Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor . He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Traffic, and Piñero . He starred on the A&E Network drama The Cleaner . As a child, Bratt went with his mother and siblings to participate in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz . Today Bratt is an active supporter of such Native American causes as the American Indian College Fund and We Shall Remain, a mini-series and multi-media project, narrated by Bratt, that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history from PBS' acclaimed series American Experience . His brother, Peter Bratt, wrote and directed Follow Me Home, casting Benjamin as Abel . In San Francisco, Bratt attended Lowell High School, where he developed his dramatic and oratory skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Bratt earned a B.F.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he also joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Although accepted into the M.F.A. program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, he left before receiving his degree to star in the television series Juarez. Less than a year later, he married his pregnant girlfriend, actress Talisa Soto, on April 13, 2002, in San Francisco. The two met while filming Piñero. Their first child, daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, was born on December 6, 2002; their second child, son Mateo Bravery Bratt, was born on October 3, 2005, in Los Angeles. On October 14, 2009, it was announced that Benjamin Bratt will guest-star on ABC's hit comedy, Modern Family, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bratt will play the ex-husband of Sofia Vergara's Gloria. .