Nicholas Edward Gonzalez is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Alex Santiago on the Showtime television series Resurrection Blvd. and Dr. Neil Melendez on the ABC television series The Good Doctor.
Early life
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Gonzalez is of Mexican descent and is conversant in Spanish, having grown up in a bilingual household. He attended Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, where he was an accomplished cross-country and track runner, winning the Texas State Championship in the mile and two mile. After graduating in 1994 and turning down a presidential appointment to West Point, Gonzalez pursued an English degree at Stanford University in California. He spent two terms at Oxford University in England. The following summer, he returned to Europe on a research grant where he studied at Oxford and Trinity College, Dublin to complete his thesis on James Joyce's Ulysses. While at Stanford he had chanced on acting after taking an improv elective and began taking part in student theater. He was approached to do a one-man theater piece called Gas by María Irene Fornés. Alma Martinez, an actress and Stanford professor, encouraged him to become a professional actor. Upon graduating from Stanford in 1998 Gonzalez decided to pursue acting and, with Martinez's help, connected with the theatrical movement in San Francisco. He was once encouraged to use his middle name Edward to conceal his ethnicity and go by "Nicholas Edward" but declined to do so.
Career
In 1998, Gonzalez moved to Los Angeles, where he landed small parts in television series such as ABC's Dharma and Greg and NBC's One World. Gonzalez then appeared as Fidel Castro's son in the Lifetime Original Movie, My Little Assassin, starring Joe Mantegna and Gabrielle Anwar. But it was his role as Andy, the gay yuppie on MTV's Undressed that first garnered widespread attention, where he appeared for six episodes. Gonzalez wrapped production of two films in 2000. The first, Scenes of the Crime, premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, and starred Jeff Bridges, Jon Abrahams, and Noah Wyle. It was directed by Dominique Forma. The second film was an independent project titled Spun, starring Mena Suvari, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, and John Leguizamo. It played at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Gonzalez's also landed the lead in Showtime's original series, Resurrection Blvd., which premiered June 26, 2000. Gonzalez played Alex Santiago, a pre-med student who dropped-out of school to become a professional boxer. The movie was successful and immediately expanded to become a regular weekly series on the network. While continuing his work on Resurrection Blvd., Gonzalez appeared in episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger and That '70s Show. He also appeared in the film The Princess and the Barrio Boy with his Resurrection Blvd. co-star, Marisol Nichols. Gonzalez continued his career in films with two more titles. The first, Sea of Dreams, was filmed in Veracruz, Mexico, in May, 2003. Nick then went to Fiji for the summer, where he completed production of ', which opened in theaters August 27, 2004. Gonzalez also appeared in Melrose Place. In 2011, he played Mateo on the ABC show Off The Map. Gonzalez costarred in the Lifetime series Witches of East End. Gonzalez also appeared in recurring roles as Detective Marco Furey in Freeform's series Pretty Little Liars, antagonist Dominick Flores on How to Get Away with Murder and the boyfriend of Lisa Vidal's character on Being Mary Jane. He also guest-starred on Narcos as an undercover DEA special agent based in Colombia investigating the Cali Cartel, a role which required him to speak Spanish. Gonzalez also provided the physical Performance of Nick Mendoza in the video game '. In 2017 Gonzalez was cast as a series regular in the role of surgeon Dr. Neil Melendez in the medical drama The Good Doctor, his most high-profile role to date. His portrayal of the character was partly based on his father and older brother, both of whom are doctors.
Personal life
Gonzalez finished 2nd at the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational in 2009. Gonzalez is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He posed for PETA's campaign "If you wouldn't wear your dog, please don't wear fur" advertisement. Gonzalez married Kelsey Crane on April 16, 2016. The couple has one daughter named Ever Lee Wilde Gonzalez.
