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Where Are They Now? : Juan Gabriel Pareja

With the season four finale of “The Walking Dead” airing last night, I figured I would dedicate this Where Are They Now? article to one of the first cast members in the AMC series.

Juan Gabriel ParejaJuan Gabriel Pareja began his acting career in the 2002 feature Lone Star State of Mind. Several years later he appeared in the short lived telemundo “La Ley Del Silencio,” and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

Breakout roles started pouring in beginning with 2007’s Stephen King adaption The Mist. After the massive success of that science fiction freakfest, Juan popped up in other big Hollywood titles including the comedy Soul Men and the action-thriller Machete.

Mr. Pareja became most known to members of the horror community during his four episode stint on the first season of “The Walking Dead” in 2010. In the debut season, Juan played the character of Morales who viewers first met as one of the zombie apocalypse survivors hulled up in a shopping mall. Morales managed to escape the zombies of the city and – along with Andrea, Glenn, Rick, T-Dog, and others – made it back to the refuge camp just outside Atlanta. There, his wife and children were waiting for him, just as Rick was reunited with Lori and Carl. Morales survived another zombie herd, this time when the refuge camp was attacked at night resulting in many deaths including Amy and Carol’s abusive husband. The attack left Morales and his family visibly shaken. Following their gut, Morales and his family chose to leave the refuge camp in hopes of finding family members in Alabama. Rick gave him a gun and a walkie-talkie incase Morales every wanted to resume contact. Morales and his family haven’t been heard of or mentioned since.

So, where is Juan Gabriel Pareja now?

He stuck with horror for a little while after “The Walking Dead,” and appeared in The Darq in 2011.

Being that “The Walking Dead” is one of the top dogs of television, he took his credibility as a television actor and focused on building that resume. Juan has landed guest spots on popular television shows including “Make It or Break It,” “CSI: NY,” “Hawaii Five-0,” and “The Mentalist.”

As of 2013 and 2014, Mr. Pareja was providing voice over work for two video games – Battlefield 4 and Dead Rising 3 – as well as booking roles in two short films.

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Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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