David Castañeda Jr. (born October 24, 1989) is an American actor. In 2019, Castañeda began portraying Diego Hargreeves in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy.
Early life Castañeda was born October 24, 1989, in Los Angeles and was raised in Sinaloa, Mexico. He returned to the United States when he was 4 and attended William Workman High School in California. Castañeda initially studied civil engineering in college with the intention of taking over the family business after he finished his studies. However, he became interested in film direction and switched to major in film production and international business in 2007 at California State University, Fullerton. Castañeda then moved into acting and started auditioning for roles. He studied part-time while pursuing an acting career, eventually graduating in 2015.
Career Castañeda has been involved in acting since he was 17, but only started taking acting more seriously after he volunteered for a role when a director asked for actors to participate in his film during a seminar while at university. He played various minor roles in a number of productions, such as End of Watch, and also acted as a main character in a short film Maddoggin, which won the audience award at the NBC Universal Short Cut Film Festival. In 2013, he landed a role playing Jorge on ABC Family's TV series Switched at Birth. In late 2016, he was cast in the role of Hector in the film Sicario: Day of the Soldado released in 2018. He also has a major role in an independent film El Chicano, a supporting role in Jean-Claude Van Damme's We Die Young as well as minor roles in films such as the Billy Crystal's film Standing Up, Falling Down.
In 2017, he was cast in his most prominent role yet playing Diego Hargreeves / Number 2 in The Umbrella Academy, which was released on Netflix in February 2019, the first of a four season run.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 2009 Drive-By Chronicles: Sidewayz Saul 2011 Maddoggin Pedro González Short film 2012 End of Watch Mexican Cowboy 2015 Freaks of Nature Tony Cerone Human Behavior Mark Short film 2016 Love Sanchez Rene 2017 The Ascent Louis Medina Corrida Jefe Short film Why? He 2018 Sicario: Day of the Soldado Hector El Chicano Shotgun 2019 Standing Up, Falling Down Ruis We Die Young Rincon 2020 The Tax Collector Vargas 2021 The Guilty Officer Tim Geraci 2025 Ballerina Javier Macarro Splitsville Fede Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 2009 Lie to Me Boyfriend 1 episode 2009, 2012 Southland Tough Kid, Carlos 2 episodes 2014 Switched at Birth Jorge 7 episodes 2014–2015 Jane the Virgin Nicholas 3 episodes2015 Bound and Babysitting Eddie TV movie The Player Listo Salvado 1 episode2016 Blindspot Carlos 1 episode Going Dark Sam Unaired TV pilot 2017 The Legend of Master Legend Mandy Mandujano Unaired TV pilot 2019–2024 The Umbrella Academy Diego Hargreeves Main cast 2022 Robot Chicken Interrogator / My Strange Addiction Narrator (voice) Episode: "May Cause Involuntary Political Discharge"2023 Poker Face Jimmy Episode: "Escape from Shit Mountain"Most Dangerous Game Victor Suero Main cast (season 2)
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