Clifton Collins, Jr.

Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. (born June 16, 1970) is an Mexican-American actor.

Life and career
Clifton Craig Collins, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California, of half Mexican descent and the grandson of actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez. He has sometimes been credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez to honor his grandfather. He first broke through the mainstream in 1997 with a performance as gang thug César Sánchez in the film One Eight Seven. In 1998, he enchanted and amused small screen audiences in Ray Bradbury's cult film The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. He next portrayed a gay hitman, named Frankie Flowers, for the Mexican drug cartels in the 2000 ensemble drama Traffic. In 2002 he played the role of Buddy in the film Confessions of an American Girl. In 2005, Collins, Jr. won rave reviews for his subtle portrayal of killer Perry Smith in the fact-based film Capote. He starred in the 2005 film Dirty alongside Oscar winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. Collins, Jr. starred on FX Networks' show Thief. Collins, Jr. also played a supporting role on FX Networks' show The Shield, as undercover ICE agent Hernan. He also has a small role in 2006's Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

In 2008, Collins directed two music videos for the country music group, Zac Brown Band: "Chicken Fried" and "Whatever It Is".

Collins starred in the comedy Sunshine Cleaning with Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin. He played Winston, the owner of a cleaning supply shop who builds meticulously-detailed model airplanes with only one arm. Collins played the part with one arm tied behind his back. In 2009's Star Trek, Collins plays Ayel, a Romulan, second in command to the villain Nero.

Collins stars in Extract, a 2009 film by director Mike Judge. He plays a hard-working factory floor worker named Step whose loss of a testicle in a freak accident marks the beginning of trouble.

Collins, Jr. co-produced the film National Lampoon's TV: The Movie in which he plays Officer Sanchez alongside of Jacob Vargas in TJ COPS. He also voiced the fictional video game character Cesar Vialpando in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Collins will replace Amaury Nolasco on Southland, TVGuide.com has confirmed. And in 2009, he played Romeo in the film The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. It has been reported that Collins might be joining the film Yucatan which is the last screenplay written by Steve McQueen and possibly to be directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Collins will join the cast of the new NBC drama The Event as a character named Thomas.

Film

 * Grand Canyon (1991)
 * Fortress (1993)
 * Menace II Society (1993)
 * Poetic Justice (1993)
 * The Stoned Age (1994)
 * One Tough Bastard (1995)
 * Dead Presidents (1995)
 * Sgt. Bilko (1996)
 * One Eight Seven (1997)
 * The Bad Pack (1997)
 * The Replacement Killers (1998)
 * The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
 * My Sweet Killer (1999)
 * Light It Up (1999)
 * Road Dogz (2000)
 * Price of Glory (2000)
 * Tigerland (2000)
 * Traffic (2000)
 * The Last Castle (2001)
 * The Rules of Attraction (2002)
 * American Girl (2002)
 * I Witness (2003)
 * Undefeated (2003)
 * Mindhunters (2004)
 * Life of the Party (2005)
 * Capote (2005)
 * Dirty (2005)
 * TV: The Movie (2006)
 * Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders (2006)
 * Babel (2006)
 * Little Chenier (2006)
 * Still Waters (2008)
 * Sunshine Cleaning (2009)
 * Horsemen (2009)
 * The Perfect Game (2009)
 * Crank: High Voltage (2009)
 * Star Trek (2009)
 * Brothers (2009)
 * Extract (2009)
 * The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)
 * The Experiment (2010)
 * Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Television

 * Resurrection Blvd. (2000-2001)
 * The Twilight Zone (2002)
 * Alias (2003)
 * Thief (2006)
 * The Shield (2007)
 * Masters of Science Fiction (2007)
 * Fear Itself (2008) (episode "Family Man")
 * Southland (2010)
 * The Event (2010-present)

Video games

 * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (voice) Cesar Vialpando