Jon Seda
The American actor Jonathan Seda, who stole the hearts of thousands of viewers with his role as Antonio Dawson in “Chicago P.D.”, was born on 14th October 1970, in Manhattan, New York City, USA. Of Puerto Rican descent, Jon was raised in Clifton, New Jersey, and began working out and boxing after being encouraged to do so by friends.
The Clifton High School graduate began boxing in local gyms, and was soon the runner-up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves competition. During his amateur boxing days, Jon flaunted some impressive stats, with 21 wins and just one loss. Shortly afterwards, his acting career began with a role in “Gladiator”.
Career
Jon’s debut film role as a Cuban boxer in the 1992 blockbuster “Gladiator” helped open many doors for the actor. Over the next few years, he had a supporting role in the TV movie “Daybreak”, made guest starring appearances in the series “NYPD Blue” and “New York Undercover”, and was seen in “Carlito’s Way” and other films.
In 1994, Jon played Chino Linares in the comedy-drama production “I Like It Like That”, working alongside Lauren Vélez and Rita Moreno. The following year, he was nominated for Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his portrayal of Chino. Despite being a relatively new actor, Jon’s star soared after playing Blue in the 1994 movie “The Sunchaser”, a role which earned him a Palme d’Or nomination at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
Now in 1997, Jon expanded his audience and won over thousands of Hispanic fans thanks to his fantastic portrayal of Chris Pérez in “Selena”. Playing Jennifer Lopez’s on-screen husband in the biopic of the singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, Jon demonstrated his superb acting skills, and was well on his way to mainstream fame.
In the same year, Jon also became known as a small-screen heartthrob after being cast as Detective Paul Falsone in the dark NBC series “Homicide: Life on the Street”. This was thanks to the show’s writers, who created a shirtless boxing scene which helped turn Jon’s character into the leading character’s main love interest. In the 2000 movie “Price of Glory”, the actor once again got the chance to show off his boxing talents.
Jon’s first leading movie role was in the 2002 imagining of “Richard III”, entitled “King Rikki”. Around the same time, the Puerto Rican had roles in “Bad Boys II”, “Love the Hard Way”, and “Price of Glory”; as for TV roles, he played Luis DeLeon in “Thin Air”, and made a guest starring appearance in “Good Guys/Bad Guys”.
The mid-2000s were a busy time for the New Yorker, as he played an abusive stepfather in the music video for Ludacris’ “Runaway Love”, had a main role as Damian Ruiz in the series “Kevin Hill”, and guest starred in episodes of “Hack”, “Las Vegas”, and “The Jury”. Other notable projects include his role as Dino Ortolani in “Oz”, and his portrayal of Matty Caffey in “Third Watch”.
From 2007 onwards, Jon’s career shift from movie to TV became more obvious, as he was cast as Sergeant John Basilone in the miniseries “The Pacific”, and was a guest star in “Numb3rs”, “The Closer”, and “Burn Notice” amongst other shows. In 2011, he had a main role in the series “Treme”, playing a connected land developer named Nelson Hidalgo; in the same year, he appeared in the Tom Hanks movie “Larry Crowne”, making it the second time the two actors had worked together (Tom was an executive producer on “The Pacific”).
Two years later, it was once again Jon’s time to shine, as he starred alongside Jason Momoa, Christian Slater, and Sylvester Stallone in the action thriller movie “Bullet to the Head”. Despite not being as well-known as his co-stars, Jon blew fans away with his portrayal of Louie Blanchard, and reminded viewers why he became so popular in the first place.
Hope to see you there! @NBCChicagoPD @NBCChicagoFire @NBCChicagoMed @OCEProductions #onechicago pic.twitter.com/s4Iqkgeslv
— Jon Seda (@JonSeda) October 11, 2017
2012 was when Jon began playing Detective Antonio Dawson in “Chicago Fire”. Antonio’s character was a roaring success amongst fans, introduced to the series in 2014; three years later, Jon carried his role over into the spin-off “Chicago Justice”, but which was cancelled after one season due to unfavorable ratings.
As part of the “Chicago” franchise from 2012 to 2019, Jon became a household name and even allowed his daughter, Haley, to make a guest appearance in an episode of “Chicago P.D.” For unexplained reasons, NBC/Wolf Entertainment announced in April 2019 that they would not be renewing Jon’s contract; many viewers were outraged at the way Antonio was abruptly written out of the show, as his character was last seen destroying his apartment and vanishing without a trace in the show’s seventh season. In a later episode, it was mentioned that Antonio had resigned and moved to Puerto Rico, so his family could help him fight his addictions and other problems.
Nevertheless, it didn’t take Jon long to find his next role, as he was cast as Dr. Benjamine Glass in the pilot of “La Brea”, an apocalyptic drama series written by David Appelbaum. As the production of the pilot was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, the network allowed Jon’s contract to expire; he returned to the show in January 2021, when the pilot was picked up, and his character was renamed Dr. Sam Velez.
Jon’s latest movie role was in 2018, when he played Detective Mike Watts in “Canal Street”. For now, he’s fully immersed in his role as Dr. Velez, and has yet to announce new projects.
Personal Life
If any of Jon’s fans were under the illusion that the actor was a free agent, we’ve got bad news for them: since July 2000, the actor has been married to the life coach and entrepreneur Lisa Gomez. Over the years, the couple have had four children: Jonathan Jr., Jessica, Madison and Haley Bella.
Due to the low-key nature of Jon and Lisa’s relationship, and the fact that they married before the internet took off, there’s scant online information about the couple. Nevertheless, Lisa has proven herself to be Jon’s greatest supporter, and often accompanies him to industry events, whereas the actor makes sure to sing his wife’s praises whenever he’s interviewed.
Thanks to his decades-long career in the entertainment industry, Jon is reportedly worth a cool $5 million, having made most of his money during his “Chicago P.D.” days.
