Early life Jonny Cruz was born Jonathan Willie Hernández in
El Paso, Texas, on December 1, 1982, and is the son of Maritza Pagan and Orlando Hernández, younger brother of two children with his sister Sharlene. Jonny chose to use Cruz as his professional last name in honor of his Grandmother Nayda Cruz. He attended school in El Paso and studied abroad in
Würzburg,
Germany, in early grade school. Cruz started acting and performing in his early years in the fourth grade with his first role as
Brom Bones in the play
Sleepy Hollow. He continued his studies and never lost the chance to keep performing at Eastwood High School and went on to study acting and filmmaking at the
University of Texas at Arlington. The ability to be so completely lost in the moment and find perfection through performance and filmmaking attracted Cruz to the art form. Cruz found himself fascinated with
Improv comedy performance and joined the well known
Four Day Weekend Performance Team in
Fort Worth. While performing, Cruz continued to shoot short videos to showcase his comedic and technical talents.
Career Cruz studied
computer science, acting, filmmaking and communication media, all of which he used to understand the complex process of film making. His computer skills allowed him to work as web designer and his passion for acting always prompted him to audition for movie roles as they came. Cruz stated, “I loved to learn so, I would spend endless hours working on the computer learning editing software, visual FX programs, I felt that I could pretty much make a movie on my own from beginning to end after learning all the different aspects of movie making”. He then went on to produce, write, act and direct
Small Timers, his first feature-length film.
Small Timers took six years to complete due to severe technical difficulties, and Cruz stated that completing the film was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do. In 2013, Cruz featured as Jimmy Romero in the film
Infiltraitors, his third production with Sabbatical Pictures. His first and second works with this company were
Exit Speed and
Haunting at the Beacon.
Infiltrators was Cruz's first lead in a feature film. Also in 2013, Cruz performed Victor in the action film
Gone Missing. Since 2016, Cruz has appeared as the voice of
Lúcio in the highly popular game
Overwatch, and reprised the role for
Heroes of the Storm.
Music Cruz has made music for his own movies, such as
Small Timers and plays the guitar and performs
musical improv with his team
Power Up, who with he has played shows in Los Angeles and Hollywood as well as shows at iOwest, Comedy Sportz and The Clubhouse and UCB in California.
Extra activities Cruz teaches “Self Confidence & Improv” for famous author
Neil Strauss consisting of a motivational speaking and helping people to find their best self through facing their fears, Improv being one of the tools to help gain confidence. He also supports “
A Course in Miracles”, which is a foundation for inner peace and is method of coping with fear by shifting your perspective from fear to love, parting from the statement that “fear is an illusion that we create”. He also streams on streaming platform,
Twitch, as a side hobby. His first stream was on October the 6th 2pm PST, with viewers who tuning in to see the
Lúcio voice actor game playing
Overwatch. Over time he has created a fanbase of viewers and friends who tune in regularly as he streams each week. ==Filmography==