Marc Anthony Movies
From recording studios to Hollywood soundstages, singer/actor
Marc Anthony has taken both the music and movie industries by storm. Born in New York City and named after legendary Mexican singer
Marco Antonio Muñiz by his musician father, he eventually changed his name to
Marc Anthony in order to avoid confusion. As a young talent, he belted out songs in his family's Spanish Harlem kitchen, his R&B influences shining through. In the years that followed,
Anthony's reputation grew thanks to English-language performances in many New York clubs, and after teaming with producer
"Little" Louie Vega for his record debut (When the Night Is Over) in 1991,
Tito Puente asked
Anthony to open the Latin jazz legend's Madison Square Garden revue in November of that year. Though
Anthony had previously declined suggestions by his manager to record songs in Spanish, it was, ironically, a Spanish-language song that offered the singer his first true taste of success. Emotionally devastated after hearing
Juan Gabriel's "Hasta Que Te Conoci" on the radio while driving around Manhattan,
Anthony instinctively knew that this song was his destiny. In 1993, he went back into the studio to record his first Spanish track, and a searing performance at the Radio Y Musica Latin music convention shortly thereafter -- followed by a career-defining appearance on television's Carnaval Internacional later that same day -- changed his life forever.
In the years that followed,
Anthony not only established himself as an electrifying stage presence, but a talented actor, as well. After kicking off his screen career with a supporting role in the 1988 musical comedy East Side Story, he appeared as a performer in director
Brian De Palma's acclaimed 1993 crime drama
Carlito's Way. Supporting roles in
Natural Causes (1994) and
Hackers (1995) were quick to follow, and, in 1996,
Anthony landed his first major film role in
Stanley Tucci's
Big Night. Impressive performances in
Martin Scorsese's
Bringing Out the Dead (1999) and the romantic drama
In the Time of Butterflies (2001) followed. Meanwhile, his singing career was still going strong with such albums as Libre (2001) and Mended (2002).
Anthony returned to the screen in 2004 with a role in the
Denzel Washington vehicle
Man on Fire.
He married Jennifer Lopez in 2004, and their union produced twins before ending in divorce in 2012. The couple would also make a movie together, El Cantante, about the famous singer Hector Lavoe. He became a regular on the TV series HawthoRNe, playing a detective in the Jada Pinkett Smith series about the life of a registered nurse. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi