32 celebrities that were born in San Antonio, including some that may surprise you

Anthony Alabi
Born in San Antonio in 1981, Anthony Alabi went on to attend Antonian College Preparatory High School before moving on to play college football at Texas Christian University. First snagged by the Miami Dolphins in the 2005 NFL draft, Alabi played professional football untill 2009, when he retired to pursue acting. Most recently, Alabi has been featured on Disney’s Raven’s Home as Coach Spitz and starred opposite Tia Mowry-Hardict in Netflix’s Family Reunion.
Photo via Netflix / Family Reunion

Chrysta Bell
Songstress and longtime David Lynch collaborator Chrysta Bell has roots right here in the Alamo CIty — she was born in San Antonio and went to Alamo Heights High School. Though her work with the enigmatic filmmaker originally began in the music sphere, she made her screen debut as FBI Agent Tammy Preston in the hotly anticipated 2017 return of Lynch’s iconic TV series Twin Peaks.
Photo via Showtime / Twin Peaks

James Roday Rodriguez
Psych star James Roday Rodriguez recently re-embraced his Latino heritage by retaking his surrname after performing for years under the name James Roday. The San Antonio native was born here in 1976 and went to Taft HS before making his name playing a fake psychic detective on the long-running USA comedy series for eight seasons and two movies. Recently, he also played Gary Mendez on ABC’s A Million Little Pieces.
Photo via ABC / A Million Little Things

Michelle Rodriguez
Action star Michelle Rodriguez came out kicking in San Antonio in 1978, and lived in Texas until she was 8. Her family later moved to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Rodriguez may be best known for playing Letty in the Fast & Furious movies, but she’s also appeared in other iconic franchises including Machete and Resident Evil.
Photo via Universal Pictures

Jesse Borrego
Nobody reps the 2-1-0 like Jesse Borrego. Born in San Antonio in 1962, the Harlandale HS graduate still lives here today. While he may be best known for his roles in Fame and Blood In Blood Out, Borrego’s had his share of roles on hit TV series — from Dexter to Fear the Walking Dead — and was mosst recently seen on the third season of Starz series Vida.
Photo courtesy of CineFestival

Steve Howey
Though he was born in San Antonio in 1977, Steve Howey actually spent most of his childhood on a boat his parents sailed up and down the Pacific Coast before his family settled down in Colorado when he was a teen. Howey starred in Reba from 2001-2007, but most people would likely recognize him as Kevin Ball in Showtime’s Shameless.
Photo via Showtime / Shameless

Henry Thomas
Most often recognized for his breakout role at Elliott in E.T. the Extra-Terresstrial, San Antonio native Henry Thomas has become a horror fixture of late with starring roles in Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House and its follow-up The Haunting of Bly Manor. The actor was born in SA in 1971 and went to Central HS.
Photo via Netflix / The Haunting of Bly Manor

Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki’s breakout role may have been playing Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls, but he’ll likely always be remembered for his 15-season run as Sam Winchester on Supernatural. The actor was born in the Alamo City in 1982 and graduated from Madison HS and now calls Austin home.
Photo via The CW / Supernatural

Gil Birmingham
Actor Gil Birmingham was born in San Antonio in 1953, but wasn’t here for long due to his father’s career in the military. The actor has appeared in everything from the Twilight series to Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and now plays Thomas Rainwater in Paramount’s Yellowstone.
Photo via Paramount / Yellowstone

Nicholas Gonzalez
Nicholas Gonzalez didn’t originally plan to be an actor, but we’re glad he became one. He was born in San Antonio in 1976 and went to Central Catholic HS before going to Stanford to study English. While he was there, a professor who saw him in a one-man theater performance convinced him to pursue acting, and the rest is history. The TV star has appeared in Pretty Little Liars, How To Get Away With Murder and Being Mary Jane, and plays Dr. Neil Melendez on ABC’s The Good Doctor.
Photo via ABC / The Good Doctor

Noël Wells
Noël Wells was born in SA in 1986, but moved around Texas when she was a kid. The actress and director went to high school in Victoria before studying at the University of Texas at Austin. The SNL aluum is recognizable for her work on Master of None and Mr. Roosevelt, and recengtly lent her voice to the animated series Craig of the Creek and Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Photo via Netflix / Master of None

Emilio Rivera
It’s not often that an actor gets to play a role on multiple TV shows, but that’s just what Emilio Rivera did as Marcus Alvarez on AMC’s Sons of Anarchy and its spinoff Mayans M.C. Born in San Antonio in 1961, Rivera grew up on the outskirts of L.A. and launched his acting career in the ’90s.
Photo via FX / Emilio Rivera

Madison Davenport
Born in the Alamo City in 1996, Madison Davenport hit the ground running. The young actress was featured in recurring roles in Shameless, Save Me and From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, and recently appeared in the hit HBO miniseries Sharp Objects.
Photo via HBO / Sharp Objects

Kevin Alejandro
Kevin Alejandro was born in SA in 1976 and lived here until he was eight years old. The hunktastic actor has made appearances in True Blood, Arrow and Southland, and plays Dan Espinoza in Lucifer.
Photo via Netflix / Lucifer

Summer Glau
Perhaps best known for starring all over the Whedon-verse, from Firefly to Dollhouse, Summer Glau has been kicking ass onscreen for nearly two decades. She was born here in 1981 and homeschooled while she studied ballet, but she moved into acting when her dance career was ended by an injury. The Arrow and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles star recently made an appearance in two episodes of Netflix’s Wu Assassins in 2019.
Photo via The CW / Arrow

Bruce McGill
Even if you’re not a Bruce McGill stan, you probably recognize him, because he’s made appearances on tons of TV shows since he started acting in the late ’70s. McGill was born in San Antonio in 1950 and went to MacArthur HS before going to the University of Texas at Austin for college, and has been in everything from Animal House to USA’s Rizzoli and Isles in his decades-spanning career.
Photo via USA / Suits

Jonathan Joss
You can’t geet much more San Antonio than Jonathan Joss, who was born born in the Alamo City in 1965 as Jonathan Gonzales. Of Spanish, Comanche and White Mountain Apache descent, Joss attended McCollum High School and attended Texas State before leaving the university and finishing his studies at Our Lady of the Lake. The actor played John Redcorn on King of the Hill and Chief Ken Hotate on Parks and Recreation, and recently lent his voice to the video games Days Gone and Wasteland 3.
Photo via Netflix / Parks and Recreation

Katie Leclerc
Katie Leclerc was born in San Antonio in 1986, but ended up growing up in Colorado. She starred in the ABC Family series Switched at Birth from 2011-2017.
Photo via Freeform / Switched at Birth

John Allen Nelson
Whether you know him from the original Baywatch or 24, John Allen Nelson is immediately recognizable. The actor was born in San Antonio in 1959 before going on to make a name for himself in Hollywood, and recently took a break from a long string of appearances on police procedurals to do a three-episode stint on The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Photo via The CW / Crazy Ex-Girlfriend