Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American actor. Considered one of Broadway's most prominent leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival of Company and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19.
Raúl Esparza was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Cuban parents, María Elena Cecilia García y Gutiérrez and Raúl Esparza y Rues, who had fled Fidel Castro's regime.[1] While his paternal grandfather had been established in Castro's sugar ministry, his father's family grew disillusioned with the government and, in 1966, his father and grandmother escaped to the U.S. by boat, while his grandfather defected through Spain.[1] Esparza's maternal grandfather had originally moved to Cuba from Figueres, Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain.[1]
Esparza participated in the genealogy program Finding Your Roots, during Season 8, Episode 3. He learned during the episode that his Catalan great-great-grandparents founded Garcia de Pou Restaurant Supply Store in Madrid, still owned and operated by members of his family. He also learned that another branch of his family came from the small town of Navata, Girona, Catalonia, Spain, where they can be traced back fourteen generations.[4]
Career
Theatre
Broadway theatre
Esparza first drew attention with his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which won him the Theatre World Award. Esparza's other Broadway credits include Cabaret (2001), Taboo (2003), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2005), and Sondheim's Company (2006). He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in Taboo. His performance in Company earned him a second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical, as well as his second Drama Desk award. Beginning in November 2007, he appeared in Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming and was Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow co-starring Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss on Broadway.[5] His performance in Speed-the-Plow earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, making him the second performer (after Boyd Gaines) to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys, although he has yet to win one.
Esparza appeared in a limited-engagement revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, which began previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 25, 2011, and opened on March 17, 2011.[6]
Esparza appeared in the musical Leap of Faith in the role of the "Reverend" Jonas Nightingale. He was involved in the workshop in 2008, the out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles) in 2010, and the Broadway production in 2012,[7] for which he received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.[8]
In July 2013, Esparza starred in a production of The Cradle Will Rock at the New York City Center.[13]
In February 2018, Esparza played Freddie Trumper in the Kennedy Center's revival of Tim Rice's Chess. From October to December 2018, Esparza played the title role in Classic Stage Company's Off-Broadway production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was nominated for the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for the role.[14]
In July 2019, Esparza appeared in a production of Road Show at the New York City Center.[15] In October of the same year, Esparza played Harry in the off-Broadway comedy Seared by Theresa Rebeck.[16]
In April 2020, he was a host, executive producer, and performer in Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration, a virtual concert in honor of the 90th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim benefiting the charity organization ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty).[17]
From 2013 to 2015, Esparza appeared in the recurring role of Dr. Frederick Chilton in Hannibal.[25] He appeared in the 2016 film Custody, written and directed by James Lapine, as an Administration for Children's Services agent.[26]
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
In 2012, Esparza became a recurring actor on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba, starting in the third episode of the show's 14th season, "Twenty-Five Acts".[27] He appeared in 11 episodes of the show's 14th season. On July 17, 2013, he was promoted to series regular for the show's 15th season.[28] His character became the first series-regular ADA since Stephanie March in the 11th season and the first regular male ADA in series history. His role on SVU was not his first Law & Order role, however, as he had previously portrayed an ADA in a 2009 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and a suspect in a 2010 episode of the original Law & Order. On February 7, 2018, Esparza left SVU in the episode "The Undiscovered Country" after six seasons on the show.[29][30]
Although having left the series to return to the stage, Esparza has been back on the show, making a very brief cameo before the main title in the Season 21 episode "Redemption in Her Corner".[31] He made another guest appearance in Season 22 episode "Sightless in a Savage Land" and in the Season 23 finale, "A Final Call at Forlini's Bar.[32]
Personal life
Esparza married Michele Marie Perez, his high-school girlfriend, in 1994. They divorced in 2007.[33] Esparza was the subject of a New York Times profile in 2006 in which he revealed that he is bisexual.[34]
