Noel Guglielmi

Noel Gugliemi is an American actor with both Mexican and Italian roots, though his many film and television roles generally play up his Hispanic heritage. Born and raised in Southern California, he started appearing on screen in earnest in 2000. Within a year, he had small parts in two major movies, "Training Day" (2001) and "The Fast and the Furious" (2001). Numerous guest spots on various primetime TV shows followed, along with more film roles, though he was often relegated to nameless parts such as "Latino Thug" (in 2003's "S.W.A.T." movie). Among Gugliemi's more notable roles are his one-episode stint on the hit horror series "The Walking Dead" (AMC, 2010- ) and his brief appearance in the superhero blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). In 2013, he finally snagged a more substantial supporting part in the crime thriller "The Devil's in the Details," and continued to appear in hard-hitting dramas that suited his serious on-screen presence.

Despite a last name that's a telltale sign of his Italian background, Noel Gugliemi has almost always been cast for his Latino heritage (on his mother's side). Growing up in Southern California, he was exposed to both the ups and downs of the region's inner-city Hispanic culture, as well as the local improv scene. These disparate experiences came in handy when he auditioned for various urban-oriented films and TV shows. In 2001, he was featured in the corrupt-cop drama "Training Day" and the surprise hit action movie "The Fast and the Furious." Involvement in these high-profile projects didn't translate into bigger parts, but they did keep him employed by other major productions, albeit in bit roles. After a featured turn in the Los Angeles-centric crime drama "Street Kings" (2008), Gugliemi appeared on one of the earliest episodes of "The Walking Dead" as a member of a Latino gang struggling to survive the show's zombie outbreak. A short turn in "The Dark Knight Rises" marked his biggest production yet, with most of his subsequent roles in considerably smaller films, including the low-budget drug-mule movie "The Devil's in the Details," starring his occasional collaborator Emilio Rivera. In his spare time, Gugliemi speaks to at-risk youth about the dangers of taking up the gang lifestyle that he often portrays on screen.