Oscar Nunez as
Oscar Martinez Oscar Nunez, who was born on November 18, 1958 in Cuba, was raised in Union City, New Jersey. He graduated from the Warner Brother's Comedy Writer's Workshop in 1997 and was a finalist in the 1999 ABC Latino Writers Project. Fluent in Spanish, he joined the Shock of the Funny Theatre Company in New York City and subsequently performed with them in over 300 shows. Nunez then relocated to the West Coast where he became part of The Groundlings' Sunday company, with whom he wrote and starred in Smooth Down There.
Moving on to television, Nunez worked on series such as
Curb Your Enthusiasm , Grounded for Life, Still Standing,
24 , The Bad Girl's Guide,
Reno 911! and Campus Ladies. He also worked on The Office, for which he starred as the gay Oscar Nunez. For the series Halfway Home, he executively directed and acted on the production.
In talking about Halfway Home, he said, "I act on it, and I am executive producing. It's about these people who get out of prison who still have do more time in a halfway home. This is something I did for myself. Being a minority and feeling underrepresented, I decided to not sit around to wait for auditions. I created my own work. I sold this."
In working with co-star
Steve Carell in The Office, he said, "It's a dream come true. Except for Steve's drinking problem, it's wonderful. He rarely strikes me, but when he does, it's because I deserve it. I mouth off. I've been an actor for 20 years, and it's probably the most fun I've had. It comes down to that. Where the boss, the producer I work for, Greg Daniels, is just a nice, decent fellow. Steve's the same. That sets the tone for the whole show. As an actor, I am having the time of my life."