From Crime Dramas to Blockbusters: Where the Will Trent Cast Got Their Start

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Those who have fallen in love with the latest network police procedural with a twist, Will Trent, probably found themselves furiously Googling the actors, all of whom probably look so familiar. Some are instantly recognizable, but others are actors fans have seen in other projects, some pretty high profile ones, too, but just can’t place.

The show was released in January 2023 and a second season premiered in February 2024. Will Trent was met with rave reviews despite its played-out concept of a special agent with unique skills. The success of the show is in large part thanks to the tremendous cast.

Ramón Rodriguez (Will Trent) Is In One Of The Greatest Shows Ever

Ramón Rodriguez plays the title and most likable character in the series, a talented special agent with a knack for solving cases using unconventional methods and incredible intuition. He has been acting since 2005, appearing in both movies and TV shows. One of his most notable movie roles is that of Leo Spitz in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, for which he received an ALMA Award nomination. His most recent high-profile film was The One and Only Ivan, in which he played George.

Rodriguez has just as many TV credits to his name, starting with small roles in shows like Rescue Me and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. His first main role was in Day Break, a crime drama series that aired in the early 2000s. But he’s arguably best known as Renaldo on The Wire. His most recent TV role before snagging the lead role in Will Trent was in 2018’s The Affair.

Erika Christensen (Angie Polaski) Is Remembered From a Teen Thriller

Erika Christensen, who plays a detective and Will’s childhood friend and sometimes lover, is best known as Julia Braverman-Graham on the family comedy-drama Parenthood, where she had a main role through the show’s entire run. But she had been acting since the late 1990s, appearing in single episodes of a variety of shows like The Practice, Frasier, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and That ‘70s Show.

Christensen also has a movie career that spans decades, with her first role back in 1997 in Leave It to Beaver as Karen L. Connelly. Swimfan is the movie she is often recognized from, where she plays a woman who becomes obsessed with a man she meets. She earned an MTV Movie Award for her role in Traffic for Breakthrough Female Performance. Most recently on the big screen, Christensen had a main role in the 2022 movie Cheaper by the Dozen, a third adaptation of the story following the 1950 and 2003 movies.

Iantha Richardson (Faith Mitchell) Played A Future Version Character In A Top TV Drama

Iantha Richardson smiling as adult Tess in This Is Us.

Iantha Richardson, who plays Will’s at first reluctant new partner and eventual friend, has only been acting for a decade, but she has already been in some high-profile series. Fans probably recognize her most as the future version of Tess, Randall and Beth’s eldest daughter, in the series This Is Us. She appeared in 10 episodes throughout the series as the daughter who had grown up to become a social worker.

She also had a minor recurring role in Good Trouble, a drama that served as a spin-off to The Fosters. She’s a best friend of the supporting characters Malika and Yari and appeared in nine episodes through the show’s five-season run. Will Trent marks Richardson’s first starring role.

Jake McLaughlin (Michael Ormewood) Is a Real-Life Veteran

As Ormewood, Angie’s partner on the force, Jake McLaughlin only began acting in 2007. Before that, he was serving in the military during the Iraq War. His real-life experience as a soldier has helped him portray many authoritarian roles with authenticity. His first big role was in the 2007 movie In the Valley of Elah and his first big TV role was as a main character in the second season of the short-lived series Crash, where he played a former high school pitcher. He auditioned for the role after learning that director Paul Haggis was specifically looking for vets to play certain parts.

But the role McLaughlin is likely most recognized form is as undercover FBI agent Ryan Booth in Quantico, the man in charge of searching for Priyanka Chopra’s character Alex Parrish. Some might not realize that he was also Gary Hall in Black Bird, one of the best shows on Apple TV+. He’s the brother of convicted serial killer Larry Hall, played by Paul Walter Hauser.

Sonja Sohn (Amanda Wagner) Worked With Rodriguez Before

It’s no surprise that one of Sonja Sohn’s first acting roles back in the ‘90s was in the independent movie Slam given that she was a slam poet before pursuing acting. No stranger to playing authoritative characters in law enforcement, her most notable role is that of detective Kima Greggs in the widely popular HBO series The Wire, which she portrayed through the show’s entire run. It’s similar to her role as Deputy Director on Will Trent.

