Spoke only Spanish until age 5.

He first became interested in an acting career at age 12 when he saw Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975).

Is co-founder, with Sonia Braga and Jimmy Smits, of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.

Esai's immigrant parents divorced when he was a baby.

Studied at Manhattan's High School for the Performing Arts.

He originally auditioned for the role of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba (1987), and Lou Diamond Phillips originally auditioned for the role of Bob.

As a child, Esai was so concerned about his mother's smoking that he hid her cigarettes.