LATA Awards 2024: Juan Luis Acevedo

Juan Luis Acevedo •LATA 2024 Outstanding Performance Regional Theater “Jardín Salvaje/Native Gardens” GALA Hispanic Theatre, Washington DC 

•LATA 2024 Best Actor Short Format Theater “Cuarto adentro”- Hispanic Federation 

•LATA 2023 Award of Merit for his Artistic Career

•LATA 2023 Best Actor by Popular Selection “Fuenteovejuna”-Teatro Círculo  

•The LATA Awards (Latin Alternative Theater Awards), created by Héctor Luis Productions under the direction of Héctor Luis Sin Censura, have celebrated Latino alternative theater since 2017 in New York, New Jersey and nearby areas.

 Juan Luis Acevedo is an award-winning actor with over three decades of experience in theatre, film, television, and radio. His interest in the performing arts began during childhood in Puerto Rico. He used to watch television soap operas, series, news, and weekly events like “Luis Vigoreaux Presents” and “Iris Chacon” variety shows. Another weekly spectacle was the Catholic Mass in school—what a show! Music and big announcer voices caught his attention on the radio. The weekend cinema outings with his family and the late-night movies shown on TV by “Manolo Urquiza” awakened his passion for film. While enjoying all of it, not in a million years would he have thought that he would one day become a performer. It wasn’t until college where he discovered that acting was what he wanted to do. The journey officially began under the tutelage of Dean Zayas at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. His first-ever performance was in King Lear in 1987, and luckily, it has continued uninterrupted so far. His persistence took him from Puerto Rico to the United States; it is there where he obtained his MFA in Acting from Brandeis University in Massachusetts. After almost a decade working in Boston, he decided to relocate and moved to NY in 2006, where he’s been ever since.

The bulk of his decades of experience on stage allowed him to play magnificent characters from playwrights like Shakespeare, Lope, Goldoni, Lorca, Calderón, Tirso, Guillén de Castro, Arthur Miller, Tom Stoppard, Tennessee Williams, Nicky Silver, Mario Diament, Antonio César Morón, Karen Zacarias, Myrna Casas, Liz Duffy Adams, Sophie Threadwell, Alejandra Ramos Riera, Caridad Svich, Isadora Aguirre, Adriana Pantoja, etc. And those productions gave him the opportunity to work side by side with brilliant directors like Mariano de Paco Serrano, Rebecca Aparicio, Mario Colón, Dean Zayas, Myrna Casas, Jorge Merced, Estelle Parsons, Bob Walsh, Sam Weisman, Leyma López, Steve Mahler, Rick Lombardo, Joyce Van Dyke, Michael Murray, Andrei Serban, José Luis Valenzuela, etc.

His television and film on-camera experience can be titled: “From Extra to Guest-Star: An Actor’s Journey.” He’s been part of some of the most epic, award-winning television series main events like “Damages,” “Unforgettable,” “Cupid,” “Billions,” “The Blacklist,” as well as having been part of the NBC/Universal family of Law & Order “SVU” (One of Variety’s Best 100 TV shows of all time) where he was a Co-Star and Law & Order “Criminal Intent” where he was a Guest-Star. His film and commercial opportunities have been less copious nonetheless extremely gratifying. Working with directors like Xan Cassavettes, Aram Rappaport, David Gordon Green, Michael Walker, etc., and sharing the screen with actors like Milo Ventimiglia, Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Michael Nouri, Poppy Montgomery, Anna Mouglalis, Shiloh Fernandez, Parker Posey, Gabriel Mann, Sandra Bernhard, and legends like Robert Loggia among others.

His career path has taken him to countless stages, an array of festivals in the USA and abroad since his inception in the world of the Performing Arts. Some of those stages include unconventional, modern, and historically impressive theaters like “Corral de Comedias” en Alcalá de Henares, “Teatro UPR”, “Cincinnati Playhouse in The Park” “Teatro Tapia” P.R., “GALA Hispanic” Washington, DC, “The Theater for a New City,” “Boston Commons CSC,” “Corral de Cervantes Madrid,” “East 64,” “Spanish Repertory,” “ART Cambridge,” etc. Among some of the festivals where his work has been showcased are “LA Short Film Festival,” “Festival de Chamizal”, “Festival de Oriente y Países Bolivarianos”, Festival de Almagro” as well as the “Festival Iberoamericano del Siglo de Oro de la Comunidad de Madrid” where he debuted as a playwright with his monologue “Experiencias Clásicas” in 2021.

 Juan Luis is grateful for spending countless hours of training in master classes, conservatories, one-on-one sessions. He has been so privileged to be able to exchange insightful conversations and coaching sessions with some of the best that the performing arts industry can offer, among them are Mercedes Ruehl, Eduardo Vasco, Joan Copeland, José Luis Alonso de Santos, Mariano de Paco Serrano, Blanca Portillo, Roy Hart Theatre, José Luis Gómez, Terry Knickerbocker, Diana de Paco, Maggie Flannigan, Idalia Pérez Garay, Janet Morrison, Susan Dibble, Marya Lowry, Anatoly Smeliansky (Moscow Art Theater), Johana Rosaly and the dearly departed William Esper, Hugo Medrano, Myrna Casas, Dean Zayas, Joanna Merlin, Miriam Colón, Gloria Saez, Paco Prado, John Barton and American Playwright Arthur Miller.

His stage work has been acknowledged and praised by the critics at El Nuevo Día, El San Juan Star, Claridad, El Mundo, Boston Globe, El Pais, The Herald, Broadway World, PlayBill Magazine, Vea, TV Guia, Primera Hora, Washington Post, El Tiempo Latino and American Theatre Magazine, etc.

His personal interviews included among others: Primera Hora,The Justice, Onda Cero Alcalá de Henares, Estudio Actoral Canal 6, Héctor Luis Rivera Sin censura, Mario Roche Radio PR, Escenario, Arte Fusión, Associated Press, etc.

His list of accolades includes a “Proclamation” and “Best Actor” wins and nominations among them: LATA (Latin Alternative Theatre Awards), HOLA (Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors), ACE (Asociación de Críticos del Entretenimiento), ATI (Artistas de Teatro Independiente), Talía NYC, Premio Arte Internacional, Puertorican of the year 2022 / Presented by Mayor Brian P. Stack/ City of Union City, Broadway World Theatre Awards.

Juan Luis Acevedo is currently a proud member of: AAEE (Academia de la Artes Escénicas de España), AEA (Actors Equity Association), SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Radio Artists).

You are all welcome to catch some of his on-camera work that’s available online on diverse platforms like Netflix, HULU, and Amazon Prime. For more details and information, you can visit his IMDb Page. Also, you can follow him on social media: Facebook: Juan Luis Acevedo, X: @JuanLuis_NYC, Instagram: @jla_irrefutable.

As an artist, Juan Luis wants you to remember: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde