Erik Daniel Cruz is an American actor of Puerto Rican descent. Born in the Bronx, New York City his passion for acting began with theater in elementary school and included several starring roles in school productions which continued throughout middle school as well. Erik joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1997 when he starred as the younger version of "Eddie Matos" for an HBO movie in which his older brother, Alexis Cruz, played the title role. Erik moved to Los Angeles at the age of 12 and continued to pursue the craft of acting at North Hollywood high school, the University of California Santa Cruz and finally at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts Hollywood, where he earned his AA degree in acting in 2005. Erik is also a black-belt in 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu (a form of no-gi grappling designed for MMA) under Eddie Bravo who is a 3rd degree BJJ black-belt under Jean Jacque Machado. Erik has fought as an amateur Mixed Martial Arts fighter in California with a record of 3-1 and all wins coming by way of first round submission. Erik is also known as "Compella" within the musical community as a hip-hop lyricist/vocalist and he is one of the lead vocalists for the band, "Smoke Serpent". Show less «