Seda was born in Manhattan to parents of Puerto Rican descent[2] and raised in Clifton, New Jersey.[3][4] After graduating from Clifton High School,[5] Seda was convinced by two friends that he should take up boxing, so he began working out in a gym.
He boxed in several gyms in New Jersey and soon was a runner up in the New Jersey Golden Gloves competition. As an amateur boxer, Seda had a record of 21 wins and one loss.[6]
Career
Seda's film debut was in the boxing film Gladiator (1992), in which he played the role of Romano, a Cuban boxer. He has since worked in various films and TV series. In 1995, Seda was nominated Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards for his role in the movie I Like It Like That (1994), opposite Rita Moreno and Lauren Vélez.[7] In 1996, he played Blue, opposite actor Woody Harrelson, in the film The Sunchaser, which premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.[8]
Seda became widely known to the Hispanic film audience when he portrayed Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in Selena (1997), a film based on the true story of the Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, who was murdered on her way to mainstream stardom. Seda played Selena's husband.
Also in 1997, Seda landed the role of Detective Paul Falsone on NBC's: Homicide: Life on the Street. The writers, taking advantage of his boxing background, wrote a shirtless practice bout into an episode, which established his character's attractiveness to fellow detective Laura Ballard. Seda also boxed opposite Jimmy Smits in the film Price of Glory (2000).[9]
His first leading role on the large screen was as the protagonist in 2002's King Rikki, a re-imagining of Shakespeare's Richard III in East L.A.[9][10]
Seda has appeared in more than two dozen movies, including Bad Boys II (2003) as Roberto, as well as numerous television appearances. Aside from Homicide, he has had notable roles as Dino Ortolani in Oz, Matty Caffey in Third Watch, Paul Falsone (in a Homicide crossover with Law & Order), House, and CSI: Miami. He is featured as one of the three leads in the HBOWorld War II mini-series The Pacific (released on March 14, 2010), portraying Marine John Basilone.[11] Seda appeared as a guest star in an episode of Burn Notice,[12] and in 2007, he made a cameo appearance in Ludacris' song "Runaway Love", as an abusive, alcoholic stepfather.
In 2012, Seda began portraying Detective Antonio Dawson in Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise, first starring in Chicago Fire in a recurring role and then, in 2014, as part of the main cast of the spin-off Chicago P.D. In 2017, Seda carried his role over into another spin-off, Chicago Justice, which was canceled after its first season. His daughter Haley made a guest appearance on Chicago P.D. as a key witness in a bombing.[14] In July 2017, it was announced that Seda would return to Chicago P.D. following the cancellation of Chicago Justice.[15] On April 19, 2019, it was reported that NBC/Wolf Entertainment officials informed Seda that they would not be renewing his contract, which led to his leaving the series shortly after six seasons.[16]
In 2020, Seda was cast in the lead role of Dr. Benjamine Glass in the pilot of the NBC apocalyptic drama series La Brea, written by David Appelbaum,.[17] With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting production of the pilot, NBC allowed Seda's contract to expire along with most of the other pilot cast members. However, with the pilot being picked up straight-to-series in January 2021, Seda returned to the show, with his character rewritten as Dr. Sam Velez.[18]
Personal life
Seda married his longtime girlfriend, Lisa Gomez, in 2000.[19] The couple have four children.
^Moss, Linda. "Actor Jon Seda felt special connection to World War II hero John Basilone, in HBO's The Pacific", NewJerseyNewsroom.com, May 30, 2010, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 11, 2012. Accessed September 17, 2018. "Seda himself was especially moved by the reaction of Charles Tatum, who actually served with Basilone and was on Iwo Jima with him. Tatum, who is portrayed in The Pacific, visited the set of the miniseries when it was shooting in Los Angeles. Seda said that Tatum shook his hand and said, 'We're all in agreement: You're John.' The actor, a graduate of Clifton High School, was left speechless by Tatum's praise."
^Inc, Nielsen Business Media (March 28, 1998). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
