Arlen Alexander Escarpeta (born 1981 or 1982) is a Belizean and American actor. He originally gained recognition for his main role as Samuel "Sam" Walker on the NBC television series American Dreams (2002–2005), and had his breakthrough in cinema, portraying the character of Nathan Sears in Final Destination 5 (2011).
Early life and career Arlen Escarpeta was born in Belize, and moved to the United States along with his mother and his sister, soon after his father died in Belize. The family settled in Inglewood, and later moved to Los Angeles.
Escarpeta began exploring acting when he was 10 years old, playing the main role of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Upon graduating from college, he began to pursue his career, earning his first role in 2000, when he joined the cast of The Playaz Court, a movie by Greg Morgan. In the following years, Escarpeta appeared in various television programs such as Boston Public, The Shield, Judging Amy and Boomtownand, in 2002, he got a role in High Crimes. That same year, Escarpeta was cast as Sam Walker in the historical drama series American Dreams, which aired on NBC.
He began having more recurrent characters, portraying college football player Reggie Oliver in the biographical film We Are Marshall (2006) and achieving the supporting role in the slasher film Friday the 13th (2009). In the 2010s, Escarpeta starred in the films Brotherhood (2010), and Into the Storm (2014). He also portrayed singer Bobby Brown in the Lifetime television film Whitney (2015) and led the main role of Crackle series The Oath (2018) as Officer Damon Byrd.
Escarpeta had a breakthrough role in Final Destination 5 (2011), where he portrayed Nathan Sears. He subsequently dubbed the character in the Latin Spanish film version. FD5 was the fifth film in the horror franchise, and was featured in 3D.
In November 2011, he made an appearance on The CW's The Secret Circle. He later appeared in an episode of FOX's House (2012), NBC's Grimm (2014), and CBS' Extant (2014).
In the 2020s, Escarpeta returned to playing main roles, including as Adult JG on season 2 of the OWN series David Makes Man (2021) and Zeke Wallace on the NBC series Found (2023–2025).
Personal life Escarpeta often visits his native country of Belize, where his grandmother still lives, working in the training of boxers. He considers his Belizean heritage as foundational in his life and admires Belize's demographic diversity and multilingualism. He has also stated that, in Belize, while English is the official language, others like Spanish and Belizean Creole are widely spoken. Escarpeta, who is fluent in Spanish, said that he had to adapt to only using English when he moved with his mother and sister to the United States.
Escarpeta married American actress LaToya Tonodeo in June 2025, at a private ceremony in Laguna Niguel, California.
Filmography
Film and TV Movies Year Film Role Notes 2000 The Playaz Court Reggie 2002 High Crimes Guard #2 2005 American Gun Jay 2006 The Substance of Things Hoped For Patrolman Powers We Are Marshall Reggie Oliver 2007 The Ten Todd Jaffe 2009 Dough Boys Corey Friday the 13th Lawrence 2010 Brotherhood Mike Privileged Deshaun Video 2011 Midnight Son Russell Final Destination 5 Nathan Sears 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness Additional Voices (voice) Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th Himself Documentary film 2014 Frenzy Marcus Short Into the Storm Daryl 2015 Whitney Bobby Brown TV movie 2016 Wolves at the Door Officer 2017 Question 50 Landry Short
Television Year Title Role Notes 2000 Boston Public Scott Episode: "Chapter One" 2001 Judging Amy Driver Episode: "Look Closer" 2002 The Shield Sonny Episode: "Circles" Boomtown Cantrel LaFontaine Episode: "Pilot" 2002–2005 American Dreams Samuel "Sam" Walker Main cast 2005 ER Adrian Episode: "Refusal of Care" Judging Amy Anhel Episode: "Getting Out" Cold Case Clyde Taylor Episode: "Colors" 2006 7th Heaven Detention Student #2 Episode: "The Magic of Gershwin" 2007 Without a Trace Peter Taha Episode: "Lost Boy" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ezra Odami Episode: "Fight" 2009 Mental Lt. Clay Jefferson Episode: "Lines in the Sand" 2011 The Secret Circle Holden Glaser Episode: "Balcoin" NCIS: Los Angeles Chester Wilkins Episode: "Higher Power" David Tutera's CELEBrations Himself Episode: "Hollywood Glam Bride" 2012 House Private Brant Macklin Episode: "Blowing the Whistle" The Client List Bobby Burnett Episode: "Ring True" 2014 Extant Tim Dawkins Episode: "Wish You Were Here" Grimm Clay Pittman Episode: "The Last Fight" 2015 NCIS Randall White Episode: "The Enemy Within" 2017 Bronzeville Himself Episode: "6, 42, 63" 2017–2018 The Magicians Prince Ess Recurring cast: season 2-3 2018 The Oath Damon Boyd Main cast: season 1 S.W.A.T Devlin Episode: "S.O.S." & "Inheritance" 2019 I Am the Night Xander Recurring cast 2021 David Makes Man Adult JG Main cast: season 2 2023–2025 Found Zeke Wallace Main cast
See also List of Afro-Latinos
References
External links