Player Profile

Nicholas Gonzalez - Try to Get a Read on This Guy

Nicholas Gonzalez - Try to Get a Read on This Guy

Fact File

Age: 30

Born: San Antonio, TX

Resides: Los Angeles, CA

Featured in: Episode 2

Key stats: The O.C., Resurrection Blvd.

Did you know?: Nick is an animal rights activist. His adds for PETA say, "If you wouldn’t wear your dog, please don’t wear fur."

Also in Episode: Johnny Chan, Mike Matusow, Shawn Sheikhan, Gus Hansen, Yancey Arias

Fact File

It's a known fact that actors can be good at poker, as they're used to hiding their emotions. Nicholas Gonzalez is not only an accomplished actor and an excellent poker player, he’s also one of the studliest nerds you’ll ever meet.

While going to high school in San Antonio, Texas, Nicholas was a cross-country state champ. He turned down a Presidential appointment to attend West Point so he could attend Stanford and pursue an English degree. He went on to spend two terms at Oxford University studying literature, history, and poetry. After graduation, he attained a research grant to study with James Joyce scholars at Oxford and Trinity College in order to complete his thesis on Joyce’s Ulysses - known to be one of the most challenging books ever written in the English language.

One gets the impression that Nicholas was on a mission to dispel the stereotype that actors aren’t that smart.

Actually, Nicholas had no intention of becoming an actor when he started Stanford. That changed when a friend drafted him to appear in a one-man theater piece. His debut impressed members of Stanford’s Drama department, so much so that they encouraged him to try out for other roles. In no time at all, Nicholas was a regular fixture in San Francisco’s theater community.

When Nicholas moved to Los Angeles, he scored roles in several sitcoms, and eventually moved to meatier parts, like playing Fidel Castro’s son in the Lifetime movie My Little Assassin. In 1999, he played a gay yuppie in MTV’s anthology series Undressed, becoming one of the series’ most popular characters.

Nicholas’ biggest part to date was one of the leads in the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd. He played Alex, a pre-med student who drops out of school to join the family business - boxing.

Nicholas’ passion for literature continues to this day. He’s a voracious reader, sometimes polishing off eight books a week. When he doesn’t have his nose in a book, he donates his time to animal rights groups like PETA and promotes Latino heritage through organizations like the National Hispanic Institute.