Before 'Gotham,' David Zayas Was No Sal Maroni

Even though he is playing mob boss Sal Maroni on Gotham , David Zayas might be most well-known for his long-time career in on-screen law enforcement. David Zayas played Angel Batista on Dexter , and if you've never seen Dexter then you need to sign on to Neflix and add it to your winter watchlist (because it's ah-mazing). Angel Batista was the best Lieutenant/Sergeant on the Miami police force, even though he worked with a serial killer and didn’t know it, but thats all perspective. Although he has always been a side character, never a lead, Zayas has been in the tv and movie world for a very long time — since around 1996 to be exact.

Before becoming an actor, Zayas was in the Air Force and the NYPD, which helps to explain all of his law enforcement roles and why he's damn good at playing police officers. Who plays a cop better than a real-life cop? Answer: no one. Now that the tables have turned and Zayas has signed on to a reccurring role playing the infamous DC comic mob boss, we will be seeing a different side of him (probably the exact opposite of Angel Batista), but nonetheless I'm ready to see him back on TV.

Here are some of David Zayas' most famous roles that you need to know about if you're a fan of his work on Gotham.

Detective-bound

Let's talk cops and law enforcement roles, because Zayas has no shortage of them. Maybe you remember way back to Stepmom when Zayas was a police officer in a small, short role. Or maybe his pivotal moment in Bringing Out the Dead when he was simply a "cop in an elevator." Since these roles, David has played law enforcement in tons of other shows and movies, including Law & Order: SVU, regular Law & Order, Guiding Light, Michael Clayton, and my personal favorite, the Lifetime classic Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, where he played Detective Flores.

Oz

Back in the early 2000s there was a show called Oz, which was about a prison facility and its inmates. Besides Dexter, this is probably Zayas’ most famous role. His character lead a prison faction and was incarcerated for killing another man. Needless to say, people were scared of him.

Annie

Get ready to see Zayas on the big screen, playing Lou in the Jamie Foxx-starring remake of Annie. He will be playing "Lou," which I can only assume means that he will be playing the judge that presides over the adoption case. In the original Annie, the character is Louis Brandeis (which is the name of a real life Supreme Court Justice, in case you missed history class).

Rounders

He's extremely far down on the cast list, but Rounders is a very famous movie, so I decided that it should be noted. The 1998 mob poker movie starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton is a classic and Zayas plays a man named Osbourne. Zayas wasn't a big star at the time so he had a smaller role.

13

The 2010 movie about violence and gambling, apparently common themes in Zayas' work, 13 stars Sam Riley, Jason Statham, and Mickey Rourke. Can you guess who Zayas plays? Detective Larry Mullane, of course!

Images: Jessica Miglio/FOX; Randy Tepper/Showtime; ReplyGif