Arlen Escarpeta
Encyclopedia
Arlen Alexander Escarpeta (born April 9, 1981) is a Belize
an actor. He is best known for his roles as Lawrence in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th
and as Mike in the 2010
drama
Brotherhood
. He appeared in the 5th installment of the Final Destination franchise: Final Destination 5
.
who came to the United States
after his father, construction worker, died when he was at the age of 3. His mother, a manager at a dental office, settled in Los Angeles
where he began to sing and dance in the Young Saints Scholarship Foundation. At 9, Escarpeta was cast in the title role of his elementary school's stylized production of William Shakespeare's
Hamlet
and was won over by the applause he received at the final curtain.
, where he honored his skills in dance, theatre and drama. He was also the captain of his football team. After high school, Escarpeta attended Pasadena City College
for more than two years while studying sociology. Despite swift times of 21.8 seconds running the 200-yard dash and a personal best of 47' -2 1/2" in the triple jump, he opted to concentrate on acting rather than dedicate the necessary amount of time to the junior college's track team. Escarpeta currently plays for Hollywood Knights
, a celebrity basketball
team.
, The Shield, Judging Amy
and Boomtown. In 2002, Escarpeta appeared in Carl Franklin's
courtroom-thriller High Crimes
, starring Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman
and Ashley Judd
. In that same year, he was cast as Sam Walker in the historical drama series American Dreams
, which aired on NBC
.
. On the show, he had a platonic-turned-romantic friendship/relationship with Meg Pryor (portrayed by Brittany Snow) which later ended due to disapproving opinions from their friends and family, and also because of the interracial relationship status. The series lasted for three seasons, ending in 2005 due to low ratings.
drama
American Gun
. The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, also starred veteran actors Forrest Whitaker, Marcia Gay Harden
and Donald Sutherland
. He also appeared television shows ER
and Cold Case. The following year, he co-starred with Matthew McConaughey
and Matthew Fox
in true-life drama We Are Marshall
, based on the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed Marshall University
's football team.
's comedy film, The Ten, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
. He made appearances on Law and Order: SVU and Without a Trace, respectively. In 2009, he starred in Preston Whitmore's Dough Boys
. He also starred as a young LAPD officer on patrol during the racial gang war in the drama 818, on which Escarpeta also serves co-producer. He reached worldwide acclaim as Lawrence in the horror film
remake
Friday the 13th
. He followed the film with an additional television appearance on the short-lived medical drama, Mental
.
drama Brotherhood
. In the film he plays Mike, a store clerk who has a platonic friendship with one of the pledging brothers (Trevor Morgan
) who kidnaps him to protect his fraternity. Recently, Escarpeta had a role in Final Destination 5 as Nathan. It was the fifth film in the horror franchise, and was featured in 3D
.
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
an actor. He is best known for his roles as Lawrence in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th (2009 film)
Friday the 13th is a 2009 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980 and the twelfth Friday the 13th film in total...
and as Mike in the 2010
2010 in film
The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Brotherhood
Brotherhood (2010 film)
Brotherhood is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Will Canon and co-written by Doug Simon and Canon. The film is about a fraternity initiation that goes horribly wrong and stars Jon Foster, Trevor Morgan, Arlen Escarpeta and Lou Taylor Pucci...
. He appeared in the 5th installment of the Final Destination franchise: Final Destination 5
Final Destination 5
Final Destination 5 is a 2011 supernatural horror film written by Eric Heisserer and directed by Steven Quale. It is the fifth installment in the Final Destination film franchise and stars Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, and Tony Todd .The motion...
.
Early life and family
Escarpeta is a native to Belize, Central AmericaBelize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
who came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after his father, construction worker, died when he was at the age of 3. His mother, a manager at a dental office, settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where he began to sing and dance in the Young Saints Scholarship Foundation. At 9, Escarpeta was cast in the title role of his elementary school's stylized production of William Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and was won over by the applause he received at the final curtain.
Education and sports
Escarpeta attended several arts-magnet schools in Los Angeles until he arrived at Hollywood High SchoolHollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...
, where he honored his skills in dance, theatre and drama. He was also the captain of his football team. After high school, Escarpeta attended Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College is a community college in Pasadena, California, USA, located on Colorado Boulevard. PCC is the third largest community college campus in the United States. PCC was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. In 1954, Pasadena Junior College merged with another junior...
for more than two years while studying sociology. Despite swift times of 21.8 seconds running the 200-yard dash and a personal best of 47' -2 1/2" in the triple jump, he opted to concentrate on acting rather than dedicate the necessary amount of time to the junior college's track team. Escarpeta currently plays for Hollywood Knights
Hollywood Knights
Hollywood Knights are an American basketball team based in Encino, California.The team was founded by David Mirisch for High school in 1978. The team played in several high school in the United States.- Current players :* Robert Adamson* Jake T...
