Childhood & Early Life
He was born on July 9, 1973, in Miami, Florida, USA. His father, who was a musician, and his mother, who worked in a radio station, divorced when he was 10 years old, following which he grew up with his mother. He is of Cuban descent.
He studied at ‘Christopher Columbus High School.’ Later, he enrolled at ‘Tulane University’ in New Orleans, Louisiana. Moving on, he studied law at the ‘New England School of Law’ in Boston but dropped out after sometime to build a career in acting. Soon, he moved to Los Angeles.
He has an avid interest in motorcycles and cars.
Continue Reading Below
Career
He made his big-screen debut with the 1997 American action-thriller blockbuster ‘Speed 2: Cruise Control’ that had Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, and Willem Dafoe in starring roles. Recollecting his tiny role in the film, Enrique mentioned, “I may have had one line, but the back of my ear became famous.”
His journey with TV began in 1999, the year that saw him appearing in one-episode roles in the series ‘Suddenly Susan’ and ‘The Pretender.’
His second big-screen appearance was in the critically acclaimed and multiple ‘Academy-Award’-winning 2000 American crime drama ‘Traffic.’ He played a ‘DEA’ agent in the film that starred Michael Douglas and Don Cheadle among others and went on to become a blockbuster hit.
He garnered the major role of ‘Francisco Torres’ in the American TV series ‘Spyder Games.’ The series that aired on ‘MTV’ from June 18, 2001, to September 20, 2001, featured him in 36 of its 65 episodes. The same year, he played ‘SGT Lorenzo Ruiz’ in the hit American war film ‘Black Hawk Down,’ which released on December 28, in the US.
While filming for ‘Black Hawk Down,’ he was introduced to American film and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer. This led him to get an offer to play ‘Danny Taylor,’ Special Agent—Missing Persons Unit, ‘FBI,’ in the American police procedural TV drama ‘Without a Trace.’
The role of ‘Danny Taylor’ in ‘Without a Trace’ proved to be a real breakthrough that garnered him immense recognition and popularity. He portrayed the role in all the seven seasons of the series, aired on ‘CBS’ from September 26, 2002’ to May 19, 2009. It fetched him two ‘ALMA Award’ nominations, one for each of the years 2008 and 2009.
He ventured as an executive producer with the 2004 TV film ‘A Separate Peace.’
The next notable film of Enrique was the John Pasquin-directed American comedy ‘Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,’ which released on March 24, 2005, and emerged as a blockbuster hit, grossing over $101 million worldwide. He played ‘Jeff Foreman’ and starred along with Sandra Bullock and Regina King among others. This was his second film with Bullock.
In 2006, he made it to the seventh position on ‘People’ magazine’s annual list of ‘The Sexiest Men Alive.’
Continue Reading Below
He was the executive producer of the Peruvian–Spanish drama ‘Máncora,’ where he played ‘Iñigo.’ The film featured as the official selection in various film festivals in 2008, including the ‘Sundance Film Festival,’ where it premiered on January 20 that year.
He featured in the 2008 music video ‘Yes We Can,’ produced by ‘will.i.am,’ the founding member and frontman of the American band ‘The Black Eyed Peas.’ The star-studded video ‘Presidential Pledge,’ released by celebrity couple Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, which went viral on YouTube in 2009, also featured Enrique.
He featured as ‘Detective Carlos Moreno’ in the popular American procedural crime-drama series ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ in 2009 and 2012, in a total of five episodes.
Moving on with other projects, he landed up with the recurring role of ‘CIA’ agent ‘Ray "C-I-Ray" Cruz’ in the ‘CBS’ ’ police procedural TV series ‘NCIS.’ His first appearance was in episode 20 of the eighth season of the series, titled ‘Two-Faced.’ His other appearances were in the final episode of the eighth season, titled ‘Pyramid,’ and in the thirteenth episode of the ninth season, titled ‘A Desperate Man.’
The American supernatural TV drama ‘666 Park Avenue’ featured Enrique as ‘Dr. Scott Evans’ in three of its episodes in 2012.
The 2013 American crime-drama film ‘Water & Power’ featured him as one of the titular characters, ‘Water,’ with ‘Power’ played by Nicholas Gonzalez. The film was screened at the ‘National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) National Conference’ in June that year and at the ‘Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival’ in October the same year. It had its theatrical release in the US on May 2, 2014.
The 2014 American science-fiction film ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ featured Enrique as ‘Kemp,’ a member of ‘Malcolm's’ group. The film garnered a whopping $710.6 million at the box office and emerged as the highest-grossing movie of the ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise and as the eighth highest-grossing film of that year.
Between 2014 and 2016, he played the recurring role of ‘Felipe Lobos’ in the ‘Starz’ American crime drama–thriller TV series ‘Power,’ featuring in 10 of its episodes.
Meanwhile, in 2015, he earned the leading role of ‘Marco Diaz’ in the ‘Netflix’ original thriller–drama web series ‘Bloodline.’ He featured in the first two seasons of the series, in a total of 26 episodes, till 2017. His character died in the final episode of the second season.
Continue Reading Below
Between 2016 and 2017, he featured as ‘Raoul’ in six episodes of the American TV drama ‘Hap and Leonard.’
The 2017 American comedy ‘Rough Night,’ which became a marked commercial success, saw him portraying the character of ‘Detective Ruiz.’ The same year, he featured in the Will Smith-starrer American urban fantasy ‘Bright,’ in the TV film ‘The Saint,’ and in five episodes of the American crime thriller ‘The Blacklist.’
Facts About Enrique Murciano
Enrique Murciano is fluent in both English and Spanish, allowing him to effortlessly navigate between different cultures and languages.
In addition to his acting talents, Murciano is also a skilled painter, often using his art as a form of relaxation and creative expression.
Murciano is known for his love of motorcycles and often enjoys going on long rides to clear his mind and find inspiration for his work.
Despite his busy schedule, Murciano is passionate about giving back to his community and has been involved in various charitable initiatives over the years.
In his free time, Murciano enjoys practicing yoga and meditation to help maintain a sense of balance and inner peace in his hectic life.
