Néstor Carbonell (Redirected from Nestor Carbonell)

Néstor Carbonell
Carbonell at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2022
Born
Néstor Gastón Carbonell

(1967-12-01) December 1, 1967 (age 55)
Alma materHarvard University (AB)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • screenwriter
Years active1989–present
Spouse
(m. 2001)
Children2
Relatives


Néstor Gastón Carbonell (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈnestoɾ ɣasˈtoŋ kaɾβoˈneʎ]; born December 1, 1967) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He came to prominence for his role as Luis Rivera in the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan. He is known for his roles as Richard Alpert in the ABC drama series Lost, Sheriff Alex Romero in the A&E drama series Bates Motel, and Yanko Flores in the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show. Carbonell also starred as Mayor Anthony Garcia in Christopher Nolan's superhero films The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Early life

Carbonell was born in New York City to Cuban parents Néstor Tulio Carbonell Cortina and Rosa Ramírez de Arellano Cárdenas. His parents are of Spanish descent (his grandparents were of Catalan, Basque, Navarran, and Andalusian origins). Carbonell was raised a Roman Catholic.

Carbonell's father worked for PepsiCo, which required the family to live for periods of time in London, Mexico City, the Bahamas, and Caracas. His father is also active in the Cuban community, authoring the book And The Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba. Carbonell has an older sister, Rosa Maria "Mia" Carbonell, a Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Forbes. Former professional baseball player Rafael Palmeiro is his cousin. His paternal great-grandfather, José Manuel Cortina, was a noted Cuban orator and diplomat.

Carbonell was educated at The British School while living in Caracas. His family later moved back to the U.S., and he attended Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts with future Lost co-star Matthew Fox.

In 1990, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard University (also the alma mater of his father and sister).

Career

Carbonell promoting Lost in 2010

Carbonell's first acting role was a guest starring part as Alberto Cordova in an episode of As the World Turns. He then appeared in episodes of Law & Order, Melrose Place, A Different World, Reasonable Doubts, Good Advice, Brotherly Love, and The John Larroquette Show. In 1995, he starred in a dual role, Roberto and one half of the Couple in Bar, in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's play Getting Away with Murder. That same year, he appeared as a main cast member on the short-lived The WB sitcom Muscle. He subsequently portrayed the regular role of Luis Rivera on the Brooke Shields-led sitcom Suddenly Susan for four seasons (1996–2000).

For much of his early career, he played characters with thick Hispanic accents, and was so convincing that people thought it was how he actually sounded. One of his first obstacles in Hollywood was convincing them that in reality he didn't have an accent and that he is capable of doing broader roles. In 2000, Carbonell made his debut as a screenwriter with the comedy film Attention Shoppers, in which he also starred as Enrique Suarez, the lead role. He has since had recurring roles on Resurrection Blvd., The Tick, Kim Possible (as the voice of Señor Senior Jr.), Century City, Strong Medicine, and Cold Case. He also guest starred on Scrubs (in the episode "My Moment of Un-Truth"), House (in the episode "Cursed"), Monk (in the episode "Mr. Monk Gets Married"), and Day Break (in the episode "What If He Can Change the Day?"). In 2006, he appeared alongside his future Lost co-star Matthew Fox, as assassin Pasquale Acosta, in the film Smokin' Aces.

Carbonell and Sarah Michelle Gellar at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con

Carbonell was cast as Richard Alpert on the third season of ABC's drama series Lost. The mysteries surrounding his ageless character were heavily discussed among the fan community throughout his arc in the season. While producing the final episodes of the third season, Carbonell was cast in a starring role as Frank Duque on the CBS series Cane. The writers of Lost modified their original story plan for the third season in anticipation for Carbonell's potential unavailability. Despite Carbonell's willingness to return to the ABC series, CBS president Nina Tassler ruled out another guest appearance. Cane was cancelled during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, freeing Carbonell from his contract with CBS. In 2008, Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse stated that Carbonell would reprise his role as Richard Alpert towards the end of the series' fourth season, as a result of Cane's cancellation. Carbonell made appearances in the episodes "Cabin Fever" and "There's No Place Like Home". Cuse cited this as an unintended positive consequence of the strike. Carbonell appeared in nine episodes of the fifth season, and was upgraded to a main cast member of Lost for its sixth and final season.

