Richard Cabral is a Mexican-American actor, producer, and writer. He is perhaps best known for his iconic portrayal of multiple characters in the ‘Golden Globe’-nominated crime drama ‘American Crime.’
The ex-convict and former gangbanger received rave reviews for his performance, and he has since starred in series like Fox’s ‘Lethal Weapon’ and the ongoing ‘Sons of Anarchy’ spin-off ‘Mayans M.C. Since the turn of the century, Cabral’s strong demeanor and screen presence have landed him roles in a slew of Hollywood productions.
He has been called a “figure of Latino perseverance” for rising above adversity and a brutal and violent upbringing to become a successful actor. His performances have been commended for adding “complexity and three-dimensionality to some tough characters.”
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Richard Cabral Childhood & Early Life
Cabral was born on August 28, 1984, in East Los Angeles, a neighborhood notable for keeping its character and resisting urbanization throughout the years. His parents were both Mexican immigrants.
When Cabral was just 2 years old, his father left the household. He had a formative upbringing as an only child in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood plagued by street gangs, drugs, and violence. His upbringing in such a severe environment molded him into a tough youngster.
Cabral was a member of a New Jersey street gang by the time he was 13 and had served time for the theft of a wallet. He started abusing substances like crack and meth at the tender age of 15.
The rest of his teenage years were spent in and out of juvenile detention and jail. While incarcerated, he earned his GED, learned to tell stories and write poetry, dabbled in rap, and released some music under the alias “Baby Jokes.” He also started a family during this time.
After shooting a man while out drinking with pals, he was 20 years old and facing a life sentence of 35 years for “violent assault with a deadly weapon.” After being given a five-year prison term, he knew he had to make serious changes to his life or perish on the streets.
Cabral, upon being freed from jail at the age of 25 after serving a sentence of 27 months, quickly sought out work in a manual labor capacity. But he was not hired due to his criminal background and his attitude. Some buddies then suggested that he check out “Homeboy Industries,” an established gang intervention organization in the Los Angeles area. Soon he was seen doing menial tasks like dishwashing and muffin baking by day, and attending acting courses at night at the ‘Anthony Gilardi Acting Studio’ to hone his craft in preparation for auditions through ‘Homeboy’s connections with ‘Central Casting.
Richard Cabral Career
Just a few short weeks after starting work at Homeboy, Cabral was cast as a non-speaking “extra” in an episode of CSI: Miami, playing the character of a Cuban thug.
Soon after, the creators of “Southland,” a popular NBC police drama starring Regina King, found him. King selected 10 “Homeboy” youths to accompany him to “Warner Bros.
We looked over the list of “Studios” and chose three. Cabral was one of those young men. This audition was a watershed moment in his life.
In 2010, he made a brief appearance in the music video for Bruno Mars’s “Grenade,” and shortly after, he landed the lead role of Marcelo Valdez in Chris Weitz’s “Academy Award”-nominated drama “A Better Life” (2011).
We’re here. 🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/UAO7uS1vyH pic.twitter.com/7fUxNxIWlv
— Mayans MC (@MayansFX) May 12, 2021
Soon after, she had a string of Hollywood appearances, including “End of Watch” (2012) with Jake Gyllenhaal, “The Counselor” (2013) with Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Michael Fassbender, “Snitch” (2013) with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Walk of Shame” (2014) with Kevin Hart, and “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” (2015) with Kevin Bacon (2014).
Between the years 2011 and 2014, he had several guest-starring appearances. Among these were the Emmy-winning comedy “Key and Peele” and the hit shows “Chicago Fire” on NBC and “Body of Proof” on ABC, as well as a few smaller-scale movies.
In 2015, he landed the part of a lifetime on John Ridley’s critically and commercially successful ABC series American Crime. There were a lot of parallels between this role and Cabral’s real life. He first appeared as “Hector Tontz” in the pilot episode of “American Crime,” and then as “Sebastian De La Torre” and “Isaac Castillo” in subsequent seasons.
As a result of his work on ‘American Crime,’ he was shortlisted for both a Primetime Emmy and an OFTA Television Award in 2015. At the 2015 “Satellite Awards,” the show was also nominated for “Best Ensemble,” which he and the rest of the cast ultimately won.
His short films “Secret Love” (2015) and “In Varrio We Trust” (2017) were both written and directed by him (2016). Nonetheless, he soon appeared in “Blood Father,” an expensive Hollywood action film starring Mel Gibson.
In the wake of this, he became an even more recognizable figure on prime-time television when he appeared in eight episodes of “Lethal Weapon,” a Fox buddy-cop series.
In 2016, he co-wrote the one-man play Fighting Shadows with Robert Egan. His time spent in and out of prison and as a former gang member was the episode’s subject. The play ran for three weeks at Los Angeles’s “The Rosenthal Theater,” and all performances were sold out.
Soon after, he produced and starred in his Tarantino-esque indie film, Khali the Killer (2017), as well as an episode of the web series Jesus and Moi. In 2018, he appeared in the action film Breaking In and the comedy Peppermint, starring Jennifer Garner.
Cabral’s breakout role as “Coco” in “Mayans M.C.,” a drama about the Mexican-American biker culture, earned him a nomination for “Best Supporting Actor” at the 2018 “Critics’ Choice Television Award.”
He has been in the Hulu horror anthology Into the Dark and the Netflix 9/11 drama Windows on the World in 2019. He has also directed the pilot for the series Throwbacks and is currently in post-production on the East LA thriller, Maze of Fate.
He was the show’s director for four episodes of “Out the Box.”
Richard Cabral Net Worth
The net worth of Richard Cabral is $4 Million.
He spent much of his youth in east Los Angeles engaged in gang activity before he became renowned. Many years of his teens and early twenties were spent behind bars due to offenses ranging from stealing to assault. Actress and producer Janiece Sarduy was Richard’s second wife after his first divorce. Adalyn and Bella are his two young female offspring. You can go to TheActiveNews.Com for the latest news and updates.