Johnny Bazaldua(I)

Johnny Bazaldua is a Mexican-American actor, writer, and director. Born in Ventura, California, he moved at the age of one to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, where he spent his first four years before the family settled across the border in Brownsville, Texas. His childhood and teenage years unfolded against the backdrop of intense cartel violence in the region. Mexico’s drug war death toll often came close to or exceeded the civilian deaths in Afghanistan, with the violence receiving far less international attention. Yet Johnny regularly crossed back and forth between Brownsville and his family in Matamoros Mexico, living the duality of a U.S. border town’s relative safety and the constant undercurrent of danger just across the Rio Grande.

That bi-cultural, high-stakes upbringing, combined with his artistic family roots, shaped his perspective. Now based in Los Angeles, he draws on those experiences in his work, starring as Noah in the feature film The Exit State, Amazon MGM TV show Justice on trial as well as writing, directing, and starring in his award-winning short film Vincent.