Marcel Ruiz

Marcel Ruiz was a Puerto Rican-born actor who had breakout success in the United States when he began playing the role of Alex Alvarez on the Netflix comedy series "One Day at a Time" (Netflix, 2017-). Born in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, you might say that Ruiz was destined to work in show business. His parents owned a successful production company in Puerto Rico, while his grandfather worked as a popular comedian and TV host. Thus, Ruiz knew from a very young age that he wanted to act. He initially began appearing in Spanish-language commercials in his native Puerto Rico, and quickly found that he had an ease and comfort in front of the camera. Despite loving appearing in commercials, Ruiz longed to be acting in films and on television. Luckily, his parents decided to relocate the family to the United States when Ruiz was 9. Moving to the U.S. was exciting for Ruiz, given the sheer vast amount of acting opportunities. Although he was unfamiliar with English, Ruiz knew he had to quickly learn the language in order to nab parts on American television shows. Always a quick learner, Ruiz managed to learn English relatively quickly once he began attending school in America. He also began auditioning for acting roles. For the role of Alex Alvarez, Ruiz sent in a self-made audition tape, and quickly forgot about it, assuming he was a long shot. He was surprised, however, when he was called in to audition in person in front of the series' producers. After several more auditions, Ruiz was cast in the role on "One Day at a Time," which premiered on Netflix in 2017. By 2018, "One Day at Time" had already been renewed for a third season, with Ruiz reprising his role as Alex Alvarez. Additionally, 2018 was also the year Ruiz nabbed a part in the biographical drama "Breakthrough" (2019). That film, which starred Chrissy Metz and Topher Grace, premiered in 2019.