Jonny Cruz (born Jonathan Willie Hernández; December 1, 1982) is an American actor, scriptwriter, producer, filmmaker and musician. He has been featured as an actor in movies like Walking Tall: Lone Justice, Infiltrators and Haunting at the Beacon. He has also appeared on television series like General Hospital, Prison Break and Don't Trust the B— in Apartment 23. As producer, Jonny has run films such as Small Timers, Hold, the web series Cool Wheels and plays the guitar with his musical team Power Up in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California in the United States. He is also the voice of Lúcio in the video game Overwatch and the voice of Lucas Rivera in Need for Speed Heat. His experience in filmmaking has also covered activities as producer, director, writer, editor, SFX artist, voice artist and cinematographer.
Biography
Early life Jonny Cruz was born Jonathan Willie Hernández in El Paso, Texas, on December 1, 1982, and is the son of Maritza Pagan and Orlando Hernández, younger brother of two children with his sister Sharlene. Jonny chose to use Cruz as his professional last name in honor of his Grandmother Nayda Cruz. He attended school in El Paso and studied abroad in Würzburg, Germany, in early grade school. Cruz started acting and performing in his early years in the fourth grade with his first role as Brom Bones in the play Sleepy Hollow. He continued his studies and never lost the chance to keep performing at Eastwood High School and went on to study acting and filmmaking at the University of Texas at Arlington. The ability to be so completely lost in the moment and find perfection through performance and filmmaking attracted Cruz to the art form. Cruz found himself fascinated with Improv comedy performance and joined the well known Four Day Weekend Performance Team in Fort Worth. While performing, Cruz continued to shoot short videos to showcase his comedic and technical talents.Personal Interview with the artist
Career Cruz studied computer science, acting, filmmaking and communication media, all of which he used to understand the complex process of film making. His computer skills allowed him to work as web designer and his passion for acting always prompted him to audition for movie roles as they came. Cruz stated, “I loved to learn so, I would spend endless hours working on the computer learning editing software, visual FX programs, I felt that I could pretty much make a movie on my own from beginning to end after learning all the different aspects of movie making”. So in 2005, with enough knowledge on technical and theoretical aspects of movie making, Cruz made his first incursion as writer, director and producer, besides his acting role, with Cool Wheels where he co-worked with college friends Robby Storey and Kim Matula.Cool Wheels Trivia|https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2405465/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 He then went on to produce, write, act and direct Small Timers, his first feature-length film. Small Timers took six years to complete due to severe technical difficulties, and Cruz stated that completing the film was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.Cinemanía, mayo 2011. No. 188
In 2013, Cruz featured as Jimmy Romero in the film Infiltraitors, his third production with Sabbatical Pictures. His first and second works with this company were Exit SpeedExit Speed Press Kit|http://www.sabbaticalpictures.com/exitpresskit.html and Haunting at the Beacon.Haunting at the Beacon review|http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5084:filmmakers-talk-haunting-at-the-beacon-disc-news-exclusive-pics&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=167 Infiltrators was Cruz's first lead in a feature film. Also in 2013, Cruz performed Victor in the action film Gone Missing.
Since 2016, Cruz has appeared as the voice of Lúcio in the highly popular game Overwatch, and reprised the role for Heroes of the Storm.
Music Cruz has made music for his own movies, such as Small Timers and plays the guitar and performs musical improv with his team Power Up, who with he has played shows in Los Angeles and Hollywood as well as shows at iOwest, Comedy Sportz and The Clubhouse and UCB in California.
Extra activities Cruz teaches “Self Confidence & Improv” for famous author Neil Strauss consisting of a motivational speaking and helping people to find their best self through facing their fears, Improv being one of the tools to help gain confidence.
