Raúl Esparza
Esparza in 2025
Born	Raúl Eduardo Esparza (1970-10-24)October 24, 1970 (age 55) Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Michelle Perez ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 2008)​
Website	www.raulesparza.com

Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American actor. Considered one of Broadway's most prominentleading men since the 2000s, he is best known for hisTony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival ofCompany and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA)Rafael Barba inLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19.

He made his Broadway début in 2000 as Riff Raff in the revival ofThe Rocky Horror Show. Subsequently, he starred as Jonathan in the original Off-Broadway production ofTick, Tick... Boom! andCaractacus Potts in the original Broadway production ofChitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2005. He receivedTony nominations for his roles as Philip Sallon in theBoy George musicalTaboo in 2004; Bobby in the musical comedyCompany in 2006; Lenny inHarold Pinter's playThe Homecoming in 2008; and Charlie Fox inDavid Mamet's playSpeed-the-Plow in 2009. Most recently, he starred in the Off-Broadway productionsRoad Show andSeared in 2019, andOliver! in 2023.

Esparza has been nominated in all Tony categories for which an actor is eligible. He is widely regarded for his versatility on stage, having performed musicals byAndrew Lloyd Webber,Stephen Sondheim,Kander and Ebb, Boy George, theSherman Brothers and in plays by Mamet, Pinter,William Shakespeare,Tom Stoppard, and others.

His film work includesSidney Lumet'sFind Me Guilty andWes Craven'sMy Soul to Take, and his television credits include roles onThe Path,Medium,Hannibal andPushing Daisies. He narrated the audiobook forStephen King'sUnder the Dome as well as several others, and he has sung in concerts across the country.

Raúl Esparza was born inWilmington, Delaware, toCuban parents, María Elena Cecilia García y Gutiérrez and Raúl Esparza y Rues, who had fledFidel Castro's regime.^[1] While his paternal grandfather had been established in Castro's sugar ministry, his father's family grew disillusioned with the government and, in 1966, his father and grandmother escaped to the U.S. by boat, while his grandfatherdefected throughSpain.^[1] Esparza's maternal grandfather had originally moved to Cuba fromFigueres,Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain.^[1]

Esparza was raised in Miami, Florida. He graduated fromBelen Jesuit in 1988 and won aSilver Knight Award in Drama that same year.^[2] In 1992, Esparza received aBachelor of Fine Arts in Drama and a Bachelor's degree in English fromNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts.^[3]

Esparza participated in the genealogy programFinding Your Roots, during Season 8, Episode 3. He learned during the episode that hisCatalan great-great-grandparents founded Garcia de Pou Restaurant Supply Store inMadrid, still owned and operated by members of his family. He also learned that another branch of his family came from the small town ofNavata,Girona, Catalonia, Spain, where they can be traced back fourteen generations.^[4]

Esparza first drew attention with his performance in the 2000Broadway revival ofThe Rocky Horror Show, which won him theTheatre World Award. Esparza's other Broadway credits includeCabaret (2001),Taboo (2003),Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2005), andStephen Sondheim'sCompany (2006). He received a nomination for theTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical at the58th Tony Awards and won aDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance inTaboo. His performance inCompany earned him a secondTony nomination, this time forBest Actor in a Musical at the61st Tony Awards, as well as his secondDrama Desk Award, this time forOutstanding Actor in a Musical. Beginning in November 2007, he appeared inHarold Pinter's playThe Homecoming and was nominated for theTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play at the62nd Tony Awards. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival ofDavid Mamet'sSpeed-the-Plow co-starringJeremy Piven andElisabeth Moss on Broadway.^[5] His performance inSpeed-the-Plow earned him a nomination for theTony Award for Best Actor in a Play at the 63rd Tony Awards, making him the second performer (afterBoyd Gaines) to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys, although he has yet to win one.

Esparza appeared in a limited-engagement revival ofTom Stoppard'sArcadia, which began previews at theEthel Barrymore Theatre on February 25, 2011, and opened on March 17, 2011.^[6]

Esparza appeared in the musicalLeap of Faith in the role of the "Reverend" Jonas Nightingale. He was involved in the workshop in 2008, the out-of-town tryout at theAhmanson Theatre (Los Angeles) in 2010, and the Broadway production in 2012,^[7] for which he received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.^[8]

In 1999, Esparza played Che in the national tour ofEvita, oppositeNatalie Toro. The tour was intended to open on Broadway, but failed to do so. In 2001, he appearedOff-Broadway intick, tick... BOOM! byJonathan Larson, garnering a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He appeared in two musicals by Stephen Sondheim,Sunday in the Park with George andMerrily We Roll Along at the 2002Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration.^[9] He also appeared as the Arbiter in theActors Fund of America concert ofTim Rice'sChess in September 2003.^[10]

