Clifton Collins Jr.

Biography

Clifton Craig Collins Jr. is an American actor. After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. 

Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by Robert Redford in the 2001 film The Last Castle. His extensive work includes featured roles in films such as One Eight Seven (1997), Traffic (2000), Capote (2005), Star Trek (2009), and Pacific Rim (2013).

 Collins' extensive work on television series includes Crisis Center (1997), Thief (2006), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, The Event (2010–2011), and Westworld (2016–2020), as well as the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004).

Collins was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the grandson of actor Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez. He is sometimes credited as Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez in honor of his grandfather. His father is of German descent and his mother is of Mexican ancestry.

He first broke through the mainstream in 1997 with a performance as gangster César Sánchez in the film One Eight Seven. In 1998, he was in Ray Bradbury's cult film The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. He next portrayed a gay hitman named Francisco "Frankie Flowers" Flores for the Mexican drug cartels in Steven Soderbergh's 2000 ensemble drama Traffic.

For his portrayal of a USMC prisoner in the 2001 film The Last Castle Collins was nominated for the 2002 American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Award for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture. In 2002, he played the role of Buddy in the film American Girl.

In 2005, Collins won rave reviews for his subtle portrayal of killer Perry Smith in the film Capote, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2006.

In 2019, Collins was awarded an Impact Award by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for his "Outstanding Performance in Film and Television". On October 29, 2021, he will receive the Distinguished Performance Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

He wrote his first book, Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars with Gustavo "Goose" Alvarez, in 2015.