He also supports “A Course in Miracles”, which is a foundation for inner peace and is method of coping with fear by shifting your perspective from fear to love, parting from the statement that “fear is an illusion that we create”.A Course in Miracles Introduction|http://acim.org/AboutACIM/index.html
He also streams on streaming platform, Twitch, as a side hobby. His first stream was on October the 6th 2pm PST, with viewers who tuning in to see the Lúcio voice actor game playing Overwatch. Over time he has created a fanbase of viewers and friends who tune in regularly as he streams each week.His twitch channel|https://www.twitch.tv/jonnycruzzz
Filmography
Films Year Title Role Notes 2003 Saving Jessica Lynch Iraqi Soldier Television film 2005 Devon's Ghost: Legend of the Bloody Boy Craigh Direct-to-video 2007 Walking Tall: Lone Justice Ciro Direct-to-video 2007 Missionary Man Billy 2008 Exit Speed Eric 2009 Night Crawlers Assistant Camera 2009 Hold The Man with the Green Shoes 2009 The Beacon Simón Valencia 2011 Small Timers Ricardo Also writer, producer, director, editor, special effects, casting 2013 Gone Missing Víctor 2013 Infiltrators Jimmy Romero 2014 Mission Air Ramons 2015 Self Promotion Mysterious Uber Driver Television film 2016 Amerigeddon Timmes 2025 All You Need Is Kill Yonabaru Jin
Shorts + Year Title Role Notes 2004 Sing for Me The Immigrant Also Writer of additional dialogue 2006 Lazer’s Night Moves Corey Luján 2007 Lion's Den Cinematographer 2007 Little Boy Grip 2007 Relation Camera operator 2010 Cool Wheels Brent Also director, writer, producer, editor, executive producer, producer, editor, special effects, casting 2013 The Text Pervention Hotline Hot Guy
Television + Year Title Role Notes 2007 Prison Break Inmate Episode: "Fire/Water" 2009 The Closer Cruz Soto Episode: "The Life" 2010 DialStar Barnes 4 episodes 2011 Missing Peace Director 2011 Supah Ninjas Domenic The Magnificent Episode: "The Magnificent" 2012 General Hospital Ramón 2 episodes 2013 CollegeHumor Originals Zayn Episode: "What U Wanna Hear" 2013 Don't Trust the B— in Apartment 23 James Martinez Episode: "The D..." 2013 NCIS: Los Angeles Raul Herrera/Massil Al-Hawati Episode: "Fish Out Of Water" 2013–2014 Third String Kicker Cane Wielding Assassin, Robber 2 episodes 2014 Matador Performing Ricky Sandoval 10 episodes 2016 Castle Zane Cannon Episode: "Much Ado About Murder" 2016–2019 The Stinky & Dirty Show Chopper (voice) 11 episodes 2016 Poser Colt Cortez Episode: "Pilot" 2017 Hers and History Jason Episode: "Episode #1.7" 2017 The Attack Himself Episode: "All's Faire in Love and Roasts" 2019 Seis Manos Jesús (voice) 8 episodes 2021 The Casagrandes Artemio (voice) Episode: "Achy Breaky Art"
Video games + Year Title Role Notes 2012 Prototype 2 Additional Voices 2016Hitman Jordan Cross 2016 Overwatch Lúcio Correia dos Santos 2017 Heroes of the Storm Lúcio Correia dos Santos 2017Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands El Boquita 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 The Local Pedestrian Population 2019 Need for Speed Heat Lucas Rivera 2022 Overwatch 2 Lúcio Correia dos Santos 2023 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Felix "Slamfire" Ortiz
Web series Year Title Role Notes2017VanquishedJay GoldstonSeason 2, Main Cast2018Perception CheckSham Sham3 episodes2018RoguelikeVarious characters3 episodes
Music Cruz made musical beat compilations in Small Timers. Does Musical Improv with his team Power Up, a cappella style with harmonies and beat-boxing.
Theater Cruz played Juan Francisco “Frankie” in Charity: Part III of A Mexican Trilogy, directed by José Luis Valenzuela, starring Ofelia Medina.Ofelia Medina protagonizara estreno mundial de “Charity: Part III of A Mexican Trilogy” en Los Angeles Theatre Center|
References
External links
“Haunting at the Beacon” Cast and Crew “Haunting at the Beacon” Release memo “Small Timers” AD
A Course in Miracles Introduction