Benjamin Levy Aguilar

From soccer fields to the streets of Chicago

Benjamin Levy Aguilar arrived in Hollywood at eighteen years old, not quite sure what he was looking for. He had come from Guatemala City after giving up a promising career in the AC Milan youth academy in Italy. That decision shattered his family's expectations.

His training in Krav Maga gave him a physical edge that few actors of his generation can match. At first, he worked protecting celebrities at private events in Los Angeles. That experience in the real world of security shaped the way he moves in front of the camera.

Risk was his daily driving force.

In 2011, he decided that acting would be his full-time profession. It was not an easy path, because his first years were filled with minor roles and failed auditions in which his look never quite fit. But his athlete's mindset kept him from throwing in the towel too soon.

His big break on national television

The series Filthy Rich in 2020 marked a major turning point in his career. He played Antonio Rivera, a boxer and single father, in a big-budget production for the Fox network. That shoot taught him to handle the pace of American commercial television (a frantic rhythm that demands immediate results).

Despite the series being canceled after a single season, casting directors noticed his physical presence. He had a gaze that conveyed danger and vulnerability at the same time. And that's how the call came to join Dick Wolf's universe.

In 2022, he joined the cast of Chicago P.D. full-time to bring to life Officer Dante Torres. The character called for a mix of street toughness and unshakable moral principles. **The audience responded with massive ratings** during his first appearances in the tenth season of the police drama.

Filming in Chicago means enduring subzero temperatures for months.

Aguilar draws on his Jewish and Guatemalan heritage to build characters that move away from common Latino stereotypes. In 2022 he also appeared in the Netflix miniseries The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. There he showed that he could handle the tone of satire with the same precision as drama.

Production and Acting Technique

His work method steers clear of excessive improvisation on set. He prefers to study the script until he finds the silences that define his character. For him, what goes unsaid is often more important than the dialogue written by the screenwriters.

The industry sees him as a safe bet in the action genre.

In 2024, the actor renewed his contract with the police franchise to keep exploring Torres's traumatic past in Season 12. Work days at the Cinespace studios often stretch well past twelve hours a day. **The production budget for each episode** includes specific allocations for coordinating stunt performers in scenes involving real physical risk.