Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American stage, television and voice actor, best known for his role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19. He received Tony nominations for his roles as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical Taboo in 2004; Robert in the musical comedy Company in 2006; Lenny in Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming in 2008; and Charlie Fox in David Mamet’s play Speed-the-Plow in 2009. He played Riff Raff in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show and Caractacus Potts in the original Broadway production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2005.
Esparza has been nominated in all Tony categories for which an actor is eligible. He is widely regarded for his versatility on stage, having performed musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Boy George, the Sherman Brothers and in plays by Mamet, Pinter, William Shakespeare, Tom Stoppard, and more. His film work includes Sidney Lumet’s Find Me Guilty and Wes Craven’s My Soul to Take, and his television credits include roles on The Path, Medium, Hannibal and Pushing Daisies. He narrated the audiobook for Stephen King’s Under the Dome as well as several others, and he sings in concerts across the country.
Early life
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Cuban parents and raised in Miami, Florida, Esparza graduated from Belen Jesuit in 1988 and won a Silver Knight Award in Drama that same year. In 1992, Esparza received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama and a Bachelor’s degree in English from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Career
Theatre
Esparza first drew attention with his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which won him the Theatre World Award. Esparza’s other Broadway credits include Cabaret (2001), Taboo (2003), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2005), and Sondheim’s Company (2006). He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in Taboo. His performance in Company earned him a second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical, as well as his second Drama Desk award. Beginning in November 2007, he appeared in Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming and was Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow co-starring Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss on Broadway. His performance in Speed-the-Plow earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, making him the second performer (after Boyd Gaines) to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys, although he has yet to win one.
Esparza appeared in a limited-engagement revival of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, which began previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 25, 2011, and opened on March 17, 2011.
Esparza appeared in the musical Leap of Faith in the role of the “Reverend” Jonas Nightingale. He was involved in the workshop in 2008, the out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles) in 2010, and the Broadway production in 2012, for which he received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
In 1999, Esparza played Che in the national tour of Evita, opposite Natalie Toro. The tour was intended to open on Broadway, but failed to do so. In 2001, he appeared Off-Broadway in tick, tick… BOOM! by Jonathan Larson, garnering a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He appeared in two musicals by Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along at the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. He also appeared as the Arbiter in the Actors Fund of America concert of Tim Rice’s Chess in September 2003.
In 2009, Esparza starred in a production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater (New York) with Anne Hathaway, from June 25 through July 12. He starred as Hapgood in the City Center Encores! staged concert production of Anyone Can Whistle from April 8 to 11, 2010, opposite Sutton Foster as Fay and Donna Murphy as the Mayoress.
In July 2013, Esparza starred in a production of The Cradle Will Rock at the New York City Center.
In February 2018, Esparza played Freddie Trumper in the Kennedy Center’s revival of Tim Rice’s Chess. From October to December 2018, Esparza played the title role in Classic Stage Company’s Off-Broadway production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was nominated for the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for the role.
In July 2019, Esparza appeared in a production of Road Show at the New York City Center. In October of the same year, Esparza played Harry in the off-Broadway comedy Seared by Theresa Rebeck.
In April 2020 he was a host, executive producer, and performer in Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration, a virtual concert in honour of the 90th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim benefiting the charity organisation ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty).
Television
In 2007, Esparza had a recurring role on the TV show Pushing Daisies as traveling salesman Alfredo Aldarisio, a role originally given to Paul Reubens. In 2009, Esparza recorded the audiobook Under the Dome by Stephen King. He has done narration for The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer and The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark. In January 2010, Esparza performed opposite Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr., and Valarie Pettiford at the 92Y’s Lyrics and Lyricist event honoring Desi Arnaz and his orchestra, “Babalu: The American Songbook Goes Latin”. In 2010, Esparza appeared as Abel Plenkov in Wes Craven’s My Soul to Take.
From 2013 to 2015, Esparza appeared in the recurring role of Dr. Frederick Chilton in Hannibal. He appeared in the 2016 film Custody, written and directed by James Lapine, as an Administration for Children’s Services agent.