Sohn has had mostly recurring and guest roles in shows like Brothers & Sisters, The Good Wife (one of the best CBS shows), Burn Notice, The Originals, Luke Cage, The Chi, and Star Trek: Discovery. But she had one other starring role beyond The Wire and before Will Trent in Body of Proof. Sohn is also a political activist, which took her attention away from acting for a time. She founded ReWired for Change, an outreach program for at-risk youth that was borne from her The Wire role.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Paul Campano) Was A ‘90s Teen Crush & Plays a Twisted Kidnapper

Those of an older generation will know Mark-Paul Gosselaar for his most iconic character Zack Morris in the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell. Those of a younger generation may recognize him for reprising that role in the short-lived Peacock revival series of the same name. Anyone who didn’t watch either will likely, however, recognize Gosselaar as Sir in the NBC procedural drama Found. In that role, he plays a troubled kidnapper who, in a twist of fate, is kidnapped and locked up by the very woman he kidnapped as a teen.

Acting since the mid-1980s, Gosselaar has appeared in many movies and TV projects, but he’s mostly known for the latter. Along with appearing in episodes of all types of shows, from Blossom to Weeds, Gosselaar has had particular success in roles of authority, like on NYPD Blue and Franklin & Bash. He returned to his sitcom roots for the Black-ish spin-off series Mixed-ish where he played the main role of Paul Johnson, Bow’s father. While he only has a small part in Will Trent as an old foe from the orphanage and a man involved in the first case of the pilot episode, he appears a few more times as a recurring character.

Greg Germann (James Ulster) Is Often A Villain

With a resume that reads like a laundry list of TV projects, if there’s a popular TV show, chances are that Greg Germann, who plays a villainous lawyer and killer on Will Trent, has appeared in an episode of it. Along with his lengthy movie career that includes small roles in films like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Get Hard, Germann has been steadily appearing in episodes of TV shows since 1985, starting with those famous ‘80s ABC afterschool specials.

His most known roles for those who grew up in the ‘90s are in Ned & Stacey and Ally McBeal, where he played the main characters in both. He appeared in episodes of shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the original in the expanding franchise, Ghost Whisperer, and Medium. He then had recurring roles in shows like Raising Hope and House of Lies over the following decade and a half. He landed the recurring role of Hades in Once Upon a Time in 2016, where he appeared in 10 episodes of the fifth season and earned a Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Villain. He was also in 61 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy since season 14, promoted to main character for seasons 16 and 17 then guest for 18 and 19.

LisaGay Hamilton (Evelyn Mitchell) Is The Queen Of Recurring Roles

Appearing in movies, on television, and stage since the ‘80s and ‘90s, LisaGay Hamilton, who plays Faith’s mother and a former detective, has had an illustrious acting career so far. She has had many episodic and recurring roles, but her first main role was in The Practice. Moving into the 2010s, she played Melissa Thoreau on the comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age, which starred Ray Romano, Scott Bakula, and the late Andre Braugher.

One of her most recognizable roles of late might be in House of Cards, Chance, or The First. But Hamilton’s long resume has seen her in small roles on shows like The Blacklist, This Is Us, and The Rookie as well. Some of her most recent ones include The Lincoln Lawyer, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and Class of ’09, one of the best shows about AI. Most recently, she plays Alberta Williams King in Genius.

Cora Lu Tran (Nico) Is Just Breaking Onto The Scene

Cora Lu Tran is relatively new to the acting scene. Their first role was only seven years ago in a 2017 digital short. From there, Tran has had small roles, some uncredited, in a few well-known shows like the iCarly reboot and Criminal Minds as well as the movie Family Switch (blink and you might miss them in that one!)

With that said, Will Trent is the young actor’s first role, but they knock it out of the park as Will’s “house manager” whose primary job is to care for his precious pup Betty when he’s at work or otherwise indisposed. They most recently appeared in the 2024 action western movie Paradise as Cha Cha.

John Ortiz (Antonia Miranda) Is A Gangster Movie Favorite

John Ortiz with curly hair talking passionately in Kong: Skull Island.

Carlito’s Way was John Ortiz’s film debut where he played the young cousin to Al Pacino’s lead character. Since then, he has been in more than 30 movies, including many popular gangster movies. He was most recently in the Academy Award-nominated movie American Fiction. He has also been acting on television shows since the ‘90s with his first role as a guest on Law & Order. His most notable recent TV role before being cast as Will’s uncle Antonia in the second season of Will Trent was in the short-lived series Promised Land where he was the lead character.

Ortiz has been integral to ensuring quality roles for Latino actors, founding the Latino Actors Base with 13 others in 1992. The organization became LAByrinth Theater Company and now includes more than 100 artists of all kinds. In addition to acting in movies and TV, he is also an accomplished stage actor.

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