# Victor Rasuk
**Victor Rasuk** (born 1984) is an American actor of Dominican descent known for his breakthrough title role in the independent film *Raising Victor Vargas* (2002), his portrayal of skateboarder [Tony Alva](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-alva) in *Lords of Dogtown* (2005), and his role as Cam Calderon in the HBO series *How to Make It in America* (2010–2011).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/) • [2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) His later screen work includes the *Fifty Shades of Grey* trilogy, the 2014 *Godzilla* reboot, and leading television roles in *The Baker and the Beauty* and *Reasonable Doubt*.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/victor-rasuk/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984, New York City, New York, USA[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/) |
| Breakthrough | Title role in *Raising Victor Vargas* (2002), cast by Peter Sollett after the NYU thesis short *Five Feet High and Rising* (2000)[4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6) |
| Early recognition | Grand Special Prize at the Deauville Film Festival for *Raising Victor Vargas* and a 2004 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance[5](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity/victor-rasuk-10971/biography/) |
| Signature TV role | Cam Calderon on HBO's *How to Make It in America*, opposite Bryan Greenberg, Kid Cudi, and Luis Guzmán[2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) |
| Franchise role | José in *Fifty Shades of Grey* (2015), *Fifty Shades Darker* (2017), and *Fifty Shades Freed* (2018)[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/victor-rasuk/) |
| Recent series work | Series lead Daniel Garcia in *The Baker and the Beauty* (2020) and Mike Ortiz in *Reasonable Doubt* (2022–2025)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/) |
## Early life and breakthrough
Rasuk was born in 1984 in New York City and grew up in Harlem and the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/) • [5](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity/victor-rasuk-10971/biography/) • [6](https://llero.net/victor-rasuk-new-york-actor/3/amp/) He began acting at age fourteen, when he answered an ad posted in his neighborhood to audition for a New York University student film.[5](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity/victor-rasuk-10971/biography/) He later attended a performing arts high school in Manhattan, where a classmate was the actor [Jesse Eisenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/jesse-eisenberg).[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/victor-rasuk-how-to-make-it-in-america) He has said his ambition to act came from seeing [John Leguizamo](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-leguizamo)'s one-man show *Freak* on a discounted school field trip: "I want to make people feel the way he made me feel."[2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk)
**Peter Sollett and the Vargas films.** While Rasuk was enrolled at the performing arts high school, he met the NYU student director Peter Sollett, who cast him as a Dominican teenager in the 2000 thesis short film *Five Feet High and Rising*. The short won awards at Sundance, played at the Cannes Film Festival, and introduced the Victor Vargas character.[4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6) • [8](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Victor-victorious-A-19-year-old-newcomer-is-2620899.php) Sollett then hired Rasuk to recreate and expand the role in the feature *Raising Victor Vargas* (2002), about a [Lower East Side](https://www.edgepedia.org/lower-east-side) teenager pursuing a neighborhood girl while living with his grandmother, brother, and sister.[5](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity/victor-rasuk-10971/biography/) • [9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raising-victor-vargas-2003) Rasuk's real-life younger brother Silvestre played his on-screen brother Nino.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raising-victor-vargas-2003) Sollett rehearsed the cast for a month and shaped their improvisation into his script, and Rasuk described the production as feeling like "a small family."[8](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Victor-victorious-A-19-year-old-newcomer-is-2620899.php)
The film won the Grand Special Prize at the Deauville Film Festival and earned Rasuk a 2004 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance.[5](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity/victor-rasuk-10971/biography/) At the 2003 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) it was a must-see hit, and [Dustin Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dustin-hoffman) began promoting it during interviews for his own film.[8](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Victor-victorious-A-19-year-old-newcomer-is-2620899.php)
## Film career
After *Raising Victor Vargas*, Rasuk appeared in a string of critically acclaimed but not widely released independent films, including *Haven* (2004) with [Orlando Bloom](https://www.edgepedia.org/orlando-bloom), *Lords of Dogtown* (2005), the [Iraq War](https://www.edgepedia.org/iraq-war) drama *Stop-Loss* (2008), and [Steven Soderbergh](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-soderbergh)'s Che biopic with Benicio del Toro.[2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6) • [6](https://llero.net/victor-rasuk-new-york-actor/3/amp/) In *Stop-Loss* he played a soldier gravely wounded while saving the life of a fellow soldier played by Ryan Phillippe.[4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6)