In 2012, Esparza became a recurring actor on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba, starting in the third episode of the show’s 14th season, “Twenty-Five Acts”. He appeared in 11 episodes of the show’s 14th season. On July 17, 2013, he was promoted to series regular for the show’s 15th season. His character became the first series-regular ADA since Stephanie March in the 11th season and the first regular male ADA in series history. His role on SVU was not his first Law & Order role, however, as he had previously portrayed an ADA in a 2009 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and a suspect in a 2010 episode of the original Law & Order. On February 7, 2018, Esparza left SVU in the episode “The Undiscovered Country” after six seasons on the show.
Although having left the series to return to the stage, Esparza has been back on the show, making a very brief cameo before the main title in the Season 21 episode “Redemption in Her Corner”. He made another guest appearance in Season 22 episode “Sightless in a Savage Land”.
Personal life
Esparza married Michele Marie Perez, his high-school girlfriend, in 1994. They divorced in 2008. Esparza was the subject of a New York Times profile in 2006 in which he revealed that he is bisexual.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway | Himself | Documentary film directed by Dori Berinstein | |
| 2006 | Find Me Guilty | Tony Compagna | ||
| 2010 | My Soul to Take | Abel Plenkov | ||
| 2011 | Trouble in the Heights | Nevada Ramirez | ||
| 2016 | Custody | Luis Sanjuro | ||
| 2017 | Ferdinand | Moreno (voice) |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Spin City | Reporter | Episode: “In the Heat of the Day” |
| 2007 | Pushing Daisies | Alfredo Aldarisio | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | ADA Kevin Mulrooney | Episode: “Lady’s Man” |
| 2010 | Law & Order | Dennis Di Palma | Episode: “Blackmail” |
| Medium | David Ostrowski | Episode: “Blood on the Tracks” | |
| 2011 | A Gifted Man | Phillip Romero | 2 episodes |
| 2012–2018, 2020 & 2021 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | ADA Rafael Barba | Recurring (Season 14) Main cast (Seasons 15–19) Guest (Seasons 21 & 22) 117 episodes |
| 2012 | 666 Park Avenue | Phillip Perez | Episode: “Hypnos” |
| 2013–2015 | Hannibal | Dr. Frederick Chilton | 12 episodes |
| 2014 | Dora and Friends: Into the City! | Big Bad Wolf (voice) | Episode: “Puppet Theater” |
| 2016–2018 | BoJack Horseman | Ralph Stilton (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 2018 | The Path | Jackson Neill | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration | Himself (host) | TV special |
| The Good Fight | Bryan Kneef | Episode: “The Gang Is Satirized and Doesn’t Like It” |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Theatre World Award | The Rocky Horror Show | Honouree | ||
| 2002 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | tick, tick…BOOM! | Nominated | |
| Obie Award | Performance | Won | |||
| 2003 | Barrymore Award | Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical | Green Violin | Won | |
| Helen Hayes Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Resident Musical | Sunday in the Park with George | Nominated | ||
| 2004 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Taboo | Nominated | |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Won | |||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Taboo and The Normal Heart | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | Nominated | |
| HOLA José Ferrer Tespis Award | Won | ||||
| 2006 | Cincinnati Entertainment Award | Outstanding Acting Performance by a Visiting Actor | Company | Won | [citation needed] |
| Enquirer Acclaim Award | Outstanding Musical Lead Performance | Won | [citation needed] | ||
| 2007 | Tony Award | Best Actor in a Musical | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Won | |||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | |||
| Outer Circle Critics Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Won | |||
| 2008 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actor in a Play | The Homecoming | Nominated | |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Ensemble Performance | Won | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Nominated | |||
| 2009 | Tony Award | Best Actor in a Play | Speed-the-Plow | Nominated | |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Nominated | |||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Nominated | |||
| 2011 | Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Arcadia | Nominated | |
| Ovation Award | Lead Actor in a Musical | Leap of Faith | Won | ||
| 2012 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Nominated | ||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Nominated | |||
| 2019 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Nominated | |
| 2020 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Seared | Nominated | |
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Honouree | |||
| Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play | Nominated |
