He has appeared in over films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced various television projects. He has also written and performed for the Broadway stage, receiving four Tony Award nominations for Freak in , Sexaholix in , and Latin History for Morons in He received a Special Tony Award in Leguizamo began his career as a stand-up comedian in New York City.
After several years of doing supporting roles in film and television, he rose to fame with major roles in the fantasy adventure Super Mario Bros. Leguizamo is also known for his television roles including his television special Freak , a filmed version of his eponymous Broadway show, for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. When Leguizamo was 3 years old, [ 11 ] his family emigrated to New York City, [ 12 ] where they lived in various neighborhoods in Queens , including Jackson Heights.
There were lots of fights. I would walk through a park and be attacked, and I had to defend myself all the time. But this helped me to become funny so that I wouldn't get hit. Leguizamo was arrested twice as a teenager, once for jumping a turnstile at a New York City Subway station and another time for truancy. His family later sent him to Colombia for a year where he stayed with his relatives.
As a student at Murry Bergtraum, he wrote comedy material and tested it on his classmates. He was voted "Most Talkative" by his classmates. After graduating from high school, he began his theater career as an undergraduate at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts , from which he eventually dropped out in favor of a career in stand-up comedy.
Leguizamo started out as a stand-up comic doing the New York nightclub circuit in , and in , he performed at The Public Theater in two shows, including as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream in which he appeared with Fisher Stevens.
