Alfredo Narciso

Early life and education

Narciso was born to a Brazilian mother and a Filipino father. He showed an interest in acting from a young age. As a child, he routinely played roles such as Indiana Jones and Han Solo. He began acting in middle school and high school, and remembers his first serious role occurring in the 10th grade when he portrayed a Russian spy in the play See How They Run. Narciso attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he initially was a poor student. After being academically suspended, his father took him to New York City where he saw several Broadway shows, one of which was Oleanna by David Mamet. "We [Narciso and his father] were both astounded by the power of the play and spoke for hours about it afterwards. That was when I realized that theater had the tremendous effect of creating discourse and, eventually, the possibility of change. And that was when I knew that I was going to pursue being an actor." After his time in New York, Narciso changed his major from English to theater and excelled as a student.

Career

Throughout his career, Narciso has been involved in a variety of television, stage and film productions. In television, he has played roles on Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Ugly Betty, Third Watch, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Person of Interest, Blue Bloods, Unforgettable and All My Children. He appeared in the 2002 film The Guys with Sigourney Weaver and the 2016 film Jacqueline Argentine with Wyatt Cenac.

On stage, Narciso has performed in the Broadway shows The Motherfucker With the Hat and A Streetcar Named Desire. He has also performed in the Off-Broadway shows Thinner Than Water, Edgewise, Microcrisis, Measure for Measure, Chair, Safe, Drunken City, The Misanthrope and Points of Departure. He has appeared on stage elsewhere in productions including Miracle at Naples, Another Side of the Island, Territories, Britannicus, Much Ado About Nothing, A Very Old Man and Off the Page.

Narciso's work has been positively received. The New York Times has called Narciso's performances "moving" and "charming." David Rooney, discussing a production of the play Thinner than Water, writes, "There are moving performances, particularly from Mr. Narciso, who is both defensive and contrite about Gary’s shortcomings." Charles Isherwood, reviewing Narciso's work in Measure for Measure, wrote, "The character who most wholly embodies the slipperiness Shakespeare explores in the play is probably Lucio (a subtly oily Alfredo Narciso), who delights in stirring almost every one of the plots with a soiled finger." Of Narciso's work in The Misanthrope, Ben Brantley wrote "Alfredo Narciso presents what may be the play’s one genuinely contemporary portrait as the poet Oronte." Neil Genzlinger (reviewing Safe) wrote that "[Fellow cast members] are pretty good; Mr. Narciso is better. His character, despite the dimwittedness, is the one you’re still pondering on the way home."