Why You Recognize Law & Order Guest Star David Castro, Who Played the Son of a Drug Dealer
If actor David Castro, who played Ernesto Ruiz in the May 1, 2025 episode of Law & Order, looked familiar, there's good reason for that.
It took a lot of guest stars to pull off Law & Order’s action-packed take down of a dangerous drug kingpin — and there’s a good chance some of the actors looked familiar.
David Castro played Ernesto Ruiz, the law-abiding grown son of a powerful fentanyl supplier, in Season 24’s “Sins of the Father,” which debuted on May 1, 2025.
As the son of powerful drug kingpin Antonio Ruiz (Jaime Paul Gomez), Ernesto was mostly shielded from his father’s bad deeds, instead devoting his life to working as an influential teacher. But once those in the district attorney's office learned that Antonio was using people on the margins of society as human “guinea pigs” to test a more potent form of fentanyl and then tossing their bodies into the river when they overdosed, they were determined to do anything they could to take Antonio down.
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Castro, a former child star, has been appearing on screen since 2004. He broke out in 2008 thanks to a role in a popular romantic comedy, and he's appeared in lots of other projects since then.
To learn more about Castro's career, read on.
What else has David Castro been in?
Rom-com fans may know Castro from when he looked a lot younger, thanks to his role in the 2008 film 27 Dresses. Castro added some comic relief in the movie as Pedro, a young boy being mentored by George, a wealthy philanthropist played by Edward Burns. The memorable role — which also saw Castro starring alongside Katherine Heigl and James Marsden — helped launch his career.
“It's such a great movie, and so many people remember it," Castro told AOL in 2016 of the film. “I have people coming up to me in supermarkets like, ‘You're Pedro, right?’”
Many may also recognize Castro from his more recent run as the vampire Raphael Santiago on Shadowhunters, the supernatural series he appeared on from 2016 to 2019.
Castro also starred as a Mexican-American singer named Daniel in the 2019 road trip comedy film, Ruta Madre. And he's appeared in shows like Blue Bloods, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, God Friended Me, and Are We There Yet?, according to IMDb.
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In his latest role on Law & Order, Castro played Ernesto Ruiz, a man who was initially unaware of the depths of his father’s dark nature.
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After the district attorney's office threatened to charge Ernesto for unwittingly being the driver during the murder of chemist Sunny Zhen (Eddy Lee), Ernesto agreed to help police and prosecutors by wearing a wire to gather evidence against his father — hoping prove to authorities that they had his dad pegged wrong. But once inside his father’s house, Ernesto discovered the evidence that proved his dad's involvement, giving prosecutors what they needed to make their case, but costing Ernesto his family and identity as he headed off to witness protection.
What other guest stars appeared in Law & Order's "Sins of the Father" episode?
In addition to Castro, Gomez, and Lee, Law & Order’s “Sins of the Father” episode also included the following guest stars: Jessica Leccia as Ernesto’s mom, Odette Ruiz; Argenis Hierro as Omar Nunez; David H. Littleton as Leo Brooks; Xiaoxiao Cao as Mei Zhen; and Gary Littman as attorney Walter Singer.
To find out what case the Law & Order detectives and prosecutors will tackle next, watch the drama on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream the episodes on Peacock after they become available the next day.
