Juan Javier Cardenas

American actor Juan Javier Cardenas worked his way up the acting ranks to become a regular presence on television. A Florida native, he earned a Masters degree in acting from Florida State University while starting his career in regional theater. A move to New York enabled Cardenas to hone his craft in Off-Broadway productions and with guest roles on television shows such as "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999-) and "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010-). He was cast as the lead in the Angel Nieves romance "Dreams of You & Me" (2015), playing a banker searching for the woman he saw in a dream. He followed that with a role in the horror comedy "Barrio Tales 2" (2016). After additional TV guest appearances, Cardenas began to gain traction with a recurring role in "Damnation" (USA Network, 2017-). He continued the momentum with a showy story arc on the drama "Snowfall" (FX, 2017-). Cardenas played Alejandro Usteves, a former Nicaraguan Contra fighter who ends up involved in the drug trade in the early-'80s who is eventually killed at the climax of the show's first season.