Manny Pérez

This article is about Manny Pérez the actor. For Manny Perez the animator, see Manuel Perez (animator).

Not to be confused with Manny Perez (soccer).

Manuel Pérez "Manny" Batista (born May 5, 1969) is a Dominican American actor who has appeared in the television series Third Watch and in the film Washington Heights. He is the cousin of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz.^[1]

Manny Pérez
Pérez in 2010
Born	Manuel Pérez Batista (1969-05-05) May 5, 1969 (age 55) Baitoa, Santiago, Dominican Republic
Years active	1993–present

Life and career

Pérez was born in Baitoa, Santiago, Dominican Republic and currently lives in Washington Heights, Manhattan.^[2]

Pérez is one of 11 siblings. By the time Pérez finished high school he knew that he wanted to be an actor so he moved to New York City where he majored in drama at Marymount Manhattan College, graduating in 1992.

He studied at Ensemble Studio Theatre and is a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, in New York City.

Following his performance on the film Washington Heights (which he also co-wrote and produced), Pérez garnered praise from many critics.

The New York Times stated, "Mr. Perez has charisma to burn." He won the 2002 Best Actor Award at The Milan International Film Festival in Italy for his performance in Washington Heights.

At the Santo Domingo Invita show, he was honored as one of the most prominent Dominican actors in the United States.

In November 2007, Pérez was honored in the Dominican Film Festival held in Puerto Plata along with Dania Ramirez for his humanitarian work in the Dominican Republic. When Pérez received the award, he said that his first pair of shoes were given to him at the age of five by his father and that he only wore them to go to Mass on Sundays. Pérez also said that when he first came to the United States, he gained a great deal of weight from what was later discovered to be hookworms in his stomach, which had first infected his feet after he walked the streets barefoot. Pérez donated 10,000 shoes to families who lost everything after Hurricane Noel swept across the Dominican Republic.

In 2012 he was elected by Luz García's Noche de Luz programme as a "Summer's Hot Body".^[3][4]

Filmography

Source:^{[n 1]}

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Film

Film work by Manny Pérez

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	New York Cop	Tito
1994	Crooklyn	Hector
1996	Courage Under Fire	Jenkins
	Bullet	Flaco
	Sleeping Together	Carlos
1997	Stick Up	Eddie	Short film
1998	Neto's Run	Neto
1999	On the Q.T.	Aurelio
2000	Brother	Mexican Mafia Hitman
	Dinner Rush	Gabriel
2002	Washington Heights	Carlos	Story writer
	King Rikki	Jorge Ortega
2003	Party Monster	Johnny
2004	The Breakup Artist	Carlos
2006	Yellow	Angelo
	El Cantante	Eddie
2007	The Ministers	Detective Manso
	Rockaway	Antwan
	Illegal Tender	Wilson DeLeon Sr.
	Tracks of Color	George Martinez
	Amexicano	Diego
	Where God Left His Shoes	Luis
2008	Nothing like the Holidays	Alexis
	Last Call	Javier
	Pride and Glory	Coco Dominguez
2009	La soga	Luisito	Story writer
	A Kiss of Chaos	Tony
2010	Forged	Chuco	Also writer
2012	El Rey de Najayo	Julián López
2017	Colao	Antonio
2018	Veneno	Jack Veneno
2021	Night of the Sicario	Leon Ramirez
2024	Tiguere	Alberto
TBA	Hopeless_Dr †	Sam	Post-production

Television

Television work by Manny Pérez

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994-1996	New York Undercover	Tony	2 episodes
1995	NYPD Blue	Tonio	Episode: "Cold Heaters"
1998	Brooklyn South	Estefan	Episode: "Violet Inviolate"
1999	Rude Awakening	Jesus	2 episodes
2001-2002	100 Centre Street	Ramon Rodriguez	18 episodes
2002	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Jorge Galvez	Episode: "The Pilgrim"
2002-2021	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Sergeant Hagen / Angel Perez / DEA Agent / CSU Technician	4 episodes
2004	Dragnet	Sergio	Episode: "Riddance"
	CSI: Miami	Manny Orantes	Episode: "Crime Wave"
2005	Night Stalker	Tattoo Man / Caleca	Episode: "The Source"
	Third Watch	Manny Santiago	10 episodes
2006-2007	Rescue Me	Detective Luis	5 episodes
2008	Canterbury's Law	Hector Monteiros	Episode: "Sick as Your Secrets"
2010	Criminal Minds	Manny	Episode: "Corazon"
	Cold Case	Tut' 10	Episode: "Bombers"
2013	Homeland	El Niño	2 episodes
2016	The Blacklist	Johan Halbeck	Episode: "Miles McGrath (No. 65)"
	Luke Cage	Lieutenant Pérez	3 episodes
2019	Bull	Trent Bolton	Episode: "Bounty"
2020	Big Dogs	Santiago	8 episodes

See also

• List of people from the Dominican Republic