Gabriel Luna

Early life

Gabriel Isaac Luna was born in Austin, Texas, to Deborah Ann (née Perez) and Gabriel Lopez Luna (1962–1982), both of whom are of Mexican parentage. His father died aged 20, three months prior to Luna's birth. He was raised by his mother in Austin, Texas. Luna attended St. Edward's University, where he made his stage debut as Romeo Montague in a production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Luna graduated from St. Edward's in 2005.

Career

Luna made his screen acting debut as Kristofer Rostropovich in the drama film Fall to Grace, which premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2005. He then provided voice-over work for the science fiction video game BlackSite: Area 51, which was released on November 12, 2007. Luna is a founding member of the Austin-based Paper Chairs Theatre Company. On stage in Austin, Luna has portrayed Sergei Maxudov in Black Snow (2009), the title character in Orestes (2009), and Clov in Endgame (2010). For these three performances, he received the Austin Critics Table Best Lead Actor Award in 2010. Luna then starred as the lead character, Nate Hitchins, in the drama film Dance with the One, which was selected for South by Southwest and premiered on March 20, 2010. The following year, he had a supporting role in the black comedy film Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2011. Luna's television credits include minor roles on Fox's serial drama Prison Break (2008), HBO's television film Temple Grandin (2010), Fox's drama-thriller Touch (2013), and CBS' action procedural drama NCIS: Los Angeles (2013).

In 2014, he was cast in the leading role of Tony Bravo on the El Rey Network television series Matador. The series premiered on July 15, 2014 and ran for one season of 13 episodes, ending on October 7, 2014. That same year, he co-starred as Vinnie in the sports comedy Balls Out, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 2014. Luna next recurred as Miguel Gilb, a former lover of Taylor Kitsch's character, on the second season of the HBO anthology drama series True Detective, appearing in 3 episodes. He then co-starred in the Julianne Moore and Ellen Page-led drama film Freeheld, directed by Peter Sollett, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2015. Luna subsequently had a supporting role in the comedy film Gravy, directed by James Roday, which was released in the United States on October 2, 2015. Luna was cast as Paco Contreras, a detective searching for a serial killer on the Sunset Strip, on the ABC crime drama series Wicked City. The series premiered on October 27, 2015, but was cancelled following its third episode; the remaining episodes were later released through Hulu.

The following year, he starred as border patrol agent Lance Flores in the thriller film Transpecos, opposite Clifton Collins, Jr. and Johnny Simmons. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 13, 2016. Luna next appeared as motorcycle racer Eddie Hasha in the Discovery Channel miniseries Harley and the Davidsons. In July of the same year, it was announced that he would join the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in season 4 as Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider. He was nominated for Choice TV: Action Actor at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards for his role as Ghost Rider.

Personal life

Luna married Romanian actress Smaranda Luna (née Ciceu) on February 20, 2011. The couple resides in Los Angeles, California.