Ricardo Antonio Chavira

Early life

Chavira was born in Austin, Texas, the son of a Bexar County judge, Juan Antonio Chavira. Raised in San Antonio, he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School and the University of the Incarnate Word. He is a '00 UC San Diego Alumnus and received his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of California San Diego's Professional Actor Training Program in 2000, and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter. Since then, he has worked in film, television and theatre.

Career

From 2004 to 2012, Chavira starred in Desperate Housewives. He played Carlos Solis, husband of Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria). Television credits prior to Desperate Housewives include a series regular role on The Grubbs, recurring roles on Six Feet Under and The Division, and guest-starring roles on Joan of Arcadia, Kingpin, Monk, 24 and JAG, as well as NYPD Blue and two other Steven Bochco series, Philly and City of Angels. He also guest starred on ABC's George Lopez. Following Desperate Housewives, Chavira guest starred on two Season 7 episodes of Burn Notice (2013), playing crime leader Rafael Serrano.

Chavira starred in a production of Tracers at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, and also starred in a co-production of Living Out. He played Stanley Kowalski in the Guthrie Theater's production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, from July 3 to August 21 of 2010 in Minneapolis. His film credits include The Alamo and Piranha 3D. He also had voice roles as Alejandro Borges in the film Dead Space: Aftermath and as John Carver in the video game Dead Space 3.

In 2013, Chavira starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Welcome to the Family. The series was canceled after three episodes.

Chavira guest starred in the Castle episode "At Close Range". He played Alex Lopez.

Chavira returned to ABC with a recurring role on Scandal. He plays the role of Governor Vargas. Chavira plays Xiomara's ex-fiancé Bruce on The CW's Jane the Virgin.

In 2017, Chavira starred in the Netflix horror-comedy Santa Clarita Diet alongside Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore.

Personal life

Chavira has two children with his wife Marcea Dietzel: Tomas Antonio Chavira (b. 2003) and Belen Elysabeth Chavira (b. July 28, 2008). The couple had been together for 18 years when they decided to marry on September 22, 2007 in a small ceremony at their San Antonio, Texas home.

Chavira is a supporter of breast cancer research as his mother, Elizabeth Ries Chavira, died of breast and ovarian cancer when she was 43 years old. Chavira is San Antonio's honorary spokesman for the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and last June served as the National Team Captain for the Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. Chavira was the 2005 co-spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day breast cancer fundraiser.