MEET THE CAST

Benjamin Bratt "William Banks"

Producer

, "The Cleaner"

After reaching the depths of his addictions, William Banks turned to God with a proposal: give him a second chance and he would be his avenging angel. Now he leads a rag-tag team devoted to helping other addicts get clean by any means necessary. He juggles his work with his rocky relationships with a wife who previously left him twice and his kids who haven't forgiven his absences during multiple stints in jail and rehab.

For more than 20 years, actor Benjamin Bratt's career has successfully spanned film and television. Bratt made his fourth appearance at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as an actor (The Woodsman, Thumbsucker, Follow Me Home), and his second as a producer with the film La Mission.

Bratt's distinguished film career includes the critically acclaimed films Piñero, for which he was lauded for a striking, haunting, and "career defining" performance of the poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero; Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, which received five Academy Award® nominations and a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Ensemble Cast; and The Woodsman, a festival and critical favorite starring Kevin Bacon.

Television audiences perhaps best recognize Bratt from his award-winning role of "Detective Rey Curtis" on NBC's long-running drama "Law & Order." Throughout his tenure on the show, he and the cast won an Emmy® for Best Drama Series, while he garnered an Emmy Award nomination for best supporting actor, won two ALMA Awards, a SAG Award nomination with his cast for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and an NCLR Bravo Award nomination. Bratt starred in the hit A&E® miniseries "The Andromeda Strain," from Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and based on the novel by Michael Crichton, which was the number one original movie or miniseries of 2008 and garnered seven Emmy® nominations. He currently stars on the A&E drama series "The Cleaner," for which he also serves as Producer.

A veteran of over 25 films, Bratt's other work of note includes Curtis Hansen's The River Wild opposite Meryl Streep; Blood In, Blood Out for director Taylor Hackford; Clear and Present Danger starring Harrison Ford; Stephen Gaghan's directorial debut Abandon opposite Katie Holmes; the World War II drama The Great Raid for Miramax Films; the beloved comedy Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock, for which he won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award; and most recently the theatrical adaption of the acclaimed novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, co-starring Javier Bardem.

In La Mission, due in theaters Fall 2009, Bratt re-teams with his writer/director/producer brother Peter Bratt (Follow Me Home) to star in and produce a story which recalls the culture, people, and beliefs of their childhood in the Mission district of San Francisco. In bringing "Che" to life, Bratt portrays a man of proud conviction, frightening intolerance, hard-earned respect, and... love. Throughout his inspiring performance he delivers to audiences a challenging character with depth and complexity; a character who is sure to define Bratt's accomplished resume for years to come.

Benjamin and Peter Bratt have recently joined with producer Alpita Patel to form 5 Stick Films, a production company geared towards films of conscience, with an aim toward telling stories with passion, vision and personal reflection. La Mission is the first film from this emerging endeavor.

Bratt is married to actress Talisa Soto Bratt. They reside in Los Angeles with their two children.

Slider Handle
Next On
SEASON FINALE
Trick Candles
Tuesday, September 15, 10/9C
Divider
Shop
The Cleaner: The First Season DVD

Be the first to own the first season on DVD!
Divider
Newsletter

Get the scoop on all things A&E. Sign up for AETV.com email updates to get all of the latest news on your favorite A&E shows like The Cleaner.

Divider
Mobile

Text 8000 for NEW episode alerts to AE2GO (23246)
Click here for all A&E Mobile offerings.

Divider
Facebook
The Cleaner on A&E on Facebook
Divider
Also On

If you like The Cleaner, you might also like:

Divider