Jimmy Smits

Acting

Jimmy Smits

Born 1955-07-09 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Jimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as U.S. Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing. He is also notable for his portrayal of Bail Organa in the Star Wars franchise, and Miguel Prado in Dexter. Beginning in 1986, Smits played Victor Sifuentes in the first five seasons of the NBC television Steven Bochco legal drama L.A. Law, for which he was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 1990. In 1999, Smits received the HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA). He appeared in films including Switch (1991), My Family (1995), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007). Smits appeared as Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), in which the character becomes Princess Leia's adoptive father. He reappeared as Bail Organa in the game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) and the spinoff movie Rogue One (2016). He later reprised the role for Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022). Smits played the role of Congressman Matt Santos of Houston, Texas, in the final two seasons of the NBC television drama The West Wing. In Dexter season 3, he played the role of Miguel Prado, an assistant district attorney who befriends the title character. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the role. He portrayed the character Alex Vega in the CBS TV series Cane, which aired from September 25, 2007, to December 18, 2007, and was subsequently canceled by the network due to the 2007 Screen Writer's Guild strike. In the fall of 2010, he starred in NBC's short-lived series Outlaw, about a U.S. Supreme Court justice who leaves the bench to return to practicing law. From 2012 to 2014, he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as Nero Padilla. He also portrayed Elijah Strait in the short-lived NBC drama series Bluff City Law. He starred in The Get Down, a musical drama television series which debuted in 2016 on Netflix. In 2021, He played Kevin Rosario in the musical film In the Heights. He stars as Chief John Suarez on the CBS police drama East New York.

Acting credits

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story poster
7.5

A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2016

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith poster
7.5

When the sinister Sith unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the Republic crumbles and from its ashes rises the evil Galactic Empire. Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker must choose a side.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

2005

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones poster
6.6

Following an assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi investigate a mysterious plot into the heart of the Separatist movement and the beginning of the Clone Wars.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

2002

The Tax Collector poster
5.7

David Cuevas is a family man who works as a gangland tax collector for high ranking Los Angeles gang members. He makes collections across the city with his partner Creeper making sure people pay up or will see retaliation. An old threat returns to Los Angeles that puts everything David loves in harm’s way.

The Tax Collector

2020

Switch poster
5.9

Steve Brooks, a sexist womanizer, is killed by a group of his angry former lovers. In heaven, he makes a bargain with God for redemption and agrees to return to Earth. Once there, he must have a sincere relationship with a female and make her fall in love with him. If not, Steve's soul will become the property of the devil. But the devil hedges his bet, and Steve is reincarnated as a woman named Amanda Brooks.

Switch

1991

The Million Dollar Hotel poster
5.9

A federal agent searches for a potential killer among the bizarre residents of a dilapidated Los Angeles hotel.

The Million Dollar Hotel

2000

Running Scared poster
6.1

Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.

Running Scared

1986

In the Heights poster
7.1

The story of Usnavi, a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic or staying in Washington Heights.

In the Heights

2021

The Jane Austen Book Club poster
6.5

Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen. As they delve into Austen's literature, the club members find themselves dealing with life experiences that parallel the themes of the books they are reading.

The Jane Austen Book Club

2007

The Believers poster
5.9

Mourning the accidental death of his wife and having just moved to New York with his young son, laconic police psychologist Cal Jamison is reluctantly drawn into a series of grisly, ritualistic murders involving the immolation of two youths.

The Believers

1987

Mother and Child poster
6.6

The lives of three women have a commonality: adoption. Karen is a physical therapist who regrets that, as a teenager, she gave up her daughter for adoption. Elizabeth was an adopted child and is now a successful lawyer, but her personal life lacks warmth. Lucy and her husband have failed to conceive and now hope to adopt a baby to make their family complete.