In 2008, he landed the role of Mayor Anthony Garcia in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. His wife, Shannon Kenny, was previously involved in a Batman project, voicing the character Inque in the Batman Beyond television series. In 2010, Carbonell joined the series Psych for two episodes playing Declan Rand, a criminal profiler. In 2011, Carbonell starred in the CW series Ringer as FBI agent Victor Machado. Also in 2011, he was announced to guest star in FX comedy series Wilfred, a role which later turned into a recurring one. The following year, Carbonell briefly appeared in The Dark Knight Rises, reprising his role as Mayor Anthony Garcia in the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

Carbonell with the cast of Bates Motel in 2013

From 2013 to the series' ending in 2017, he portrayed Sheriff Alex Romero in the A&E Psycho prequel series Bates Motel, opposite Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore. In the first season, he starred in a recurring capacity, but was upgraded to a main cast member starting with the second season. Carbonell also directed three episodes of the series. In 2014, he guest starred on the CBS drama series Person of Interest in the episode "Most Likely to...", and on the CBS political drama series The Good Wife in the episode "The Deep Web". That same year, he began recurring as Raymond Navaro in NBC's espionage thriller series State of Affairs. In 2017, Carbonell directed the episode "Apple" of the ABC drama series The Good Doctor, starring his Bates Motel co-star Highmore.

Personal life

Carbonell has been married to Australian actress Shannon Kenny since January 3, 2001. They met while working together on the 1995 television series Muscle and went on to co-star in the 2000 film Attention Shoppers, which Carbonell wrote. The couple have two sons, Rafael (born 2002) and Marco (born 2005). He is a practising Roman Catholic.

Carbonell's dark eyelashes have been a staple topic of discussion in interviews, and both Carbonell and the producers of Lost made it clear they are not enhanced by any form of makeup. A short skit during the Lost panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International featured Carbonell allegedly applying eyeliner before throwing a Christian Bale-esque rant upon receiving the wrong color makeup from an assistant. In a season 5 episode of Lost, James "Sawyer" Ford refers to Carbonell's character as "your buddy out there with the eyeliner." In addition, in the Psych episode "Shawn 2.0", Shawn Spencer makes a comment about him having "impossibly dark eyelashes."