, a celebrity basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team.
2000-2005
In 2000, Escarpeta received his first, on-screen role in Greg Morgan's The Playaz Court. In the following years, he appeared in various television programs such as Boston PublicBoston Public
Boston Public is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. It centered on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The show was named for the real public school district in which it takes place...
, The Shield, Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
and Boomtown. In 2002, Escarpeta appeared in Carl Franklin's
Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin is an American actor, screenwriter and film and television director. Franklin is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley and continued his education at the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with an M.F.A. degree in directing in 1986...
courtroom-thriller High Crimes
High Crimes
High Crimes is a 2002 American thriller film directed by Carl Franklin. The screenplay by Yuri Zeltser and Grace Cary Bickley is based on a novel by Joseph Finder.-Plot:...
, starring Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
and Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
. In that same year, he was cast as Sam Walker in the historical drama series American Dreams
American Dreams
American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios...
, which aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
American Dreams
Set in the 1960s, Escarpeta played the role of Sam Walker. Sam was the fragile, African-American teen growing up in a highly racial era known as the Civil Rights MovementCivil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. On the show, he had a platonic-turned-romantic friendship/relationship with Meg Pryor (portrayed by Brittany Snow) which later ended due to disapproving opinions from their friends and family, and also because of the interracial relationship status. The series lasted for three seasons, ending in 2005 due to low ratings.
2005-2006
Escarpeta earned critical acclaim for his breakout film role as Jay, an honor student caught with a handgun at school in the independentIndependent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
American Gun
American Gun
American Gun is a 2005 film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut....
. The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, also starred veteran actors Forrest Whitaker, Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
and Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
. He also appeared television shows ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and Cold Case. The following year, he co-starred with Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
and Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
in true-life drama We Are Marshall
We Are Marshall
We Are Marshall is a 2006 American drama film directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol about the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed 37 football players on the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team as well as five coaches, two athletic trainers, the athletic director, 25 boosters and...
, based on the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed Marshall University
Marshall University
Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
's football team.
2007-2009
In 2007, Escarpeta appeared in David WainDavid Wain
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...
's comedy film, The Ten, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
. He made appearances on Law and Order: SVU and Without a Trace, respectively. In 2009, he starred in Preston Whitmore's Dough Boys
Dough Boys (film)
Dough Boys is a 2009 drama film written and produced by Preston A. Whitmore II and directed by Nicholas Harvell.-Synopsis:"If you are going to survive, you’ve got to get your hustle on.”...
. He also starred as a young LAPD officer on patrol during the racial gang war in the drama 818, on which Escarpeta also serves co-producer. He reached worldwide acclaim as Lawrence in the horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
remake
Remake (film)
Remake is a 2003 Bosnian film from directed by Dino Mustafić. The film depicts tragic stories of father and son interwoven with refinement. With restrained acting, the flowing transitions between the flashbacks and the clever cutting make “Remake” a penetrating film experience.- Plot :With an...
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th (2009 film)
Friday the 13th is a 2009 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980 and the twelfth Friday the 13th film in total...
. He followed the film with an additional television appearance on the short-lived medical drama, Mental
Mental (TV series)
Mental is a television series produced by Fox's subsidiary Fox Telecolombia, which aired in the summer and fall of 2009 on FOX international channels for Latin America, Europe and Asia, starring Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra...
.
2010-present
Escarpeta followed Friday the 13th with leading roles in several features, including the critically acclaimed, 2010 fraternityFraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
drama Brotherhood
Brotherhood (2010 film)
Brotherhood is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Will Canon and co-written by Doug Simon and Canon. The film is about a fraternity initiation that goes horribly wrong and stars Jon Foster, Trevor Morgan, Arlen Escarpeta and Lou Taylor Pucci...
. In the film he plays Mike, a store clerk who has a platonic friendship with one of the pledging brothers (Trevor Morgan
Trevor Morgan (actor)
Trevor John Morgan is an American actor. He has appeared in the films Genius, The Sixth Sense, The Patriot, A Rumor of Angels, Jurassic Park III, The Glass House, Chasing 3000, Mean Creek, Barney's Great Adventure, Local Color, Family Plan and Uncle Nino.-Early life:Trevor John Morgan was born...
) who kidnaps him to protect his fraternity. Recently, Escarpeta had a role in Final Destination 5 as Nathan. It was the fifth film in the horror franchise, and was featured in 3D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
.