About Clifton Collins Jr.
Clifton Craig Collins Jr. (born June 16, 1970) is an American film and television actor. He is a Primetime Emmy Award, Independent Spirit Award, Satellite Award, and four-time ALMA Award nominee, and a Screen Actors Guild Award winner. Prior to 1999, he was credited as Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez. After various small parts, he gained attention for his performance as a gangster in the crime drama One Eight Seven (1997). He then played featured parts in the major productions Traffic (2000) and The Last Castle (2001), and gained further recognition for his co-starring role as Perry Edward Smith in the biographical film Capote (2005). His subsequent films include Babel (2006), Star Trek, Crank: High Voltage (both 2009), Pacific Rim (2013), Knight of Cups (2015), The Mule (2018), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and Nightmare Alley (2021). He won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for his performance in the independent film Jockey (2021). Collins' work on television series includes a starring role as Jack Hill on Thief (2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination, Thomas on The Event (2010–11), Maximo Gomez on Ballers (2015–17), and Lawrence Gonzales / "El Lazo" on Westworld (2016–2020). He also provided the voice of Cesar Vialpando in the action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). He first broke through the mainstream in 1997 with a performance as gangster César Sánchez in the film One Eight Seven. In 2005, Collins won reviews for his subtle portrayal of killer Perry Smith in the film Capote, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2006. In 2008, Collins directed two music videos for the country music group Zac Brown Band: "Chicken Fried" and "Whatever It Is". "Chicken Fried" won the 2009 CMT breakthrough music video of the year award.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.