Birth Name: Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida
Nickname/Stage Name: Joaquim de Almeida
Birth Date: March 15, 1957
Genres: Action, Crime Drama
Occupation: Actor
Years Active: 1982 till Present
Net Worth: $10 million
Personal Life
Joaquim de Almeida was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He has two children; a son and a daughter with his partner Maria Risques Pereira.
Education
When he was eighteen, Almeida attended a theater course at the Lisbon Conservatory (School of Theatre and Cinema) for two years and left Portugal to further his studies after the Conservatory was closed down following the 1974 democratic revolution.
He studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York in 1976.
Career
Almeida's film career began in 1982 following his appearance in the 1982 film The Soldier. He had his first notable role in The Honorary Consul (1983).
He made television appearances in Miami Vice and his breakthrough came in Good Morning, Babylon (1987). It opened the Cannes Film Festival.
The star played Felix Cortez in the Tom Clancy thriller Clear and Present Danger co-starring Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, and Anne Archer.
He appeared opposite Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek in Robert Rodriguez's action movie Desperado (1995) and in 1997, was featured in the miniseries Nostromo.
In 2001, Almeida had a supporting role in the war film Behind Enemy Lines alongside Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman. He was cast in series 24 as Ramon Salazar, the ruthless leader of a drug cartel.
He was confirmed to play antagonist Hernan Reyes in Fast Five (2011). The film co-stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Dwayne Johnson.
Between 2013 and 2020, Almeida has had roles in The Gilded Cage, Our Brand is Crisis, The Hitman's Bodyguard, and Downsizing.
Awards
Cairo International Film Festival Award (1994)
Golden Globe Award (1995, 1998, 2002)
Festival Cinema de Badajoz Career Award (2004)
Avanca Film Festival Award (2008)
Prize of the City of Huelva Award (2009)
Trivia
Apart from his native Portuguese, he speaks five languages; English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German.
Is a Knight of the Order of Prince Henry.
He became a citizen of the United States on October 28, 2005.
Movies
The Honorary Consul (1983)
Good Morning, Babylon (1987)
Sandino (1990)
Desperado (1995)
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
The Celestine Prophecy (2006)
Che (2008)
Fast Five (2011)
Of Mind and Music (2014)
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
Downsizing (2018)
An actor known for playing villainous roles.