**Lords of Dogtown.** Rasuk portrayed the groundbreaking skateboarder Tony Alva in [Catherine Hardwicke](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-hardwicke)'s 2005 film. Alva himself, having seen Rasuk in *Raising Victor Vargas*, campaigned for him to get the part.[10](https://www.hollywood.com/general/lords-of-dogtown-interview-victor-rasuk-57167877) Rasuk, who could not skate before the film, trained intensively for about three months and was taught by Alva directly.[10](https://www.hollywood.com/general/lords-of-dogtown-interview-victor-rasuk-57167877) Because he was keen to perform much of his own stunt work, he suffered a fractured orbital socket along with assorted skating injuries while shooting, which occurred at a number of the original Los Angeles sites.[4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6)
**Studio pictures.** Rasuk's later film credits include Bill Fernandez in the [Steve Jobs](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-jobs) biopic *Jobs* (2013), Sergeant Tre Morales in the *Godzilla* reboot (2014), and Gabriel in *Being Flynn* (2012), in which he appeared alongside [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro), Paul Dano, and [Julianne Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/julianne-moore).[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/victor-rasuk/) • [11](https://www.cinemovie.tv/index.php/Interviews/fifty-shades-of-grey-s-victor-rasuk-talks-sequel-his-cbs-show-stalkers-and-taking-it-all-off) He called working with De Niro "a dream come true" and said he learned from watching how prepared De Niro remained regardless of career stage.[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/victor-rasuk-how-to-make-it-in-america) His most widely seen role came as José, Anastasia Steele's close friend, in the *Fifty Shades of Grey* trilogy (2015, 2017, and 2018).[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/victor-rasuk/) Speaking to Dominican press, Rasuk said he felt proud to represent Latinos in the film.[12](https://www.diariolibre.com/revista/cine/actor-dominicano-vctor-rasuk-en-50-sombras-de-grey-PADL1009521)
## Television
Rasuk's early television work included appearances on *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* and *Law & Order: Trial by Jury*, and a recurring part on the final season of NBC's *E.R.*, which he described as his most visible role to that point.[4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6) • [2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk)
**How to Make It in America.** From 2010 to 2011 Rasuk played Cam Calderon, an aspiring clothing entrepreneur on New York's Lower East Side, in the HBO series *How to Make It in America*, opposite [Bryan Greenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-greenberg), Kid Cudi, and [Luis Guzmán](https://www.edgepedia.org/luis-guzman) as Cam's cousin Rene.[2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) • [13](https://abcnews.com/blogs/entertainment/2011/10/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-were-just-trying-to-pay-our-rent) He called the show the closest thing to *Raising Victor Vargas* that he had done and the project he was most proud of.[2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) Guzmán had been the first well-known actor to contact Rasuk after *Raising Victor Vargas* came out, and Rasuk personally persuaded him to join the cast.[2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) The show ran two seasons.[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/victor-rasuk-how-to-make-it-in-america)
**Later series.** Rasuk was a series lead as Daniel Garcia in the ABC romantic comedy *The Baker and the Beauty* (2020, nine episodes) and played Disco in the second season of *Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan* (2019, six episodes).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/) From 2022 to 2025 he played Mike Ortiz in sixteen episodes of the legal drama *Reasonable Doubt*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/) His other television credits include *Colony*, *Blue Bloods*, and *How I Met Your Father*.[14](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-42284/filmographie/)
## Background and representation
Rasuk is of Dominican descent, and his early roles drew directly on his upbringing: he has described the Victor Vargas character as "kind of a composite of the kids I grew up with," and critics noted that in the film he essentially played a Dominican teenager coming of age on the Lower East Side.[8](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Victor-victorious-A-19-year-old-newcomer-is-2620899.php) • [2](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk) Film scholarship has placed *Raising Victor Vargas* among a group of early-2000s films, alongside *Washington Heights* and *My American Girls: A Dominican Story*, that depict the lives of first US-born generation Dominicans caught between their aspirations and those of their immigrant families.[15](https://open.online.uga.edu/latinxmedia/chapter/the-dominican-american-experience-in-media/)
## References
1. [Victor Rasuk, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711559/)
2. [Q&A: How To Make It In America Star Victor Rasuk, BET (September 29, 2011)](https://www.bet.com/article/lvc2a4/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-victor-rasuk)
3. [Victor Rasuk, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/victor-rasuk/)
4. [Victor Rasuk Films and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/gb/person/victor-rasuk/umc.cpc.7g4rhhmkngk7wz821pfovmtg6)
5. [Victor Rasuk Biography, Showtimes](https://www.showtimes.com/celebrity/victor-rasuk-10971/biography/)
6. [Victor Rasuk, 'LLERO](https://llero.net/victor-rasuk-new-york-actor/3/amp/)
7. [Victor Rasuk in 24 Hours, Interview Magazine (November 9, 2011)](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/victor-rasuk-how-to-make-it-in-america)
8. [Victor victorious: A 19-year-old newcomer is winning over movie critics with his role in 'Vargas', SFGate (April 23, 2003)](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Victor-victorious-A-19-year-old-newcomer-is-2620899.php)
9. [Raising Victor Vargas movie review, RogerEbert.com (April 18, 2003)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raising-victor-vargas-2003)
10. ["Lords of Dogtown" Interview: Victor Rasuk, Hollywood.com](https://www.hollywood.com/general/lords-of-dogtown-interview-victor-rasuk-57167877)
11. [FIFTY SHADES OF GREY's Victor Rasuk Talks Sequel, His CBS Show 'Stalkers' and Taking It All Off, CineMovie (February 18, 2015)](https://www.cinemovie.tv/index.php/Interviews/fifty-shades-of-grey-s-victor-rasuk-talks-sequel-his-cbs-show-stalkers-and-taking-it-all-off)
12. [Actor dominicano Víctor Rasuk en "50 sombras de Grey", Diario Libre (February 12, 2015)](https://www.diariolibre.com/revista/cine/actor-dominicano-vctor-rasuk-en-50-sombras-de-grey-PADL1009521)
13. ['How to Make It in America' Star: 'We're Just Trying to Pay Our Rent', ABC News (October 11, 2011)](https://abcnews.com/blogs/entertainment/2011/10/how-to-make-it-in-america-star-were-just-trying-to-pay-our-rent)
14. [Victor Rasuk: Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-42284/filmographie/)
15. [The Dominican American Experience in Media, Latinx Media: An Open-Access Textbook](https://open.online.uga.edu/latinxmedia/chapter/the-dominican-american-experience-in-media/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames R to Ri*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license