Jonathan "Jon" Seda is an American actor, possibly best known for his role
as Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street.
Seda was an amateur boxer who, in 1992, auditioned for and was given a role in
the boxing film Gladiator. He portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in
Selena and became widely known to both the Hispanic and non-Hispanic
communities. He has made numerous television appearances, and appeared as
legendary Marine John Basilone in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's follow up
to Band of Brothers, The Pacific. Seda currently stars in the NBC series
Chicago P.D. as Detective Antonio Dawson.
Early life Seda was born in Manhattan to Puerto
Rican-heritage parents, and raised in Clifton, New Jersey.
After graduating from high school, Seda began to work out in a gym, after two
friends convinced him that he should take up boxing. He boxed in several gyms
in New Jersey and soon was a runner up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves
competition. As an amateur boxer, Seda had a record of 21 wins and one loss.
Career Seda's film debut was in 1992, in the
boxing film Gladiator in which he played the role of "Romano", a Cuban boxer. He
has since worked in various films and TV series. In 1995, Seda was nominated Best
Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his role the 1994 movie I Like It Like That
opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vélez. In 1996, he was nominated for the Palme
d'Or for his role as "Blue" in the film The Sunchaser opposite actor Woody
Harrelson at the Cannes Film Festival. Seda became widely known to the Hispanic
film audience when he portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in
Selena, a 1997 film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena, who
was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda portrayed her husband.
Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's:
Homicide: Life on the Street. The writers took advantage of his boxing
background, writing a shirtless practice bout into an episode which established
his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. He also boxed
opposite Jimmy Smits in the 2000 film Price of Glory.
His first leading role on the large screen was as the protagonist in 2002's
King Rikki, a re-imagining of Shakespeare's Richard III in East L.A..
Seda has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including Bad Boys II as
"Roberto" as well as numerous television appearances. Aside from Homicide, he has
had notable roles as Dino Ortolani in Oz, Matty Caffey in Third Watch, Paul
Falsone in a Homicide crossover with Law & Order, House, The Closer, and CSI:
Miami. He is featured as one of the three leads in the HBO World War II
mini-series The Pacific released on March 14, 2010, playing the part of
Marine John Basilone. Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of Burn Notice.
In 2007, Seda also made a cameo in Ludacris' song Runaway Love, as an
abusive alcoholic stepfather. Seda appeared in the second season of
Treme as Nelson Hidalgo, a politically connected land developer from Dallas who
helps out with the relief efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. He appeared in
the 2011 film Larry Crowne, which starred, and was co-written and directed
by, Tom Hanks. Hanks served as an executive producer on The Pacific, in
which Seda starred. In 2013 he starred along side Hollywood superstar Sylvester
Stallone, Christian Slater and Jason Mamoa in the Walter Hill action thriller
" Bullet to the Head". In 2012, Seda began starring on Chicago
Fire in a recurring role as Detective Antonio Dawson. Since 2014 he portrays
Dawson in the spin-off Chicago P.D. as part of the main cast. His daughter
Haley made a guest appearance on Chicago P.D. as a key witness in a bombing.
Filmography = Films=
= Television= See also
List of famous Puerto Ricans References
External links Jon Seda on Twitter
Jon Seda | About | Chicago P.D. | NBC Jon Seda at the Internet Movie Database