Jorge Garcia Biography

Jorge García (born April 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian. He most recently starred in the FOX television series Alcatraz, as well as playing a minor character on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Early life

García was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Dora Mesa, is a Cuban-born professor, and his father, Humberto Garcia, is a Chilean-born doctor. He grew up in Southern California and went to San Clemente High School. As a senior, he was selected by the faculty as "Triton of the Year", the highest award given to a graduating senior.

Garcia graduated from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1995 as a Communication Studies major.

Career

García was the first actor to be cast on Lost after the producers saw him on Curb Your Enthusiasm the night before casting began, and created the character of Hugo Reyes specifically for him. García appeared in the second episode of the eighth season of Celebrity Poker Showdown, where he lost to Michael Ian Black. He was a contestant on an episode of Russian Roulette on Game Show Network. He missed a question about the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and fell through the trap door.

Garcia is scheduled to star in the movie When We Were Pirates due out in 2012. In the independent film, he will play a man named Jason, who along with a group of close friends, learn that their childhood love of playing pirates helps them overcome some of the difficulties they face later in their lives. He is also seen singing in the studio for the upcoming project on an officially released YouTube clip. During Lost's run, Garcia wrote a blog about the show called Dispatches from the Island. He also hosted a weekly podcast, Geronimo Jack's Beard, in which he discussed the script of Season 6 along with girlfriend Bethany Leigh Shady.

Garcia is also featured on the front cover of Weezer's album Hurley, released on September 10, 2010. The album is named after his character from Lost. He performed as a guest vocalist at several Weezer concerts in 2010.

On 21 November 2010, Entertainment Weekly announced that Garcia was cast in the upcoming U.S. television series Alcatraz. On 23 November 2010, Garcia made a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mothers episode "Blitzgiving". In the episode references are made to Garcia's time on Lost.

In 2011, Garcia appeared as a recurring character in Mr. Sunshine, portraying a caretaker at the Sunshine Center. Starting in January 2012, Garcia portrayed Dr. Diego Soto, an Alcatraz expert, in the FOX series, Alcatraz. The show was a mid-season replacement for Fox's Terra Nova. Despite an impressive start, the series was officially cancelled by Fox on May 9, 2012, due to dropping viewership throughout its run. Garcia appeared on The Nerdist podcast posted June 18, 2012.

In 2013, Garcia played Steve Wozniak in the parody film, iSteve produced for the Funny or Die website.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1997	Raven's Ridge	Monty
1999	Tomorrow by Midnight	Jay
2000	King of the Open Mics	Meatloag
2002	The Slow and the Cautious	Teddy
2003	Tales from the Crapper	Racoon Head
2004	Our Time Is Up	Gardener
2005	The Good Humor Man	Mt. Rushmore
2005	Little Athens	Pedro
2006	Deck the Halls	Wallace
2007	Sweetzer	Sergio
2011	Maktub	Carlos
2014	Cooties		Filming
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Spin City	Taxi Driver	Episode: The Arrival
2003	Old School	Jorge	TV movie
2003	Columbo	Julius	Episode: Columbo Likes the Nightlife
2003	Rock Me, Baby	Vizzy	Episode: Would I Lie to You?
2003"2004	Becker	Hector Lopez	13 episodes
2004	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Drug Dealer	Episode: The Car Pool Lane
2005	Higglytown Heroes	Dog Trainer Hero	Episode: Me and My Shadow/Out to Sea
2004"2010	Lost	Hugo "Hurley" Reyes	114 episodes ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Series (2006) ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Television Series (2008) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2006) (shared with cast) Nominated "? ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie (2007) Nominated "? Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actor - Television (2007) Nominated "? Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actor - Television (2008) Nominated "? Imagen Award for Best Actor - Television Nominated "? Scream Award for Best Ensemble (2009) Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Sidekick (2005) Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Breakout Performance - Male (2005) Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Sidekick (2006) Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Sidekick (2007)
2010	How I Met Your Mother	Steve (The Blitz)	Episode: Blitzgiving
2011	Mr. Sunshine	Bob Bobinson Bobert	2 Episodes: Pilot, Hostile Workplace
2011	Fringe	Kevin	Episode: Os
2012	Alcatraz	Dr. Diego Soto	13 episodes
2012	Phineas and Ferb	Rodrigo	Episode: Minor Monogram
2012-2013	Once Upon a Time	Anton, the Giant	3 Episodes: Tallahassee, Tiny and Lacey
2013	Californication	Drug Dealer	Episode: Rock and a Hard Place
2013	iSteve	Steve Wozniak	Internet Movie