Why Chief John Suarez From East New York Looks So Familiar

Jimmy Smits is an icon of television and film with 62 credits to his IMDb page as of this writing, and his role on "East New York" is just his latest stop on a storied career.  He first gained worldwide attention as part of the ensemble lighting up NBC's "L.A. Law." Smits played Victor Sifuentes for five of its six seasons, though he did pop up during the show's final season in a guest-starring capacity. Introduced as a cocky public defender, Sifuentes is coaxed into joining the firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney, and Kuzak. But his heart remains devoted to the struggling populace of the city, and he's not afraid to play dirty to help set his clients free.

It's a role that rewarded Smits well, earning him six Emmy nominations and winning him an award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1990. He told Entertainment Tonight in 2021 that bringing Victor to three-dimensional life was of the utmost importance to him. "[F]irst and foremost, I wanted to make sure that the character, in terms of being a lawyer, was spot on. And they let me do that in so many different ways. The writers' room did this story where there would be semi-comedic scenes and I never thought those kinds of things would happen with this particular character. It was very kind of fulfilling on so many levels." 

At the moment, Smits hasn't expressed any interest in participating in the show's upcoming return to the airwaves in the form of a revival, but it's possible he might return to the show in one way or another.