The Story
Ray Diaz.
An American actor, digital pioneer, and family comedy creator based in Los Angeles. A career built from an island with no industry, one deliberate decision at a time.
Biography
Ray Diaz is an American actor and digital creator whose career runs from network television to an audience of millions online.
Born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban parents, he spent part of his childhood in foster care. He began modeling in New York with Wilhelmina and booked a national Macy’s commercial at his first audition. Campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch (his image appeared on the brand’s shopping bag), Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren Polo, L’Oréal, Reebok and Harley-Davidson followed, along with a Nautica editorial and eighteen national commercials for brands including Lexus, Ford, Subway and the U.S. Army.
He trained at the William Esper Studio in New York and with Ivana Chubbuck before moving to Los Angeles, where he made his film debut in the independent thriller Stone Markers, followed by In Da Cut and Close Range. His first series-regular role was Nicolas Reyes in 24 episodes of Hulu’s East Los High. He played Camilo Campaneris on BET’s Real Husbands of Hollywood, joined the second season of TV Land’s Lopez as series regular Hector opposite George Lopez, and played Gilbert on Sober Coach, where he also served as a producer. He also appears as the fighter in W&W’s “Rave Culture” music video.
In 2016 Diaz began making comedy on Instagram and passed one million followers in under three months, one of the first trained actors to build a career across television and social media. He went on to create some of the first influencer-built fitness programs on Fitplan.
Today he creates couples comedy and family content with his partner and their son for an audience of more than 2 million, and partners with brands including LEVEL8, LOOK25, Lev + Liv and Beauty Lounge Med Spa. In 2026 he released his first single, “She Loves Balenciaga,” featuring producer Mally Mall.
Diaz is a member of SAG-AFTRA. For bookings, contact Aqua Talent Agency in Los Angeles.
Biography by Ray Diaz · Also on IMDb ↗
- Born
- Key West, Florida
- Based
- Los Angeles
- Union
- SAG-AFTRA
- Heritage
- Cuban
- Training
- William Esper Studio, Ivana Chubbuck
- Campaigns
- 18 national commercials
- Representation
- Aqua Talent Agency, commercial
The long version
Six chapters- 01
The island
Born and raised in Key West in 1985 to Cuban parents who arrived in the United States at the end of the seventies. An island with no film industry, no agencies, and no visible path into entertainment. At eleven he was b-boying on Duval Street and at Mallory Square. He played football from Pop Warner and City League through high school and college, ran track, boxed under his coach Ricky Jackson, played JV baseball, and spent a year on the basketball team at Florida Keys Community College. He cleaned pools for Ricky, worked marine construction, built docks, and attended five colleges, all before anyone put a camera on him. Key West has a way of pulling its people back home. He left, and became one of the few from the island to build a career on national television and social media.
- 02
The first frame
In 2009 he entered the Model and Talent Expo in Dallas and took first place in every category, leaving with trophies and a scholarship offer to the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. He signed with the Osslin Agency in Fort Myers, moved to Miami, then to New York, where Wilhelmina signed him and Macy's gave him his first national commercial.
- 03
Paying for the dream
New York meant working for it. Abercrombie, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks, where he was the first male model the brand hired at its Aventura location. Five hours a day of standing and flexing built the physical presence he would later carry into Hollywood. Nightlife nearly wore him down, so he moved to catering: nights paid the bills, days belonged to the work.
- 04
The camera learns his face
Eighteen national commercials followed, for Macy's, Ford, Lexus, Subway, Applebee's, Michelob Ultra, Xbox, Amazon, Corona, Time Warner Cable, Harley-Davidson and the U.S. Army. On film: Close Range, In Da Cut, Paint It Red, South32. Then scripted television: Nicolas Reyes across 24 episodes of Hulu's East Los High, Camilo Campaneris on BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood, and Hector opposite George Lopez on Lopez.
- 05
The bridge
In 2016 he began making comedy videos and passed a million followers in under three months. On December 15, 2016, Andy Frisella and 1st Phorm gave him his first six figure sponsorship. He built on Fitplan soon after, starting with a ninety day functional training program and then a four week strength and hypertrophy plan, among the first influencer built fitness programs anywhere, at a moment when almost nobody believed a trained actor belonged in digital media.
- 06
The family chapter
Today the work is couples comedy and family storytelling made with his partner and their son, reaching millions across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook. Alongside it he consults, helping brands and creators build, elevate, and develop what they are making, drawing on fifteen years of doing it himself across television, campaigns, and digital. The through line has not changed since the dock crew: discipline, longevity, and making something that lasts.
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