Zak Santiago (born January 3, 1981) is a Canadian actor and DJ.

Zak Santiago
Zak Santiago at TIFF 2010
Born (1981-01-03) January 3, 1981 (age 43)
Occupation(s)Actor and DJ
Years active1997–present

Early life/personal life

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Zak Santiago Alam, professionally known as Zak Santiago, was born on January 3, 1981 in Vancouver, British Columbia to a Spanish and Irish mother and Romani father.

Growing up, Zak studied at the Royal Conservatory. By 1994 he pursued interests in both performing and as a disc jockey and attended his first acting class at Gastown Actors Studio.

He has also studied classical piano, ballet, flamenco and boxing. In 1998, Zak ended his amateur boxing career to focus exclusively on dance. In 2000, he was accepted to Madrid’s world-renowned Amor de Dios Academy where he studied under several legends of flamenco.

He is fluent in English, Spanish and French.

On Santiagos' Facebook, Instagram and X pages, he posts the following bio: "Visting Professional, Vancouver Coastal Health (VGH); Prison Ministry, BC Corrections Adult Custody Division; Parish Deacon, Holy Rosary Cathedral."

Per his Facebook page, Santiago graduated from the University, British Columbia in July, 2023 with a Master's Degree (MA) in Theological Studies and also received the Chancellor's Award. He is heavily involved in prison ministry and has plans to work towards another Master's and a grad diploma to help him in his vocation.

Career

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Santiago has appeared in many television shows. He was in the episode "My Room" in season 1 of Dead Like Me, as an angry man who decided to kill the tattoo artist who had botched his tattoo. In 2004, he played Dominguez in the movie The Five People You Meet In Heaven, based on the 2003 book.

Roles in other series include, Young Blades, Smallville, Robson Arms,[2] Flight 93, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency,[3] Shut Eye,[4] and The L Word.

In 2008, he appeared in the theatrical release movie, The Eye, starring Jessica Alba.

Continuing on in television, in 2009, Santiago had a lead role in The Assistants which aired on The N and also played the Ten of Clubs in the Syfy miniseries Alice.[5]

He has a recurring role as Ramón, the dance instructor, restaurant owner, DJ, and wedding officiant in the Signed, Sealed, Delivered series.

Alongside his acting career, Santiago also works as a DJ.[6][7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1999 Late Night Sessions Danny
2000 Trixie Gang Member
2001 Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal Gabriel Mendoza
Josie and the Pussycats Megastore DJ
2003 How It All Went Down Tico's Partner
2005 Underclassman Anderson
Severed Ramon
2006 Canes Antique Dealer
Deck the Halls Fireworks Guy
2007 Shooter Senior Agent
Normal Bob the Social Worker
2008 The Eye Emilio
Ace of Hearts Officer Sanchez
Tortured Dictaphone Holder
2009 Driven to Kill Detective Lavastic
2010 The Tortured Young Cop
Amazon Falls Aron [8][9]
2011 The House Geoff Blank
2012 Maximum Conviction MP Fields
Random Acts of Romance Matt [10]
2013 Concrete Blondes Lars
The Dick Knost Show Rico
2014 The Grim Sleeper Officer Gates
Perfect Sisters Detective Santiago Gates
Bad City Emcee
What an Idiot Steve
2016 Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House Michael Roland
The Assignment Lawyer
2017 Cult of Chucky Nurse Carlos [11]
Meditation Park Jonathan
2018 Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls Smegman
2019 Promiseland John / Voice of Cartel Leader
2021 American Badger
The Four Fathers Enrique Garza

