Jon Seda Biography

Jonathan "Jon" Seda (born October 14, 1970) is an American actor, known for his role as Det. Paul Falsone on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street.

Seda was an amateur boxer who, in 1992, auditioned for and was given a role in the boxing film Gladiator. He portrayed Chris Prez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena and appeared as U.S. Marine John Basilone in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's follow up to Band of Brothers, The Pacific.

In 2014, Seda began starring in the NBC police procedural drama Chicago P.D. as Det. Antonio Dawson.

Early life

Seda was born in Manhattan to parents of Puerto Rican descent and raised in Clifton, New Jersey.

After graduating from high school, Seda began to work out in a gym, after two friends convinced him that he should take up boxing. He boxed in several gyms in New Jersey and soon was a runner up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves competition. As an amateur boxer, Seda had a record of 21 wins and one loss.

Career

Seda's film debut was in 1992, in the boxing film Gladiator in which he played the role of "Romano," a Cuban boxer. He has since worked in various films and TV series. In 1995, Seda was nominated Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his role the 1994 movie I Like It Like That opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vlez. In 1996, he was nominated for the Palme d'Or (Best Actor Award) for his role as "Blue" in the film The Sunchaser, opposite actor Woody Harrelson at the Cannes Film Festival.

Seda became widely known to the Hispanic film audience when he portrayed Chris Prez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena, a 1997 film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, who was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda played Selena's husband. Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's: Homicide: Life on the Street. The writers took advantage of his boxing background, writing a shirtless practice bout into an episode which established his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. He also boxed opposite Jimmy Smits in the 2000 film Price of Glory.

His first leading role on the large screen was as the protagonist in 2002's King Rikki, a re-imagining of Shakespeare's Richard III in East L.A. Seda has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including Bad Boys II (2003) as "Roberto," as well as numerous television appearances. Aside from Homicide, he has had notable roles as Dino Ortolani in Oz, Matty Caffey in Third Watch, Paul Falsone (in a Homicide crossover with Law & Order), House, and CSI: Miami. He is featured as one of the three leads in the HBO World War II mini-series The Pacific released on March 14, 2010, playing the part of Marine John Basilone. Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of Burn Notice. In 2007, Seda also made a cameo in Ludacris' song Runaway Love, as an abusive, alcoholic stepfather.

Seda appeared in the second season of Treme as Nelson Hidalgo, a politically connected land developer from Dallas who helps out with the relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. He appeared in the 2011 film Larry Crowne, which starred, and was co-written and directed by, Tom Hanks. Hanks served as an executive producer on The Pacific, in which Seda starred. In 2013 he starred alongside Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone, Christian Slater and Jason Momoa in the Walter Hill action thriller Bullet to the Head.

In 2012, Seda began portraying Detective Antonio Dawson in Dick Wolf"?s Chicago franchise, first starring on Chicago Fire in a recurring role and then, in 2014, as part of the main cast of the spin-off Chicago P.D. In 2017, he carried his role over into another spin-off, Chicago Justice, which was canceled after its first season. His daughter Haley made a guest appearance on Chicago P.D. as a key witness in a bombing. In July 2017, it was announced that Seda would return to Chicago P.D. following the cancellation of Chicago Justice.

Personal life

Seda married his long time girlfriend, Lisa Gomez in 2000. The couple has four children, Haley Seda, Madison Seda, Jonathan Seda, Stepdaughter Jessica Seda Pinto

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role
1992	Gladiator	Romano
	Zebrahead	Vinnie
1993	Carlito's Way	Dominican
	New York Cop	Mario
1994	I Like It Like That	Chino Linares
1995	12 Monkeys	Jose
	Boys on the Side	Pete
1996	Dear God	Handsome
	Sunchaser	Brandon 'Blue' Monroe
	Primal Fear	Alex
1997	The Price Of Kissing	Billy
	Selena	Chris Prez
2000	Price of Glory	Sonny Ortega
	Little Pieces	Kyle
2001	Double Bang	Sally 'Fish' Pescatore
	Love the Hard Way	Charlie
2002	Undisputed	Jesus 'Chuy' Campos
	King Rikki	Rikki Ortega
2003	Bad Boys II	Roberto
2007	One Long Night	Richard
2011	Larry Crowne	Officer Diamond
2012	Bullet to the Head	Louis Blanchard

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Daybreak	Payne	TV Movie
1994	NYPD Blue	Sal Molina	Episode: "You Bet Your Life"
1995	Under Fire
	New York Undercover	Bobby Lunas	Episode: "Knock You Out"
1996	Mistrial	Eddie Rios	TV Movie
1997	Law & Order	Det. Paul Falsone	Episode: "Baby, It's You"
1997-1999	Homicide: Life on the Street	Det. Paul Falsone	46 episodes
1999-2000	Third Watch	Matty Caffey	7 episodes
2000	Thin Air	Luis DeLeon	TV Movie
	Homicide: The Movie	Det. Paul Falsone	TV Movie
	Good Guys/Bad Guys		TV Movie
2001-2002	'	Jake Shaw	13 episodes
2003	Hack	Nick Duarte	Episode: "Dial 'O' for Murder"
	Oz	Dino Ortolani	3 episodes
2004	Las Vegas	Junior Gomez	Episode: "Die Fast, Die Furious"
	The Jury	Victor Torres	Episode: "Last Rites"
2004-2005	Kevin Hill	Damian 'Dame' Ruiz	22 episodes
2006	Ghost Whisperer	John Gregory	2 episodes
2006-2007	Close to Home	Ray Blackwell	20 episodes
2008	CSI: Miami	Hector Salazar	Episode: "Tipping Point"
2009	House	Donny	Episode: "Brave Heart"
	One Hot Summer	Ariel Silva	TV Movie
2010	Cutthroat	Frankie	TV Movie
	Numb3rs	Lonnie Moses	Episode: "Arm in Arms"
	Legally Mad	Joe Matty	TV Movie
	The Pacific	Sgt. John Basilone	TV Mini-series
	Burn Notice	Cole	Episode: "Center of the Storm"
	The Closer	Detective Frank Verico	Episode: "Off the Hook"
	Hawaii Five-0	Sergeant Cage	Episode: "Mana'o"
2011-2013	Treme	Nelson Hidalgo	26 episodes
2012-present	Chicago Fire	Det. Antonio Dawson	Recurring
2014-present	Chicago P.D.		Main/Recurring
2016	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit		Episode: "Nationwide Manhunt"
2017	Chicago Justice		Main

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans