Nowadays, J.R. Ramirez is best known for his role as Detective Jared Vasquez in the supernatural drama Manifest. That said, it is worth noting that Ramirez has been acting long before he got cast on the show.
In fact, his breakout role came years before Manifest came along. What’s more, much like his co-star Josh Dallas, the actor was also already quite the Netflix star even before Manifest started airing with the streaming giant.
For now, however, it seems Ramirez’s sole focus is on Manifest. That said, it seems all his hard work in the past has paid off handsomely for the actor.
While he may not have the highest net worth around, it’s certainly more than earnest. And considering Ramirez came from humble beginnings, this is quite an accomplishment.
J.R. Ramirez Came From An Immigrant Family
Ramirez and his parents came to the United States from Cuba when he was just three months old.
“My parents were able to sacrifice leaving their families and bringing me here and the dangers of all that, to be able to give me the freedom to do whatever I want or need with my life,” the actor told NBC News.
And like other immigrant families, Ramirez’s parents had expected their son to pursue relatively more stable careers. In fact, they were convinced that Ramirez would study medicine. “My mom’s dream was for me to be a surgeon,” he revealed.
As for Ramirez himself, he never really wanted to be a doctor so initially, he attended business school. However, even then, he knew he wanted to act, landing some minor commercial and modeling jobs.
In the end, Ramirez decided he would move to Los Angeles to see he could book more jobs. Initially, it was incredibly difficult. “It’s very challenging getting a lot of no’s [sic] and rejection,” the actor recalled.
“You really need to love what you do to be in this business, and I owe a lot of that to my parents.”
And while his parents didn’t plan for their son to become an actor, they supported him, nonetheless.
“They helped me sustain myself in the beginning of my career out in Los Angeles when things were rough, and I couldn’t pay my rent and was taking a million classes and doing theater,” the actor said.
“They were there the entire way, so I owe them all I have.”
J.R. Ramirez Eventually Booked Several TV Roles
Soon enough, Ramirez started booking jobs. For starters, he was cast as a CTU agent in the critically acclaimed drama 24. Not long after, he landed the part of Diego Hernandez in Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. At the same time, the actor later scored guest roles in shows us as 90210, Rosewood, and Emily Owens M.D.
At some point, Ramirez was cast in the DC Comics-based show Arrow as Ted ‘Wildcat’ Grant. As it turns out, the actor had no idea he was going to play this character in the beginning since that’s not what he was told during auditions.
“I forget the guy’s name, but it was a completely different character. He was just this boxing guy who trains Laurel [Katie Cassidy] and had a nice little arc in the storyline this season,” he told Collider.
“But once I got it, I got a call from everybody over at Arrow, explaining to me that the guy’s name is Ted, Grant, aka Wildcat, and he’s a big superhero.”
Around the same time, Ramirez also starred in the Starz series Power as Julio. Unfortunately, his character dies during the fourth season. However, Ramirez was fine with it.
“When I first saw it, it was definitely bittersweet, but I couldn’t be happier with the fact that I could have just got a bullet to the back of the head, and instead, they wrote a beautiful, moving scene,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly.
Later on, Ramirez entered another superhero world after being cast in the Marvel series Jessica Jones for Netflix.
On the show, the actor played Jessica’s [Krysten Ritter] neighbor and building super. This also marks the first time that Ramirez worked with the streaming giant, which he found “refreshing.”
“I think one of the biggest differences in working for a company like Netflix is that all of our content is released at one time,” the actor told Daily Bloid.
“I’m used to the one episode a week thing so this was refreshing and nerve-wracking all at the same time for me!” And while Oscar was alive the last time fans saw him, it’s unclear if the character would ever be introduced in the MCU at some point in the future.
Here’s J.R. Ramirez’s Net Worth Today
According to recent estimates, Ramirez’s net worth stands at around $1 million today. While it’s unclear how much the actor has been paid for all his roles, it’s likely that he’s getting paid significantly more for his work on the upcoming season of Manifest.
Following Netflix’s decision to produce the last chapter of the series, it held negotiations with Ramirez and his fellow primary cast members after their options expired last year.
For now, Netflix is yet to announce the release date of Manifest’s fourth and final season. According to reports, the new episodes may come out sometime in late 2022.