Mother and Child

2009

My Family poster
7.4

Traces over three generations an immigrant family's trials, tribulations, tragedies, and triumphs. Maria and Jose, the first generation, come to Los Angeles, meet, marry, face deportation all in the 1930s. They establish their family in East L.A., and their children Chucho, Paco, Memo, Irene, Toni, and Jimmy deal with youth culture and the L.A. police in the '50s. As the second generation become adults in the '60s, the focus shifts to Jimmy, his marriage to Isabel (a Salvadorian refugee), their son, and Jimmy's journey to becoming a responsible parent.

My Family

1995

Bless the Child poster
5.4

When Maggie's sister Jenna saddles her with an autistic newborn named Cody she touches Maggie's heart and becomes the daughter she has always longed for. But six years later Jenna suddenly re-enters her life and, with her mysterious new husband, Eric Stark, abducts Cody. Despite the fact that Maggie has no legal rights to Cody, FBI agent John Travis takes up her cause when he realizes that Cody shares the same birth date as several other recently murdered children.

Bless the Child

2000

Mickey's 60th Birthday poster
6.8

This film combines live action/original animation and library animation. Mickey steals a magic hat from a Sorcerer and is put under a spell by the angry magi so that no one will recognize him until he finds his own magic within. While Mickey is on his quest, network news teams around the country desperately try to find the famous, beloved mouse who has mysteriously disappeared. On his quest, Mickey pays a visit to the patrons of "Cheers", meets up with the Keatons from "Family Ties", and winds up on Disneyland's Main Street the night before his Birthday celebration is to take place. It is there that he finds he has all the magic inside him that he will ever need. The spell is broken and the Birthday bash commences as the whole World celebrates the beloved Mickey Mouse.

Mickey's 60th Birthday

1988

America | A Tribute to Heroes poster
6.5

A benefit concert and telethon organized by George Clooney and broadcast uninterrupted and commercial-free by the four major television networks just 10 days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon to raise money for the victims and their families,

America | A Tribute to Heroes

2001

Marshal Law poster
4.0

A former cop in Texas comes into action when a gang threatens his family.

Marshal Law

1996

Gross Misconduct poster
5.4

Justin Thorne is a liberal arts professor. One of his college students is Jennifer Carter. She seduces Justin, then accuses him of rape. But it turns out that she has an unusual relationship with her father.

Gross Misconduct

1993

Vital Signs poster
4.6

As they enter their third year of medical school, a group of young students must prepare to decide what they intend to specialize in. Somehow, they must impress the Chief of Surgery while learning how to survive the life-and-death area of medicine and the complexity of their everyday lives.

Vital Signs

1990

Backyard poster
6.4

Officer Blanca Bravo arrives in Juarez, Mexico — a grim nexus of corporate colonialism and sexual tourism — to investigate a rash of killings targeting female migrant workers. But with no help from the locals, bringing the responsible parties to justice becomes a frustrating exercise. As Bravo rails against indifference and local corruption, she finds herself on a collision course with Mickey Santos, a Mexican mogul with a taste for young prostitutes.

Backyard

2009

Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look poster
7.4

Celebrate Disney+ Day with a special look at the Star Wars original series Andor.

Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look

2022

Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast poster
2.0

A one-hour, commercial-free benefit concert television special that aired simulcast worldwide on September 9, 2005, at 8 pm ET/CT live.

Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast

2005

Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper poster
7.8

Miami detective Sonny Crockett reluctantly teams with New York City cop Rico Tubbs when both of them end up pursuing a drug dealer who killed their respective partners.

Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper

1984

Who We Are Now poster
5.7

Recently released from prison, Beth is working with her public defender to get her son back from her sister, who was awarded legal custody while Beth was incarcerated for ten years. Soon after, Beth forms an unlikely alliance with Jess, an idealistic young protégé of the public defense team, who decides to take on Beth's cause whether she likes it or not.

Who We Are Now

2018

Hotshot poster
4.4

The story of an American soccer player trying to make it big who turns to Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time, for guidance.

Hotshot

1987