JC Gonzalez

Early life

JC was born in Bogota, Colombia in 1990 and comes from a Colombian family. He is the first child of Eva Yaneth and Gabriel Gonzalez and oldest of the three siblings. His sister, Silvia Carolina, is a college student, and his brother, Daniel Eduardo, is in high school. JC's father is a business man and his mother is an architect and college professor. When JC was seven years old, he and his family moved to Houston, Texas, in 1998 to receive a better medical treatment at Texas Medical Center for his younger brother who was suffering with a rare disease: Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), or simply Arthrogryposis.

JC was an hyper-active child, and hence he got the nickname "Terremoto"; or earthquake in Spanish. Throughout middle and high school he played football and soccer. This active lifestyle carried over to a young work ethic, as he began mowing grass, washing cars, and babysitting around the neighborhood for extra income. Additionally, JC took swimming classes and received lifeguard certification at the age of fifteen. He continued to work as a lifeguard throughout his teens; working several pools in Sugar Land, Texas.

JC Gonzalez studied at Settlers Way Elementary School, First Colony Middle School and finished high school at Clements High School in First Colony community in Sugar Land, Texas. Gonzalez liked dancing, and admired groups such as Latin boy band Menudo during his teen years. While not being able to pursue dreams of being in Menudo himself, he did however participate in many local school bands. JC received acting training and performed remarkably in school plays such as Wish Upon A Mattress, Children Of Eden, Treasure Island, the Musical Comedy Murders, and I Hate Hamlet. After a summer of taking full-time acting lessons with coach Chambers Stevens (Acting Coach) in Hollywood in 2006, JC decided to pursue a career in acting. JC received acting lessons from the renowned actor Deke Anderson in Houston.

After high school, he briefly studied psychology at California State University, where he could also find more opportunities for acting. Later JC decided to drop out of college to concentrate more on his acting and music career and training. He got in contact and received acting lessons from The Imagined Life with the renowned acting coach Diana Castle.

Music

JC was a very musical child. Throughout school, he participated in voice lessons, choir class, and various other musical endevaors. This musical interest would eventually evolve into a career as a singer/songwriter. In addition to singing, JC is a self-taught guitarist and trained dancer. He received dance training from Anibal Marrero. JC is bilingual, and has performed songs in both English and Spanish.

Acting

JC is a primarily self-taught actor. Similar to his music background, he began to show an interest at an early age, acting in commercials and school theater. After participating in the reality contest show Making Menudo, JC moved to Los Angeles once he graduated high school. There, he began to pursue acting as a serious profession. Like his music career, JC's bilingualism allows him to take roles in both English and Spanish.

Early work

JC has worked in TV commercials and advertisements in Texas. In 2007, at the young age of 17, Gonzalez moved to Los Angeles, California to study and pursue more opportunities. For this Colombian singer/actor started getting involved in show business when tried to join Latin "boy band" Menudo. During this time, JC came across an opportunity to audition for Making Menudo and auditioned for it. Menudo was the Spanish teen-group that was for med in the 1970s by producer Edgardo Diaz. In 2007, the new owners of this Latin pop quintet Menudo began with their project to come back with fresh idea with songs in Spanish and English. JC was an aspirant of this project, Gonzalez and other former members of Menudo created Making Menudo, a show designed to reminisce on the golden-years. JC failed the initial audition in Los Angeles, California. After participating in some dance lessons, JC tried again, auditioning a second time in Dallas, Texas. This audition was more successful, and he was selected as one of the twenty-fifth contestants in New York to be filmed on the series Road to Menudo. The reality show aired on MTV. Fifteen bilingual male singers were selected in the audition process. Road to Menudo documented these fifteen performers as they were coached in singing and dancing in South Beach, Miami, Florida for three and half months. The show was filmed over the summer under the watchful eye of Johnny Wright, who has overseen the careers of the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. JC made it up to the top seven contestants. He received vocal coaching from David Coury and dance training from Anibal Marrero. 'Making Menudo' cast members Carlos Olivero, JC Gonzalez, and Trevor Brown appeared onstage with host Damien Fahey during MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV's Times Square Studios on October 23, 2007 in New York City.

2009 – Present

Gonzalez played roles in prominent television shows such as Parenthood,", "Survival of the Hottest" (Victorious),"Sister City (Parks and Recreation)", RagDolls (Webseries), Los Americans and 11:11. He has acted in Blue (web series) that is an American drama web series starring Julia Stiles and directed by Rodrigo Garcia (director). "What Kind Of A Name Is Blue?", episode 2 of the Season 2 aired on 15 Mar. 2013. Gonzalez co-starred in an online series, as Paul Valenzuela, son of Esai Morales and Yvonne DeLaRosa, and grandson of Lupe Ontiveros in Los Americans on Public Internet Channel PIC.tv. Los Americans is the story of a modern, affluent, suburban Mexican American family living in the United States, and was released on May 26, 2011. JC has also been featured in Kaya’s 2010 music video, "Can’t get you out of my mind," as the lead with Kaya Rosenthal.

Music

JC is one of the new Latin artists that have begun to be recognized internationally gradually. His style of mixing hip hop and Latin pop, and fusion of Afro-pop / rap has begun to win him considerable success in Latin America. JC is usually associated with the Colombian popular music called cumbia, Gonzalez used the basics of this cumbia rhythm combined with a touch of hip hop melodies. JC does not want to limit himself to one style of music, but seeks to incorporate different musical styles including hip hop, rap, reggae ton, ballads, salsa, rock and roll, and even jazz. The song "Equation of Love" is one of his most acclaimed pieces. JC also made a remix of the song "El Perdon" of Enrique Iglesias and Nicky Jam with personal touches of rap as a clear example of his attempt to fuse different musical genres. JC has also sung in Build-A-Bear Workshop and Save the Children collaboration along with two other Menudo contestants. The song was "let's talk about love."

Gonzalez loves dancing since an early age. His passion for dancing lead him to take dance training from Anibal Marrero.