John Leguizamo made his acting debut in the Paul Morrissey-directed 1985 film ‘Mixed Blood’ where he portrayed ‘Macetero.’ In 1989, he played the role of ‘Private First Class Antonio Dìaz’ in the American war drama film ‘Casualties of War’ directed by Brian De Palma. The film received a positive response from critics and sits on an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The following year, he starred as ‘Burke’ in the Renny Harlin-directed American action-thriller film, ‘Die Hard 2.’ The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office, grossing over $240 million on a $62–70 million budget. He next appeared in films like ‘Poison’ (1991), ‘Out for Justice’ (1991), ‘Whispers in the Dark’ (1992), ‘Night Owl’ (1993), and ‘Super Mario Bros.’ (1993). Leguizamo received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance as ‘Chi-Chi Rodriguez’ in the 1995 American road comedy film ‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar’ directed by Beeban Kidron. The film holds a 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 1995, he portrayed ‘Tybalt Capulet’ in the romantic crime film ‘Romeo + Juliet’ directed by Baz Luhrmann. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and was a major commercial success, grossing over $147.6 million on a budget of $14.5 million.
He went on to star in films such as ‘The Pest’ (1997), ‘Spawn’ (1997), ‘Dr. Dolittle’ (1998), ‘Summer of Sam’ (1999), ‘Titan A.E.’ (2000), ‘Moulin Rouge!’ (2001), ‘Dr. Dolittle 2’ (2001), ‘Collateral Damage’ (2002), ‘Ice Age’ (2002), ‘Spin’ (2002), ‘Undefeated’ (2003), ‘Crónicas’ (2004), ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ (2005), and ‘Sueño’ (2005). In 2006, he starred as ‘T.C.’ in the comedy film ‘The Groomsmen’ directed by Edward Burns. The film opened to a mixed reception and holds a 52% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He was next seen in films like ‘The Babysitters’ (2007), ‘The Take’ (2007), ‘The Happening’ (2008), ‘Righteous Kill’ (2008), ‘Surviving Sid’ (2008), ‘Rage’ (2009), ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ (2009), ‘Repo Men’ (2010), ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ (2011), ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ (2012), ‘Kick-Ass 2’ (2013), ‘The Counselor’ (2013), and ‘Ride Along’ (2014). In 2014, he starred as ‘Aurelio’ in the American neo-noir action thriller film ‘John Wick’ directed by Chad Stahelski. The film earned praise from critics and grossed over $86 million on a budget of $20–30 million. He next starred in films like ‘Experimenter’ (2015), ‘American Ultra’ (2015), ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ (2016), ‘11:55’ (2016), ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ (2017), ‘Nancy’ (2018), ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’ (2019), ‘Critical Thinking’ (2020), and ‘The Survivor’ (2021). He last appeared in the 2021 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film ‘Encanto’ directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard. The film saw critical acclaim upon release and won the ‘Academy Award’ for ‘Best Animated Feature.’