Joel de la Fuente is an American actor who was born on April 21, 1969, in New Hartford, New York. He is probably best known for his roles in ‘Hemlock Grove’, ‘The Man in the High Castle’, and ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Units’. Here are five more facts that you probably don’t know about this talented actor.
1. He Has Diverse Cultural Heritage
Joel De La Fuente is an American born-bred but he is the son of Filipino parents who immigrated to the United States and raised their three sons in New Hartford, New York. However, his cultural heritage is more diverse than this as his ancestry also includes Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Malaysian.
2. He Became Famous for His Role in ‘Space: Above and Beyond’
‘Space: Above and Beyond’ is an American television show that is broadcast on Fox TV. This futuristic science-fiction series was launched in 1995 and Joel de la Fuente was in the program from the start. He played the role of 1st Lieutenant Paul Wang in the show and this character had the callsign ‘Joker’. In the series, Wang has a budding romance with Lieutenant Stroud, played by Melissa Bowen. Fiction and reality replicated each other as Joel de la Fuente married Melissa Bowen and the couple now have two daughters together.
3. He Had the Option of Auditioning for Two Different Parts in ‘The Man in the High Castle’
Joel de la Fuente is well-known for playing the role of Kido in ‘The Man in the High Castle’. However, he originally had the option to audition for two different parts; Kido and Tagomi. He had read the book and was familiar with the character Tagomi and initially felt that he should audition for this character. Kido is a character that is not included in the book and has been created for the television series. He says that he felt drawn to the part of Kido after reading the script. He wanted to take a stereotypically Japanese character and evolve him into a more well-rounded character.
4. His Career Includes Movies and Video Games
It is his roles in television series for which Joel de la Fuente is most famous, but he also has movies and video games on his professional CV. In terms of video games, he was involved in the creation and production of the 2005 game, ‘Warriors’ and also ‘Homefront’, released in 2011. Between 1995 and 2014, Joel de la Fuente has played roles in seven films. These include ‘Roommates’, ‘Personal Velocity: Three Portraits’, The Happening’, Taking Chance’, Forgetting the Girl’, Brief Reunion’, and ‘Julia’.
5. His Favorite Cuisine is Filipino Food
Although he has diverse tastes in food, his favorite is Filipino. This is possibly because it evokes memories of home cooking in his childhood. When asked about his favorite meal in one interview, he said that at the time he loved crispy pata. This is an unusual dish where pigs’ trotters or knuckles are deep fried and then served with a dip of soy-vinegar. It is sometimes cooked on the bone but restaurants will usually serve a boneless version.
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