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Benito Martinez plays ‘David Aceveda’ on THE SHIELD. David has been Captain of the Barn since its inception. This season, he moves into his newly-elected position of City Councilman. However, try as he might, he can’t leave the Barn far behind.
In the show’s third season, Martinez’s daring and controversial storyline was considered “…one of the most gripping performances of the season” (San Francisco Examiner) when his character, raped at gunpoint and struggling to regain his dignity, hunts down the perpetrators. For his work on THE SHIELD, Martinez garnered national attention and a Golden Eagle Award from Ricardo Montalban’s Nosotros foundation.
In 2004, Martinez appeared in two big screen ventures – “Saw,” starring Danny Glover and Cary Elwes (the sleeper hit thriller of the summer) and the Oscar winning film “Million Dollar Baby,” helmed by Clint Eastwood and starring Hilary Swank. Martinez’s other notable film credits are “Outbreak” with Dusting Hoffman; “New Suit,” a comedy directed by Francious Valle and “My Family/Mi Familia,” directed by Gregory Nava.
Martinez’s preparation for his film and television career was nourished by many years in theater and music. He began as a musician in his father’s Mariachi group, El Mariachi Del Norte de Bennie Martinez, at the age of nine and acting as a young boy in La Compania, a bilingual repertory Theater Company co-founded by his mother. He graduated from Hollywood High Performing Arts and continued his training at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) three-year program, performing in London, throughout Europe and Moscow, as a member of the academy’s award-winning touring troupe.
Martinez has worked with many theater companies and performed throughout the U.S. including at New York’s Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, the Arizona Theater Company, Seattle’s A Contemporary Theater, Costa Mesa’s South Coast Repertory, Los Angeles’ A.S.K./Shirball Theater Projects and the Los Angels’ World Shakespeare Theater Festival. He was also a core member of the Educational Theater Company and Will & Company for which he performed on stage, directed and wrote several productions. Martinez’s numerous television credits include roles on “Karen Cisco,” “NYPD Blue,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Zorro,” “Once and Again,” “American Family,” “Touched By An Angel,” “Firefly,” “For the People,” “The X-Files” and as a recurring character on the animated “Mucha Lucha” as ‘El Superstar,’ the greatest wrestler in the world!
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