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David Zayas | |
|---|---|
 Zayas in 2025 | |
| Born | (1962-08-15)August 15, 1962 (age 63) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Notable work | Angel Batista onDexter Enrique Morales onOz Sal Maroni onGotham |
| Spouse | |
David Zayas (born August 15, 1962[2]) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his roles asAngel Batista on theShowtime seriesDexter,Dexter: New Blood andDexter: Resurrection and Enrique Morales on theHBO prison drama seriesOz.[3]
Zayas was born inNew York,[4] brought toPuerto Rico as a baby, and came back toThe Bronx, New York right before school. He spent the early years around Hunts Point area, then moved to the Sound View Section for Highschool.
Zayas joined theUnited States Air Force at age 19 and was a police officer with theNew York City Police Department for almost 15 years.[3] His experience as a police officer allowed him to develop as acharacter actor, leading to a series of acting jobs on television and film, mainly playing law enforcement officers, but playing characters on the other side of the law, as well, such as Enrique Morales onHBO's long-running prison-dramaOz.[citation needed] Zayas was a main cast member ofDexter for all of its eight seasons.[5]
Zayas has been a member of theLAByrinth Theater Company since 1992,[citation needed] a New York City-based traveling actors group. He branched out into television and film projects, and has diversified with guest roles in such popular television series such asNew York Undercover,Person of Interest,FBI (playing Mexican drug lord Antonio Vargas), andNYPD Blue.[citation needed] At LAByrinth, he met his future wife, actressLiza Colón.[citation needed]
Zayas played a corrupt police officer in16 Blocks (2006) and an NYPD officer inMichael Clayton (2007).[citation needed] He is featured in theindependent filmShadowboxing (2010), which appeared on thefilm festival circuit. He appears inSylvester Stallone's feature filmThe Expendables (2010) andThe Brothers Strause's filmSkyline (2010). In 2012, Zayas played Ernie Trask, a hotel super, in the twelfth episode of season 1 ofPerson of Interest. In 2013 he portrayed Detective Esteban Flores inJodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, a television film about themurder of Travis Alexander.[6]
Zayas portrayed mob bossSal Maroni in theBatman prequelGotham, which premiered onFox on September 22, 2014.[7] Shortly thereafter, he appeared inAnnie (2014) as Lou, a gregarious bodega owner who helpsCameron Diaz's Hannigan learn to love herself.
Zayas starred in the 2021 filmR#J, a modern retelling ofRomeo and Juliet.[8] Shaun Munro noted Zayas as one of the few prominent actors present in the film and called him "well-cast in the role of Juliet’s amusingly surly father."[9]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Lena's Dreams | Jorge | |
| 1998 | OK Garage | Omar | |
| Scar City | Cop #1 | ||
| Return to Paradise | Construction Foreman | ||
| Rounders | Trooper Osborne | ||
| Bleach | Lieutenant Ballard | Short film | |
| 1999 | Bringing Out the Dead | Cop in Elevator | |
| Kingdom Come | Unknown | ||
| 2000 | The Yards | Officer Jerry Rifkin | |
| 2001 | Sam the Man | Officer Billy | |
| 2002 | Washington Heights | David | |
| A Gentleman's Game | Alfred D'Angelo | ||
| 2003 | Anne B. Real | Cynthia's Dad | |
| 2004 | Mimmo & Paulie | Paulie | Short film |
| Jailbait | Guard | ||
| Brooklyn Bound | Popo | ||
| 2005 | The Interpreter | Secret Service Agent Charlie Russell | |
| Sangre/Blood | Nestor | Short film | |
| The Feast of the Goat | Antonio De La Maza | ||
| 2006 | 16 Blocks | Detective Bobby Torres | |
| The Path to 9/11 | Lou Napoli | ||
| Bristol Boys | Detective Benson | ||
| 2007 | Michael Clayton | Detective Dalberto | |
| The Savages | Eduardo | ||
| 2009 | Burning Mussolini | Hector | |
| Wake | Detective Grayson | ||
| Flying By | Tony | ||
| 2010 | 13 | Detective Larry Mullane | |
| Shadowboxing | Bill | ||
| The Expendables | General Garza | ||
| Skyline | Oliver | ||
| 2013 | Samuel Bleak | Ruben Ramirez | |
| 2014 | Ride | Ramon | |
| Annie | Lou | ||
| 2015 | The Wannabe | Pablo Guzman | |
| 2016 | Tallulah | Detective Richards | |
| 2017 | Teen Titans: The Judas Contract | Alberto Reyes (voice) | Direct-to-video[10] |
| Shine | Ramon | ||
| 2020 | Body Cam | Sergeant Kesper | [11] |
| Force of Nature | John The Baptist | [12] | |
| 2021 | R and J | Fernando Capulet | |
