
Esai Morales
Department: Acting
Biography
Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in Bad Boys with Sean Penn and La Bamba with Lou Diamond Phillips. His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series American Family, the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd. (2000–2002), portraying Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue (2001–2003), Joseph Adama in the science fiction series Caprica (2009–2010), Camino del Rio in the Netflix original series Ozark (2017), and the DC Comics supervillain Slade Wilson / Deathstroke in the superhero series Titans (2019). Morales appeared as Gabriel, the main antagonist in the 2023 spy action film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opposite Tom Cruise, a role reprised in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in 2025. Description above from the Wikipedia article about Esai Morales, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For

Rapa Nui
1994

The Line
2009

Fast Food Nation
2006

Art of Love
2021

Freejack
1992

In the Army Now
1994

Paid in Full
2002

Bad Boys
1983

The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina
2003

My Family
1995

La Bamba
1987

Gun Hill Road
2011

Cherry
2010

King of the Avenue
2010

Kill Kill Faster Faster
2008

Bloodhounds of Broadway
1989

Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun
1993

Master Gardener
2023

The Virgin of Juarez
2006

We Have Your Husband
2011

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
1998

Death in Granada
1996

Seattle Superstorm
2012

Sudbury
2004

Dog Watch
1997

Atlas Shrugged: Part II
2012

The Manufacturing of 'Fast Food Nation'
2007

Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14
1995

Ultraviolet
1992

Once Upon a Wedding
2005

Doomsday Man
2000

Southern Cross
1999

Scorpion Spring
1996

Celebrity Habla
2009

The Journey of a Female Comic
2014

Spare Parts
2015

Cottonmouth
2025

Jarhead 2: Field of Fire
2014

How to Go Out on a Date in Queens
2006

Circle of Deceit
1998

Crescent City
2024

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
2025

Give Me Shelter
2014

Don't Do It
1994

American Virgin
2000

Never Back Down: No Surrender
2016

Playin' for Love
2015

Naked Tango
1990

American Fusion
2005

Somos un solo pueblo
1995

Casa Vita
2016

The Real Thing
1996

Saving Westbrook High
2013

Love and Other Stunts
2018

Forty Deuce
1982

More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story
2021

Lethal Seduction
2005

A Family in Crisis: The Elian Gonzales Story
2000

Halfway There
2017

SuperFly
2018

The Wall of Mexico
2020

Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage
2019

Imprisoned
2019

Rainy Day Friends
1985

The Principal
1987

Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story
1996

Find Your Groove
2020

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
2023

Queen of Manhattan
2025

The Burning Season
1994

17th Precinct
2011

The Cure
2007

Senior Moment
2021

War Machine
2026

So Much For Love
—

The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema
2002

Coyote
—

From Dusk Till Dawn: Making the First Season
2014

The Waiter
1993

Dark Horse
—

ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003

Bay City Story
1992

Live Like That
2027

Freddie
2005

Caprica
2010

Jericho
2006

Fame
1982

CSI: Miami
2002

Miami Vice
1984

The Twilight Zone
1985

Tales from the Crypt
1989

George Lopez
2002

Burn Notice
2007

The Equalizer
1985

Vanished
2006

Celebrities Uncensored
2003

Family Law
1999

The Outer Limits
1995

Company Town
—

Major Crimes
2012

The Brink
2015

Can't Go Home
2023

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999

How to Get Away with Murder
2014

NCIS: Los Angeles
2009

On Wings of Eagles
1986

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
2014

Atomic Train
1999

Fairly Legal
2011

Criminal Minds
2005

Mars
2016

The Americans
—

The Hunger
1997

Celebrity Ghost Stories
2009

American Family
2002

On Air with Ryan Seacrest
2004

Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000

Titans
2018

Real Time with Bill Maher
2003

Mozart in the Jungle
2014

NYPD Blue
1993

Miami Vice
1984

Adam Ruins Everything
2015

Ozark
2017

Chicago P.D.
2014

Side Quest
2025

L.A. Doctors
1998

Dora the Explorer
2000

24: Day six Debrief
2007