Esai Morales
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.
As actor 134
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
Criminal Minds
2005
Chicago P.D.
2014
CSI: Miami
2002
NCIS: Los Angeles
2009
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
NYPD Blue
1993
How to Get Away with Murder
2014
Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000
Miami Vice
1984
Major Crimes
2012
War Machine
2026
Burn Notice
2007
American Playhouse
1982
Titans
2018
Dora the Explorer
2000
Ozark
2017
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
2025
Tales from the Crypt
1989
The Twilight Zone
1985
The Equalizer
1985
The Outer Limits
1995
From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
2014
Fame
1982
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
2023
Family Law
1999
Celebrity Ghost Stories
2009
Jericho
2006
Fairly Legal
2011
Caprica
2010
Mozart in the Jungle
2014
George Lopez
2002
The Hunger
1997
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
2004
Adam Ruins Everything
2015
Side Quest
2025
Mars
2016
The Brink
2015
L.A. Doctors
1998
La Bamba
1987
Never Back Down: No Surrender
2016
Bad Boys
1983
Freejack
1992
Freddie
2005
Dark Horse
2026
Master Gardener
2023
American Family
2002
SuperFly
2018
Vanished
2006
Paid in Full
2002
Atomic Train
1999
The Principal
1987
Crescent City
2024
My Family
1995
Monty and the Movies
Art of Love
2021
Atlas Shrugged: Part II
2012
Spare Parts
2015
Fast Food Nation
2006
Lethal Seduction
2005
Rapa Nui
1994
On Wings of Eagles
1986
Halfway There
2017
Can't Go Home
2023
Jarhead 2: Field of Fire
2014
Sudbury
2004
Saving Westbrook High
2013
In the Army Now
1994
Tumor
The Line
2009
Scorpion Spring
1996
The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina
2003
Live Like That
2027
Southern Cross
1999
Coyote
Queen of Manhattan
2025
Bloodhounds of Broadway
1989
American Virgin
2000
24: Day six Debrief
2007
Naked Tango
1990
Dog Watch
1997
Senior Moment
2021
Casa Vita
2016
The Real Thing
1996
ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003
Cottonmouth
2025
Company Town
Cherry
2010
Seattle Superstorm
2012
Don't Do It
1994
More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story
2021
Imprisoned
2019
The Americans
Once Upon a Wedding
2005
Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun
1993
17th Precinct
2011
From Dusk Till Dawn: Making the First Season
2014
The Burning Season
1994
The Wall of Mexico
2020
We Have Your Husband
2011
The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema
2002
Live 2 Die
Gun Hill Road
2011
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
1998
Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage
2019
King of the Avenue
2010
Circle of Deceit
1998
Death in Granada
1996
American Fusion
2005
Give Me Shelter
2014
The Manufacturing of 'Fast Food Nation'
2007
Forty Deuce
1982
Kill Kill Faster Faster
2008
Find Your Groove
2020
Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story
1996
A Family in Crisis: The Elian Gonzales Story
2000
Doomsday Man
2000
The Cure
2007
How to Go Out on a Date in Queens
2006
The Virgin of Juarez
2006
The Waiter
1993
Celebrity Habla
2009
Ultraviolet
1992
Somos un solo pueblo
1995
Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14
1995
So Much for Love
The Journey of a Female Comic
2014
Return to Babylon
2013
Rainy Day Friends
1985
Playin' for Love
2015
Bay City Story
1992
Love and Other Stunts
2018
Celebrities Uncensored
2003
Persephone