In addition, Luis and Angelita adopted and raised four more children.

Luis Guzman and his wife Angelita Galarza

Guzman is a model family man, the media has never even hinted at any affairs of the actor.

The actor now lives on his ranch in Sutton, Vermont, where he relocated in 2005, finding it a much more peaceful and authentic place to raise his family than New York. He first visited Vermont in 1974 and fell in love with the state forever.

Guzman supports the Democratic Party of the USA, and in 2016, he voted for Senator Bernie Sanders.

Luis Guzman now

In 2023, Luis Guzman starred in the detective film "Poker Face" alongside Natasha Lyonne and Benjamin Bratt. He also joined Timothy Olyphant in the crime drama "Justified: City Primeval".

In 2024, fans will see Guzman team up with Tom Hardy in the American-British project "Havoc". The thriller reveals a dark network of conspiracies and corruption in the city. In addition, the actor shared more news. According to Luis, he will return to the role of Gomez Addams in the second season of "Wednesday": Yes, that's the plan. I'm going to dance, and I'm also going to have a sword fight. And there will be one more thing. I don't know what it means, but it will happen. Thus, Luis Guzman will not only appear in "Wednesday 2", but will also perform a certain dance, possibly even with his on-screen daughter.

Interesting Facts

Despite some viewer criticism, Luis Guzman's portrayal of Gomez Addams in "Wednesday" actually stays truest to the original comics: good-natured, grotesque appearance, total absence of sophistication. The costume designer Colleen Atwood said: Gomez had a body that was perfect to work with. It's round, and vertical stripes really suit him. So I created a jacket with multiple elements that fit his figure exactly, giving the character the most cartoonish look possible.. The only time Gomez appears in the series in another outfit is in the fifth episode, when he lands in jail: he's wearing a bright orange robe. The prisoner number 171912 symbolically corresponds to the birthday of Charles Addams (January 7, 1912), the creator of the Addams Family comics.

Luis's mother was incredibly compassionate and made sure to pass this quality on to her son. Every evening she collected the leftovers from dinner and gave them to Luis to take to the homeless under the bridge. Luis took this lesson to heart, and years later as an established actor, he decided to try a daring experiment: he disguised himself as a homeless person, hid a microphone under his clothes, and lived on the streets for three days. The experiment resulted in the documentary "Project NIMBY," which drew public attention to the problem of homelessness.

Guzman named his favorite Hollywood actor as Marlon Brando, and the directors he liked working with the most were Steven Soderbergh and Paul Thomas Anderson.

Director Martin Bregman, who shot the prequel "Carlito's Way: Rise to Power" in 2005, invited only two actors who starred in "Carlito's Way" from 1993 to the shooting - Luis Guzman and Chuck Zito.