Benjamin Bratt is an American film and television actor best known for his role as NYPD detective Reinaldo Curtis in the NBC drama series Law & Order. In 1999, Bratt was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine.
Biography
Benjamin Bratt was born on December 16, 1963 in San Francisco, California. His mother Eldie moved to the United States from Lima, Peru when she was 14 years old. She came from the Peruvian Quechua ethnic group, worked as a nurse and has been an active advocate for the rights of Native Americans. Peter Brett, his father, was of English, German and Austrian descent. He was a laborer and worked in the sheet metal industry.
Benjamin was the third of five children and the grandson of Broadway actor George Cleveland Brett. In 1968, when the boy was about five years old, his parents decided to divorce.
In 1969, Brett's mother, as a Native American activist, took part in the takeover of Alcatraz Island. She took five-year-old Benjamin and his brother and sisters with her. This early experience influenced him greatly.
While attending high school in San Francisco, he was a member of the prestigious Lowell Forensic Society team, which competed in speaking and debating skills. Later, already studying at the University of California, Brett joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. And in 1986 he received a bachelor's degree here.
University of California building Photo: Masur / Wikimedia Commons
After graduation, he was accepted into the M. F. A. at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. But the offer of his first acting job forced him to leave without earning a degree.
Career
Benjamin Brett's career began in 1987 with the filming of the TV series Juarez. But his pilot project was unsuccessful. After that, it was decided to shoot a film of the same name, in which the actor played a young Mexican-American lawyer.
Immediately after Juarez, Brett landed leading roles in two drama series Knightwatch and Nasty Boys. For the next several years, he starred in feature films and also participated in television projects. Among them are The Golden Chain (1991), The Destroyer (1993), Blood Pays for Blood (1993), Texas (1994) and many others.
In 1994, the actor played the Indian Ranger in the thriller Wild River by Curtis Hanson. This work earned Brett critical acclaim. In the same year, he received an invitation from Dick Wolfe, with whom he became friends on the set of the Nasty Boys motion picture. The producer offered him to take the lead role in the sixth season of the series "Law & Order". The role of detective Ray Curtis in this American television series was highly acclaimed by critics and made the actor popular. But in 1999, Brett made the decision to leave the show in order to be able to spend more time with his family.
He helped his brother in the filming of films. In 1996, Benjamin appeared in Peter Brett Jr.'s film Take Me Home. The film also stars Salma Hayek. In 2000, Benjamin Brett, together with Madonna, took part in the work on the last film by British filmmaker John Schlesinger, "Best Friend".
Singer and actress Madonna Photo: David Kirouac / Wikimedia Commons
In the same year, he became part of the cast of the motion picture "Traffic" and starred in the comedy action movie "Miss Congeniality" with Sandra Bullock.
In 2004, he played one of the key characters in the fantasy film Catwoman, which also stars Halle Berry and Sharon Stone. However, the picture failed at the box office. The following year, the actor was invited to play the role of Major Jim Tisnevsky in the TV series "The Last Frontier".
Between 2008 and 2009, Brett starred in the drama series The Cleaner. The actor also reappeared in several episodes of Law & Order and took part in the filming of his brother Peter's independent film Mission.
In 2011, Brett was invited to play the role of Dr. Jack Riley in the TV series Private Practice. In the same way, he appeared in the next two seasons of the show. In subsequent years, with the participation of the actor, such works were released as "Snitch" (2013), "Mission to Miami" (2016), "Undercover Scam" (2016), "Coco's Secret" (2017) and others.
Benjamin Brett at the San Francisco Parade Photo: Peter Angritt / Wikimedia Commons
In addition to his film and television roles, Benjamin Bratt is involved in dubbing animated computer films. In 2009, cameraman Manny from the cartoon "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Chance" spoke with the voice of the actor. In 2013, he re-voiced the same character in a sequel to the animation work, Cloudy with Chance of Rain: GMO's Revenge. In the same year he got the voice role of the villain El Macho in the cartoon "Despicable Me 2".
Personal life
Between 1990 and 1996, Benjamin Brett had a romantic relationship with documentary filmmaker Monica McClure. After breaking up with Monica, he began dating Jennifer Esposito. The actors met on the set of the series Law & Order.
In 1998, Brett began a relationship with the famous Hollywood actress Julia Roberts. This flamboyant couple broke up in 2001, almost immediately after their joint appearance at the Oscar ceremony.
Actress Julia Roberts Photo: Elen Nivrae / Wikimedia Commons
Soon, the actor surprised his acquaintances and fans with a message that he had married his girlfriend Talisa Soto. Benjamin and Talisa first met in the early 90s at an audition for the film Blood Pays for Blood. In 2001, the actors began dating. And on April 13, 2002, their wedding took place in San Francisco. The couple have a daughter named Sofia Rosalind Brett and a son, Mateo Bravery Brett.
