Paul Calderón

Paul Calderón
Born 1959 (age 58–59)
Puerto Rico
Nationality American
Occupation Actor
Years active 1984–present

Paul Calderón (born 1959) is an American actor. He is a founding member of the Touchstone Theatre, the American Folk Theatre and the LAByrinth Theater Company. He is also a member of the Actors Studio, auditioning and accepted as a member in 1984 alongside Melissa Leo and two other actors.

Early life, family and education

Calderón was born in Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother and a father of Afro-Caribbean descent.[1] He moved with his family at the age of six to New York City, where he grew up on the streets and sidewalks of the Lower East Side and Spanish Harlem.

Following some time in college, studying anthropology, he enlisted in the United States Army and served overseas as an infantryman.

Career

After his discharge from the US Army, Calderón worked as a trail cutter in the Amazon jungle for a team of anthropologists stationed in the border between Peru and Brazil. After his stint as trail cutter, he traveled extensively throughout Peru on train and foot, visiting and living in such places as Iquitos, Cuzco and Puno. After his South American venture, he lived in Mexico City for three months and traveled to Tijuana and to Mazatlán.

Returning to the US, Calderón worked as a demolition man, and later as a Latin dance instructor. At the same time he began studying and performing in many Off-Off-Broadway productions as well as Regional Theatre. He got his big break in 1984 in a revival of Miguel Piñero's Short Eyes directed by Kevin Conway at the Second Stage Theatre. In 1995 he won an Obie and an Audelco Award for his performance in Blade to the Heat at the Public Theater. His most notable Broadway role was opposite Robert De Niro in Cuba and His Teddy Bear.

He appeared Off-Broadway in such plays as Requiem for a Heavyweight; Two Sisters and a Piano and Dancing on Her Knees, both written by Nilo Cruz; Troilus and Cressida at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, in the role of Achilles; and Divine Horsemen for the LAByrinth Theater Company, a play which he had written, directed and produced.

Calderón co-wrote Abel Ferrara's 1992 crime drama Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel. He has had various short stories published in literary journals. His last published story was "Primitive Grace" for the international e-magazine Noir Nation.

Calderón was almost cast as Jules Winnfield in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, since director Quentin Tarantino was so impressed by his audition. The role eventually went to Samuel L. Jackson, but Calderón was given a role as a bartender, Paul, who quips the famous line, "Hey, my name's Paul and this shit's between y'all," to John Travolta's character Vincent Vega.[2]

Some of Calderón's other performances include Q&A, King of New York, Sea of Love, The Last Castle, The Firm, Bad Lieutenant, Four Rooms, Out of Sight, In the Life, Clockers, La Soga, Cop Land, Addiction, and 21 Grams.

He has made numerous guest appearances on television series, including recurring roles on Dream Street, Law & Order and Miami Vice. In 2012, he guest-starred in the Blue Bloods episode "Domestic Disturbance", playing Lieutenant Martin Perez; as well as working on two films: West End, directed by Joe Basille; and Biodegradable, a futuristic film shot in the Dominican Republic with an all Latin cast, directed by Juan Basanta. In 2014, he played "Arquimedes", the bodyguard of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (played by actor Steve Buscemi) in 7 episodes of the 5th and final season of Martin Scorsese's HBO series Boardwalk Empire. In 2016, he reprised the role of Lt. Martin Perez guest-starring in the Blue Bloods episode "Back in the Day". He played "Alejandro", a recurring role on Fear the Walking Dead.[3]

Filmography

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Calderón". filmreference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  2. ↑ Stine, Joel (13 September 2014). "12 Actors Almost In 'Pulp Fiction'". Uproxx. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "Did Fear the Walking Dead Just Change How Zombies Work?". tvguide.com. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
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