Gabriel Luna American Actor Known for Bernie

Early life

Gabriel Isaac Luna, an American actor and producer, was born on 5 December 1982 in Austin, Texas. He attended David Crockett High School and then St. Edward's University in Austin, where he made his stage debut in the title role of a production of Romeo and Juliet. He graduated from the university in 2005.

Career

Luna's first screen role was in the drama Fall to Grace, which premiered at South by Southwest in March 2005. He then did voice work for the video game BlackSite: Area 51, released in November 2007. Alongside screen work, he built a stage career in his home city as a founding member of the Austin company Paper Chairs Theatre Company. There he played Sergei Maxudov in Black Snow and the title character in Orestes in 2009, and Clov in Endgame in 2010.

His first lead in a feature was the drama Dance with the One, which also premiered at South by Southwest, in March 2010. In 2011 he took a supporting part in Richard Linklater's black comedy Bernie, playing Kevin. Television appearances in this period included Prison Break, the HBO film Temple Grandin, Touch and NCIS: Los Angeles.

In 2014 he was cast as the lead, Tony Bravo, in the El Rey Network series Matador, which ran for a single season of 13 episodes beginning in July of that year. In the same year he co-starred as Vinnie in the sports comedy Balls Out, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. He later appeared in three episodes of the second season of True Detective as Miguel Gilb, and co-starred in Freeheld, directed by Peter Sollett, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015. That autumn he also appeared in the comedy Gravy and played detective Paco Contreras in the ABC series Wicked City. The series was cancelled after three episodes, and its remaining episodes were later released on Hulu.

In 2016 he starred as border patrol agent Lance Flores in the thriller Transpecos, which premiered at South by Southwest, and played motorcycle racer Eddie Hasha in the Discovery Channel miniseries Harley and the Davidsons. In July of that year it was announced that he would join Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in its fourth season as Robbie Reyes, also known as Ghost Rider. He also had a supporting role as Mr. Lawrence in the coming-of-age film Hala, released in 2019.

In April 2018 he was cast as the Rev-9 in Terminator: Dark Fate, released in 2019. Later in 2019 it was reported that he would reprise Ghost Rider in a dedicated series for Hulu, but the platform decided in September not to go ahead with it.

In April 2021 he was announced as Tommy Miller in HBO's television adaptation of The Last of Us, working opposite Pedro Pascal; the role appeared on screen in 2023. In March 2025 he was cast as Freddy Strain in the second season of the Amazon Prime Video series The Terminal List, and in 2025 he also appeared in the film The Astronaut. In July 2026 he was announced in a guest role as Ray Ballard, known as the Sleepy-Eyed Stranger, in the Dexter sequel series Dexter: Resurrection.

Recognition

For three of his performances on the Austin stage, Black Snow, Orestes and Endgame, Luna received the Austin Critics Table award for Best Lead Actor in 2010. In 2017 he was nominated for the Teen Choice Award in the Choice TV: Action Actor category for his portrayal of Ghost Rider.

Personal life

Luna married the Romanian actress Smaranda Ciceu on 20 February 2011. The couple live in Los Angeles.