In 2009, Esparza starred in a production ofWilliam Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night at theDelacorte Theater (New York) withAnne Hathaway, from June 25 through July 12.^[11] He starred as J. Bowden Hapgood in theNew York City CenterEncores! staged concert production ofAnyone Can Whistle from April 8 to 11, 2010, oppositeSutton Foster as Fay Apple andDonna Murphy as the Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper.^[12]

In July 2013, Esparza starred in a production ofThe Cradle Will Rock at the New York City Center.^[13]

In February 2018, Esparza played Freddie Trumper in the Kennedy Center's revival of Tim Rice'sChess. From October to December 2018, Esparza played the title role inClassic Stage Company's Off-Broadway production ofThe Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was nominated for the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for the role.^[14]

In July 2019, Esparza appeared in a production ofRoad Show at the New York City Center.^[15] In October of the same year, Esparza played Harry in the off-Broadway comedySeared byTheresa Rebeck.^[16]

In April 2020, he was a host, executive producer, and performer inTake Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration, a virtual concert in honor of the 90th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim benefiting the charity organization ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty).^[17]

In December 2022, Esparza was a guest narrator atDisney's Candlelight Processional atWalt Disney World.^[18] In 2023, he starred asFagin inOliver! in New York's Encores! two-week run.^[19] In 2023, it was announced that he would star in the world premiere of the musicalGalileo atBerkeley Repertory Theatre in summer 2024.^[20]

In 2007, Esparza had a recurring role on the TV showPushing Daisies as traveling salesman Alfredo Aldarisio, a role originally given toPaul Reubens. In 2009, Esparza recorded the audiobookUnder the Dome byStephen King. He has done narration forThe House of the Scorpion byNancy Farmer^[21] andThe Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark.^[22] In January 2010, Esparza performed oppositeLucie Arnaz,Desi Arnaz Jr., andValarie Pettiford at the92Y'sLyrics and Lyricist event honoringDesi Arnaz and his orchestra,Babalu: The American Songbook Goes Latin.^[23] In 2010, Esparza appeared as Abel Plenkov inWes Craven'sMy Soul to Take.^[24]

From 2013 to 2015, Esparza appeared in the recurring role ofDr. Frederick Chilton inHannibal.^[25] He appeared in the 2016 filmCustody, written and directed byJames Lapine, as Luis Sanjaro an Administration for Children's Services agent.^[26]

In 2012, Esparza became a recurring actor on the long-runningNBC drama seriesLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit as Manhattan Assistant District AttorneyRafael Barba, starting in the third episode of the show's14th season, "Twenty-Five Acts".^[27] He appeared in 11 episodes of the show's 14th season. On July 17, 2013, he was promoted to series regular for the show's15th season.^[28] His character became the first series-regular ADA sinceStephanie March's characterAlexandra Cabot in the11th season and the first regular male ADA in series history. His role onSVU was not his firstLaw & Order franchise role, however, as he had previously portrayed ADA Kevin Mulrooney in a 2009season 8 episode, "Lady's Man", ofLaw & Order: Criminal Intent, and Dennis Di Palma, a suspect in "Blackmail", a 2010season 20 episode of the originalLaw & Order. On February 7, 2018, Esparza leftSVU in theseason 19 episode "The Undiscovered Country" after six seasons on the show.^[29][30]

Although having left the series to return to the stage, Esparza has been back on the show, making a very brief cameo before the main title in theseason 21 episode "Redemption in Her Corner".^[31] He made another guest appearance inseason 22 episode "Sightless in a Savage Land" and in theseason 23 finale, "A Final Call at Forlini's Bar.^[32]

Esparza married Michele Marie Perez, his high-school girlfriend, in 1994. They divorced in 2008.^[33] Esparza was the subject of aNew York Times profile in 2006 in which he revealed that he isbisexual.^[34]

Selected credits^[38]

• Official website
• Raúl Esparza at theInternet Broadway Database
• Raúl Esparza atIMDb
• Raúl Esparza at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Video interview in which Esparza discusses his relationship to Catholicism
• Interview in which Esparza discusses his stage and film work

• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• American bisexual male actors
• American entertainers of Cuban descent
• American male film actors
• American male musical theatre actors
• American male Shakespearean actors
• American male stage actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American people of Catalan descent
• Bisexual male singers
• Drama Desk Award winners
• Hispanic and Latino American male actors
• Hispanic and Latino American LGBTQ people
• LGBTQ people from Delaware
• LGBTQ people from Florida
• Living people
• Male actors from Miami
• Male actors from Wilmington, Delaware
• Theatre World Award winners
• Tisch School of the Arts alumni
• 1970 births

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