| 2025 | The Running Man | Richard Manuel |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Law & Order | McGinty | Episode: "Savages" |
| 1996 | New York Undercover | Paco Martinez | Episode: "The Enforcers" |
| Law & Order | Raoul Cervantes | Episode: "Causa Mortis" | |
| 1997 | Feds | Unknown | Episode: "Somebody's Lyin'" |
| 1998 | Trinity | Uniform Cop #1 | Episode: "...To Forgive, Divine" |
| Law & Order | Carlos | Episode: "Flight" | |
| 1999 | Third Watch | Motorman | Episode: "Welcome to Camelot" |
| 2000 | NYPD Blue | Joaquin Enriquez | Episode: "These Shoots Are Made for Joaquin" |
| The Beat | Rei Morales | 12 episodes | |
| All My Children | Unknown | Episode: "13 December 2000" | |
| 2000–2003 | Oz | Enrique Morales | 26 episodes |
| 2001 | Wit | Code Team Blue Head | Television film |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Detective Milton | Episode: "Protection" |
| UC: Undercover | Jorge Gonzales | Episode: "Manhunt" | |
| Guiding Light | Prison Guard | Episode: "22 October 2002" | |
| 2003 | Law & Order | John Mireles | Episode: "Smoke" |
| Angels in America | Super | 3 episodes | |
| Undefeated | Paulie | Television film | |
| 2005 | Angel | Angel's Father | Television film |
| 2006–2013 | Dexter | Angel Batista | 96 episodes |
| 2006 | Numb3rs | Carlos Costavo | Episode: "Brutus" |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Fire Marshall | Episode: "On Fire" |
| 2007 | Without a Trace | Gabriel Molina | Episode: "Crash and Burn" |
| Shark | Alvarez | Episode: "Strange Bedfellows" | |
| The Closer | Brian | Episode: "Grave Doubts" | |
| Burn Notice | Javier | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2008 | Law & Order | Detective Justin Cabrera | Episode: "Submission" |
| 2009 | CSI: Miami | Ben Porterson | Episode: "Wolfe in Sheep's Clothing" |
| In Plain Sight | Harrison Locke | Episode: "Rubble with a Cause" | |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Lt. Stanley Maas | Season 9: 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Person of Interest | Ernie Trask | Episode: "Super" |
| Grimm | Salvadore Butrell | Episode: "Leave It to Beavers" | |
| 2013 | The Following | Tyson Hernandez | Episode: "Guilt" |
| Deception | Frank | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret | Detective Esteban Flores | Television film | |
| 2013–2023 | The Blacklist | Manny Soto | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | Saint George | Junior | 6 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | Gotham | Sal Maroni | 8 episodes |
| 2015 | Elementary | Juan 'El Gato' Murillo | Episode: "The Past Is Parent" |
| 2016 | Bloodline | Sheriff Aguirre | 7 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Shut Eye | Eduardo Bernal | 20 episodes |
| 2017–2024 | Blue Bloods | Governor of New York Martin Mendez | 7 episodes |
| 2018 | Seven Seconds | Captain Carlos Medina | Episodes: "Of Gods and Men", "Until It Do" |
| Chicago P.D. | Carlos Mendoza | Episode: "Endings" | |
| Quantico | Charlie | Episode: "Hell's Gate" | |
| 2019 | Deadly Class | El Alma del Diablo | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | Next | Ignacio | 3 episodes |
| 2020–2021 | FBI | Antonio Vargas | 3 episodes |
| 2021 | Pose | Carlos | Episode: "Something Old, Something New" |
| 2021–2022 | Dexter: New Blood | Angel Batista | Episodes: "Runaway" & "Sins of the Father" |
| 2024 | Diarra from Detroit | Marshall | Recurring role |
| Bob's Burgers | Bubble Master (voice) | Episode: "Jade in the Shade" | |
| 2024–present | The Bear | David Marrero | 3 episodes (Season 3–present) |
| 2025 | Dexter: Resurrection | Angel Batista | 10 episodes[13] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train | Valdez | East 13th Street Theatre |
| 2003 | Our Lady of 121st Street | Edwin | Union Square Theatre |
| Anna in the Tropics | Cheché | Royale Theatre | |
| 2008 | The Little Flower of East Orange | Espinosa / Surgeon 2 | Joseph Papp Public Theater/Martinson Hall |
| 2022 | Cost of Living | Eddie | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Nominated—Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play |
| 2024 | Brooklyn Laundry | Owen | New York City Center Stage I |
For eight seasons on the original Dexter, the audience of Showtime's hit serial killer series became familiar with the main players on the Miami Metro Homicide team where Michael C. Hall's starring Dexter Morgan worked. Two of those characters were Detective Angel Batista, played by David Zayas, and forensics expert Vince Masuka, played by C.S. Lee.