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Poltergeist: The Legacy Pierce Episode: "Shadow Fall"
1998 Viper Jerry Podwil Episode: "Internal Affair"
1998–1999 The Crow: Stairway to Heaven Curtis Bilbao 5 episodes
1999 Night Man Player #2 Episode: "Dust"
Sweetwater Jorge Television film
Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy Logger Episode: "Float Like a Butterfly"
2000 Higher Ground Rocko Episode: "Worlds Apart"
Level 9 Morph Episode: "Digital Babylon"
2001 Da Vinci's Inquest Irish Billy Mulvaney Episode: "Shoulda Been a Priest"
2002 Dark Angel Kurt Episode: "Love in Vein"
Jeremiah Sam 2 episodes
The Twilight Zone Cheto Episode: "The Pool Guy"
2003 The Dead Zone Raul Episode: "The Man Who Never Was"
Out of Order Angry Juror 6 episodes
Dead Like Me Willy Episode: "My Room"
Stargate SG-1 Rogelio Duran 2 episodes
2004 The Goodbye Girl Dance Class Instructor Television film
Traffic Carole's Agent 3 episodes
The L Word Oscar 4 episodes
Kingdom Hospital Dr. Sonny Gupta 9 episodes
The Five People You Meet in Heaven Dominguez Television film
Human Cargo Ramirez 3 episodes
2005 Ladies Night Gates Television film
Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber Geoffrey
Murder at the Presidio Private Sulway
Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story Ed Rivera
Young Blades Ramon de la Cruz 13 episodes
2005–2006 Intelligence Harvey Guilford 3 episodes
2005–2008 Robson Arms Hal Garcia 23 episodes
2006 Flight 93 Ahmed al-Haznawi Television film
Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York Jose
The Evidence Nicholas Lopez Episode: "Five Little Indians"
Godiva's Emile 2 episodes
A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story Carlos Guerrero Television film
Saved Ignatio Episode: "Secrets and Lies"
Rapid Fire Russell Television film
Smallville Deputy Morales Episode: "Subterranean"
Home by Christmas Mario Television film
2007 A Family Lost Marcus Vegarra
Cleaverville Gus
The 4400 Colin McGrath Episode: "The Truth and Nothing But the Truth"
Flash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera Zack Episode: "Life Source"
2008 The Capture of the Green River Killer Seth Imperia 2 episodes
Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story Brian Santos Television film
Eureka Dr. Sebastian Marx Episode: "Show Me the Mummy"
2009 The Assistants Zach Del Toro 13 episodes
Defying Gravity Juan 3 episodes
Alice 10 of Clubs 2 episodes
The Farm Alfredo Martinez Television film
2009, 2010 Stargate Universe Cpl. Rivers 2 episodes
2010 Human Target Agent Fouts Episode: "Lockdown"
At Risk Roy Television film
The Front
Psych Manny Episode: "Shawn and Gus in Drag (Racing)"
Caprica Pann 3 episodes
Smoke Screen Detective Javier Television film
2011 V John Fierro 4 episodes
The Troop Lee Stanley Episode: "Mirrors"
Killer Mountain Ram Television film
Sanctuary Captured Abnormal Episode: "Resistance"
2011–2013 The True Heroines[12] Hugo Rodriguez 5 episodes
2012 Rags Diego Television film
Fairly Legal Rick Nuñez Episode: "Borderline"
The Music Teacher Gary Television film
True Justice Edi Gogol 11 episodes
Fringe Cecil Episode: "Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There"
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Captain Diaz Television film
2013 Health Nutz Constable Kornstick Episode: "Last Chance"
Once Upon a Time Prince Henry Episode: "The Miller's Daughter"
Chupacabra vs. the Alamo Commander Wilcox Television film
Whisper of Fear Romero
King & Maxwell Gustavo Episode: "Wild Card"
Cult Det. Mario Zavala 5 episodes
Baby Sellers Rafael Ochoa Television film
2013–2014 Continuum Agent Miller 9 episodes
2013 Delete Captain 2 episodes
2014 Motive Virgil Maddox Episode: "For You I Die"
Signed, Sealed, Delivered Ramon Rodriguez 2 episodes
Hell on Wheels Marcos Fuentes Episode: "Life's a Mystery"
Witches of East End Mathias 3 episodes
Til Death Do Us Part Ethan Television film
2015 Fatal Memories Glenn Roberts
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris with Love Ramon Rodriguez
Love, Again Nico
Ghost Unit Mateo Episode #1.1
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Impossible Dream Ramon Rodriguez Television film
2016 The 100 Semet 2 episodes
iZombie Pablo Balaban Episode: "Pour Some Sugar, Zombie"
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: One in a Million Ramon Rodriguez Television film
Shut Eye White Tony 8 episodes
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Cross 13 episodes
2017 The Arrangement Dimitri Fonseca Episode: "The New Narrative"
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Higher Ground Ramon Rodriguez Television film
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again
Ghost Wars Rodney Doyle 4 episodes
The Christmas Princess Ignacio Marquez Television film
2018 Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Road Less Travelled Ramon Rodriguez
The X-Files Mr. Green 2 episodes
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: To the Altar Ramon Rodriguez Television film
Travelers Daniel Sosa Episode: "Yates"
2019 Blood & Treasure Everado Sanchez Episode: "Return of the Queen"
Wu Assassins Sgt. Joe Torres Episode: "Ladies' Night"
My Wife's Secret Life Ari Sheffler / Detective Television film
2020 The Christmas Yule Blog[13] Oscar Ortiz
2021 The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice Arresting Officer
Debris Gary Garcia Episode: "Do You Know Icarus?"
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Vows We Have Made Ramon Rodriguez Television film

Awards and nominations

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In 2004 Santiago won a Leo award for Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series for his performance as Ramirez in Human Cargo.[14][7] He was nominated for Leo awards in 2006 for Young Blades episode "Enchanted",[15] in 2013 for Random Acts of Romance[7][16] and 2018 for Christmas Princess.[17]

References

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