Alex Meraz

Alejandro "Alex" Meraz (born January 10, 1985) is an American dancer, actor and martial artist. Meraz is best known for playing the shape-shifter named Paul Lahote in the film New Moon.

Life and career

Meraz was born in Mesa, Arizona and is of Purépecha descent. He attended the New School for the Arts, and is an avid painter and illustrator. Besides break-dancing, which he was advent in during the early 2000s under the name "Nomak," Alex excels in indigenous and contemporary dancing. He has studied mixed martial arts, winning numerous tournaments in karate and the martial art of Capoeira. Alex's first big film was The New World as one of the Powhatan core warriors, inspiring him to continue acting. Thereafter he was in the running for the film Apocalypto but in the end was turned down. His big break came when he was cast as werewolf Paul Lahote in the film New Moon.

He is married December 31, 2007 to his Vietnamese-American wife, Kim. His wife, a Twilight fan, told him he should audition for New Moon, believing he was perfect for the part. They have a son named Somak, for whom his mentor, actor Raoul Trujillo, is the godfather. Somak means "beautiful one" in Quechua, an indigenous language from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. In June 2012 the couple had their second child: a son named Talus Alexander Meraz. He also starred in the latest season of CSI: New York. Meraz played a Seal Team member in the 2016 action film Suicide Squad.