![\"GettyImages-95882121\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-95882121.jpg?crop=0px%2C86px%2C1585px%2C896px&resize=400%2C225&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t
\n Related: <\/span>Who Replaced Timothy Busfield on ‘Law and Order’ Amid Child Abuse Case?<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tTimothy Busfield\u2019s recurring Law and Order: SVU character will have a new face. Us Weekly can confirm that Busfield, 68, has been recast on the long-running procedural series, with David Zayas tapped to replace him. Zayas, 63, is best known for playing Angel Batista on Dexter and its subsequent spinoff series. Busfield\u2019s final Law and [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He notably appeared in Sylvester Stallone<\/strong>\u2018s 2010 film The Expendables<\/em>, while also snagging roles in HBO\u2019s prison drama Oz<\/em> and in the 1998 movie Rounders<\/em>.<\/p>\nMore recently, he appeared in seven episodes of the TV series Blue Bloods<\/em><\/a> as Governor Martin Mendez and for three episodes of The Bear<\/em> as David Marrero. He also starred in The Running Man<\/em>, a 2025 film about a game show in which contestants can flee anywhere in the world \u2014 while \u201chunters\u201d who are hired to kill \u2014 chase them down.<\/p>\nDavid Zayas Has a Military Background and Worked as a Real-Life Cop<\/h2>\n
Zayas joined the United States Air Force when he was only 19. He also served as a police officer with the New York City Police Department before his acting career took off.<\/p>\n
He revealed that watching Al Pacino<\/strong> in the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon<\/em> gave him the motivation he needed to try out his own luck in Hollywood.<\/p>\n\u201cI sat in the front row and [my cousins] all went to the back and they had their girlfriends and I was by myself in the front row,\u201d Zayas said, according to a 2015 report from NPR<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI was fascinated. This was the art that was attractive to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\u201cThe moment I was involved in that world, it electrified me and I realized that it was something that I wanted to do,\u201d he continued. Zayas said he mostly tried to keep his acting pursuit under wraps but his partner knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember riding in the cars with him during the midnight shifts and he would run lines with me for my audition the next day,\u201d Zayas shared. \u201cAnd he was a pretty good actor so it was a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Zayas Has a Wife and Child<\/h2>\n
More recently, he appeared in seven episodes of the TV series Blue Bloods<\/em><\/a> as Governor Martin Mendez and for three episodes of The Bear<\/em> as David Marrero. He also starred in The Running Man<\/em>, a 2025 film about a game show in which contestants can flee anywhere in the world \u2014 while \u201chunters\u201d who are hired to kill \u2014 chase them down.<\/p>\n Zayas joined the United States Air Force when he was only 19. He also served as a police officer with the New York City Police Department before his acting career took off.<\/p>\n He revealed that watching Al Pacino<\/strong> in the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon<\/em> gave him the motivation he needed to try out his own luck in Hollywood.<\/p>\n \u201cI sat in the front row and [my cousins] all went to the back and they had their girlfriends and I was by myself in the front row,\u201d Zayas said, according to a 2015 report from NPR<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI was fascinated. This was the art that was attractive to me.\u201d<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u201cThe moment I was involved in that world, it electrified me and I realized that it was something that I wanted to do,\u201d he continued. Zayas said he mostly tried to keep his acting pursuit under wraps but his partner knew.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember riding in the cars with him during the midnight shifts and he would run lines with me for my audition the next day,\u201d Zayas shared. \u201cAnd he was a pretty good actor so it was a good time.\u201d<\/p>\nDavid Zayas Has a Military Background and Worked as a Real-Life Cop<\/h2>\n
Thank You!<\/h3>\n
David Zayas Has a Wife and Child<\/h2>\n