He is fluent in Spanish, a skill he put to use in the sixth-season episode of Lost, "Ab Aeterno", in which numerous scenes contain dialogue mostly or solely in Spanish. He also starred in a Spanish-language Heineken commercial.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Attention Shoppers Enrique Suarez
2001 Jack the Dog Jack the Dog
2002 The Laramie Project Moisés Kaufman
2003 Manhood Jack the Dog
2005 The Lost City Luis Fellove
2006 Smokin' Aces Pasquale Acosta
2008 The Dark Knight Mayor Anthony Garcia
2008 Killer Movie Seaton Brookstone
2010 Noah's Ark: The New Beginning Leeu (voice)
2012 For Greater Glory Mayor Picazo
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Mayor Anthony Garcia
2013 Dead Drop Santiago
2016 Director's Cut CSI Perry
Imperium Tom Hernandez
2017 Crown Heights Bruce Regenstreich
2022 Bandit Detective John Snydes
2022 Medicine Men Silas St. John Limited Release
TBA Triggered Pablo Hernandez In Pre-Production
TBA Clawfoot Evan Post Production
TBA The Image of You David In Production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989 As the World Turns Alberto Córdova Episode: "1.8965"
1991 Law & Order Stuart Carradine Episode: "Out of Control"
1992 Melrose Place Alex Episode: "Lost & Found"
A Different World Malik Velásquez 2 episodes
1993 Reasonable Doubts Tomasso López Episode: "The Ties That Bind (Part 1)"
1994 Good Advice Marco Episode: "Two Times Twenty"
1995 Muscle Gianni 13 episodes
1996 Brotherly Love Eduardo Episode: "Remember"
The John Larroquette Show Felicio Episode: "Intern Writer"
1996–2000 Suddenly Susan Luis Rivera 93 episodes
1998 Veronica's Closet Tony Tony Episode: "Veronica's All Nighter"
Encore! Encore! Marly Morrow Episode: "Mr. Joe's Wild Rose"
2000 Resurrection Blvd. Peter Terrano 6 episodes
Noriega: God's Favorite Major Giroldi Television film
Happily Ever After Sir Gooey (voice) Episode: "Robinita Hood"
2001 These Old Broads Gavin Television film
2001–2002 The Tick Batmanuel 9 episodes
2002 Static Shock García (voice) Episode: "Pop's Girlfriend"
Ally McBeal Miles Josephson Episode: "What I'll Never Do for Love Again"
2002–2007 Kim Possible Señor Senior Jr. (voice) 12 episodes
2003 Queens Supreme Benedetto Episode: "Supreme Heat"
The Division Byron Johnson Episode: "Cold Comfort"
2004 Monk Dalton Padron Episode: "Mr. Monk Gets Married"
Scrubs Dr. Ronny Ramírez Episode: "My Moment of un-Truth"
Century City Tom Montero 9 episodes
2004–2006 Strong Medicine Jonas Rey 14 episodes
2005 Justice League Unlimited El Diablo (voice) Episode: "The Once and Future Thing"
House Jeffrey Reilich Episode: "Cursed"
2006 Brandy & Mr. Whiskers Tito (voice) Episode: "Rain Delay"
Commander in Chief Dr. Kyle Brock Episode: "The Elephant in the Room"
Cold Case Mike Valens 3 episodes
Day Break Eddie Reyes Episode: "What If He Can Change the Day?"
2007 Eloise: The Animated Series Diego (voice) Episode: "Eloise Goes to Hollywood"
American Dragon: Jake Long Cupid (voice) Episode: "The Love Cruise"
Andy Barker, P.I. Dr. Jeremy Cey Episode: "The Big No Sleep"
Cane Frank Duque 13 episodes
2007–2010 Lost Richard Alpert 29 episodes
2010–2012 The Penguins of Madagascar Savio (voice) 4 episodes
2010 Psych Declan Rand 2 episodes
2011–2012 Ringer Victor Machado 17 episodes
2011–2014 Wilfred Dr. Arturo Ramos 3 episodes
2013–2017 Bates Motel Sheriff Alex Romero 45 episodes
2014 Person of Interest Matthew Reed Episode: "Most Likely to..."
The Good Wife Daniel Irwin Episode: "The Deep Web"
2014–2015 State of Affairs Raymond Navaro 7 episodes
2015 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Eagle-Eye (voice) 2 episodes
Ray Donovan Sheldon Blackwood Episode: "Handshake Deal"
2017–2020 Elena of Avalor King Raul (voice) 3 episodes
2018 Midnight, Texas Kai Lucero 7 episodes
2019–present The Morning Show Yanko Flores 20 episodes
2019 Big Hero 6: The Series Chief Cruz (voice) 9 episodes
2020 DuckTales Ponce de Leon (voice) Episode: "The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades!"
2021 Shōgun Father Rodrigues Post Production

Stage

Year Title Role Location
1990 A Silent Thunder Cpl. Joe Santana Apple Corps Theatre, New York
1995 Getting Away with Murder Roberto / Couple in Bar Old Globe Theatre, San Diego

Other credits

Year Title Functioned as Notes
Director Writer Producer
2000 Attention Shoppers Yes Executive
2015–2017 Bates Motel Yes 3 episodes
2017-2020 The Good Doctor Yes 2 episodes
2018 Rise Yes Episode: "The Petition"
TBA Triggered Yes Yes
2021–2022 New Amsterdam Yes Episodes: "Seed Money", "All Night Long", "Big Day"
2023 Law & Order Yes Episode: "Private Lives"

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1996 ALMA Awards Outstanding Individual Performance in a Comedy Series Suddenly Susan Nominated
1998 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Won
1999 Won
2003 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Star on the Horizon Himself Won
2009 ALMA Awards Best Actor on Television – Drama Lost Nominated
2010 Golden Nymph Awards Outstanding Actor – Drama Series Nominated
Gold Derby Awards TV Ensemble of the Year (with cast) Nominated
Imagen Awards Best Actor – Television Nominated
2013 Best Supporting Actor – Television Bates Motel Nominated
2014 Nominated
2022 SAG Awards Outstanding Performance In A Drama Series (With Cast) The Morning Show Nominated

This page was last updated at 2023-09-19 11:41 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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