
Paul Calderon
He was born in Puerto Rico 1959. Calderon moved to New York with his family at the age of six, where he grew up on the streets of the Lower East Side and Spanish Harlem. Following some time in college, he enlisted in the United States Army and served overseas as an infantryman. Returning to the States, Calderon set his sights on an acting career. Starting out on the New York stage, he won an Obie Award for his performance in Blade to the Heat at the Public Theatre. His most notable Broadway role was opposite Robert De Niro in Cuba and His Teddy Bear. Calderon also appeared off-Broadway in such plays as Requiem For A Heavyweight and Divine Horsemen, and played Achilles in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s production of Troilus and Cressida in Central Park. He is a founding member of the Touchstone Theatre, the American Folk Theatre and the Labyrinth Theatre Company. Calderon was originally slated to portray the role of Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction; Samuel L. Jackson was subsequently given the role. Correction Samuel Jackson told Tarantino he had messed up by not casting him in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino agreed and told him he was writing a script and had a character that he had written specifically with Jackson in mind. Calderon had a better initial reading than Jackson and Tarantino gave serious consideration to casting him as Jules Winnfield. Calderon portrays Paul the bartender in dialogue scene between Butch Coolidge and Marsellus Wallace. Calderon also co-wrote Abel Ferrara's 1992 crime drama Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel. Calderon acted in The Last Castle and the critically acclaimed independent feature Girlfight. His more than three dozen film credits also include Out of Sight, Cop Land, Four Rooms, Pulp Fiction, Bad Lieutenant, The Firm, The Addiction, Q & A, Sea of Love, Clockers and King of New York. In addition, he has made numerous guest appearances on television series, including recurring roles on Dream Street, Law & Order and Miami Vice. In 2010, Calderon is set to star as The Businessman in Sanzhar Sultanov's crime drama - The Story.
81 acting credits
Acting · 81

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999

Law & Order
1990

The Blacklist
2013

FBI
2018

Blue Bloods
2010

Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2001

Bosch
2015

Elementary
2012

Miami Vice
1984

This Is Us
2016

Third Watch
1999

Blindspot
2015

Fear the Walking Dead
2015

Boardwalk Empire
2010

The Equalizer
1985

Madam Secretary
2014

Pulp Fiction
1994

Lie to Me
2009

Bosch: Legacy
2022

New York Undercover
1994

Law & Order: Trial by Jury
2005

Ironheart
2025

East New York
2022

Justified: City Primeval
2023

The Black Donnellys
2007

The Education of Max Bickford
2001

The Firm
1993

The Hat Squad
1992

Cop Land
1997

The Last Castle
2001

Four Rooms
1995

Dellaventura
1997

Out of Sight
1998

Sea of Love
1989

21 Grams
2003

The Sentinel
2006
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
2021

King of New York
1990

Clockers
1995

Bait
2000

Bad Lieutenant
1992

Q & A
1990

Gun
2010

Montana
1998

Pistol Whipped
2008

The Addiction
1995

3 A.M.
2001

Girlfight
2000

Doubletake
1985

Band of the Hand
1986

Once in the Life
2000

Oxygen
1999

Penn & Teller Get Killed
1989

Hand Gun
1994

CrissCross
1992

The Chair
1988

Welcome to New York
2014

Sticky Fingers
1988

All Revved Up
1998

Dark Angel
1996
West End
2014

The Atlantis Conspiracy
2001

The Old Man and the Sea
1990

Tenement
1985

One Tough Cop
1998

The Keys
1992

Kill the Poor
2003

Sweet Nothing
1995

Burning Daylight
2010

Down This Road
2010

La Soga
2009

The Strike
2016

Biodegradable
2013

The Hungry Ghosts
2009

Condition Red
1995

Bolaetrapo
2013

A Kiss of Chaos
2009

Staging Anna
2024

Lotto Land
1995

Community Plot
1984

Prick
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