Jimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as U.S. Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing. He is also notable for his portrayal of Bail Organa in the Star Wars franchise, and Miguel Prado in Dexter.<\/p>\n
Beginning in 1986, Smits played Victor Sifuentes in the first five seasons of the NBC television\u00a0Steven Bochco\u00a0legal drama\u00a0L.A. Law,\u00a0for which he was nominated for six\u00a0Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, winning in\u00a01990. In 1999, Smits received the HOLA Award for Excellence from the\u00a0Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors\u00a0(HOLA).<\/p>\n
He appeared in\u00a0films including Switch\u00a0(1991),\u00a0My Family\u00a0(1995),\u00a0The Jane Austen Book Club\u00a0(2007).<\/p>\n
Smits appeared as\u00a0Senator Bail Organa\u00a0of\u00a0Alderaan\u00a0in\u00a0Star Wars: Episode II \u2013 Attack of the Clones\u00a0(2002) and\u00a0Star Wars: Episode III \u2013 Revenge of the Sith\u00a0(2005), in which the character becomes\u00a0Princess Leia’s adoptive father. He reappeared as Bail Organa in the game\u00a0Star Wars: The Force Unleashed\u00a0(2008) and the spinoff movie Rogue One\u00a0(2016). He later reprised the role for\u00a0Obi-Wan Kenobi\u00a0(2022).<\/p>\n
Smits played the role of\u00a0Congressman\u00a0Matt Santos\u00a0of\u00a0Houston, Texas, in the final two seasons of the NBC television drama\u00a0The West Wing.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Dexter\u00a0season 3, he played the role of Miguel Prado, an assistant district attorney who befriends the title character.\u00a0He was nominated for an\u00a0Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series\u00a0for the role.<\/p>\n
He portrayed the character Alex Vega in the CBS TV series\u00a0Cane, which aired from September 25, 2007, to December 18, 2007, and was subsequently canceled by the network due to the 2007 Screen Writer’s Guild strike.<\/p>\n
In the fall of 2010, he starred in NBC’s short-lived series Outlaw, about a U.S. Supreme Court justice who leaves the bench to return to practicing law. From 2012 to 2014, he joined the main cast of\u00a0Sons of Anarchy\u00a0as\u00a0Nero Padilla. He also portrayed Elijah Strait in the\u00a0short-lived NBC\u00a0drama series\u00a0Bluff City Law.<\/p>\n
He starred in\u00a0The Get Down, a musical drama television series which debuted in 2016 on\u00a0Netflix. In 2021, He played Kevin Rosario in the musical film\u00a0In the Heights.<\/p>\n
He stars as Chief John Suarez on the CBS police drama East New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as U.S. Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing. He is also notable for his portrayal of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-37803","movie_engine_person","type-movie_engine_person","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n