Esteban Powell as Swenton in The Cleaner

The diverse culture of Houston, Texas has grown deep into the psyche of Esteban Powell, currently playing Swenton in A&E’s Hit TV Series ‘The Cleaner‘.  Having lived in the bustling city since birth in 1976 until his early 20s, Este was a wary observant of how people of different cultures and lifestyle carried on day to day. His early interest in performing and visual arts manifests his interest on the color and depth of humanity. By the time he graduated from Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 1994, Este had the mindset of an adult who would fare well in the arts.

Esteban Powell in Powder

With his combined TV and movie portrayals since 1993, Este has tackled different roles with an attack of a pro. Regardless if it’s a few minutes role or as a supporting act, the acting prowess was noticeable in all the television stints and films he cast in. The charmingly rugged looks Este possess was always relieved as he takes on the character assigned in the role; But the same charmingly rugged appearance would come magnetizing in each talk show appearance, in his simple errand to the local grocery, at the movie opening galas and promotional activities, or his charm on twitter (@estebanics).

Remember Powder in 1995? Este played Mitch, one of the really, really mean boys, and carried the role well. This fact goes the same for his characters in movies such as Late Bloomers (1996) where he played Jamie, Random Acts  and Hitman’s Run (both in 1999),and the unforgettable Phil Collen in the 2001 movie for TV called Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story. Small and big filming doesn’t come as an issue to Este, he just jumps at roles where he tests himself to delve into the character’s being. With over 15 movies since 1993 until his recently completed Wreckless Epic, Este has solidly gained recognition as a versatile artist.

Esteban Powell

Perhaps his most zoom to fame would be attributed to his soulful portrayal of Arnie Swenton, a recovering meth addict with inner demons to defeat and a harsh society to deal with. In A&E’s Hit TV Series, The Cleaner (since 2008), Este has been getting accolades for acting like it’s the real thing – the real thing being a struggling former meth addict. In an interview, Este related how he has never touched meth, coke or any form of illegal substance and drugs, but has observed people around him being hooked. This reality for him has greatly contributed to playing Arnie Swenton, combined with Este’s innate compassion and deep understanding of individuals and cultures and sub-cultures. Plus, as Arnie Swenton, Este admits he carries his own personal experiences from life to make himself an effective role player in The Cleaner.

Aside from a seemingly promising acting career, Esteban Powell has pursued his other interests – the visual arts. In the film The Lowrider (2007) Este had considerable experiences as a visual effects supervisor. He also ventured into producing Random Acts of Violence in 1999 where he has numerous inputs as well in the film’s success.
After that rekindled romance with visual arts, Este was inspired to do more behind the scenes in filmmaking, optimistic about his potentials at visual arts, and in producing TV projects.  Two years ago, The SoundFilm Company was established through Este’s hard work, creative mind and a fiery dedication.

Esteban on The Cleaner

At present, what really keeps Esteban Powell busy is not taping The Cleaner’s next episode or his young production company. It’s not even just learning approaches and sharing his skills at developing contents for short form media. For Este, he’s just so totally busy doing so many things at being an artist, where he hones his skills and expresses himself creatively, and where he just imparts a thing or two about his learning and adventures.

From a young dreamy Houston lad, Esteban Powell has claimed success in his ventures, and also holds the humble claim that he has a long way to go and has to keep the fire in his heart to pursue more and beyond what he currently holds.

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1) Set Shot from The Cleaner Season 2 Episode 2 ‘Last American Casualty’:
Joe Don Baker studies his lines on the Set of The Cleaner:

Joe Don Baker The Cleaner Episode

2) The Cleaner crew hangs out on Set in Season 2. Benjamin Bratt aka William Banks, Esteban Powell aka Arnie Swenton, and Akani Cuesta aka Grace Parks just hangin out!

The Cleaner Season 2 On Set William Sweton Parks

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Warren Boyd The Cleaner

Warren Boyd has an unusual job. He is an addictions counselor, and such a successful one that Benjamin Bratt’s character William Banks on A&E’s new hit show The Cleaner is based on him. His story is one of crime, redemption and ultimately success, as his rehab centers and television show help more and more people each day.

Warren Boyd with Benjamin Bratt The Cleaner

Boyd was born in Santa Rosa, California in 1958. By the time he had reached the age of 32, he had nine DUI convictions and had spent five years in prison. He was addicted to alcohol and cocaine, and had been in and out of 26 rehab programs. He has said “It doesn’t matter if you’re a celebrity, a law professor or a construction worker. Addiction is a struggle for everyone.” He first came to face these addictions in 1990. Just before returning to prison, his girlfriend Deedee gave birth to their first child, and the experience changed him. He entered the system again and spent 15 months thinking about his family, and finally got clean through the 12-step program.

Because of his own strong addictions and difficulties overcoming them, he knows that extreme actions are sometimes necessary to break an addict’s cycle of abuse. He got out of prison and became a counselor to people going through the same things he had to. His personal knowledge of their problems gives him special insights into how to help them, and his counseling went from its humble beginnings, to his current status of running several private rehab centers, reportedly treating such public figures as Courtney Love, Mel Gibson, Whitney Houston and Robert Downey Jr, as well as being a co-executive producer on the show based on his life, The Cleaner. On top of this, he and his team, composed of former addicts, are available 24 hours a day for interventions. His public and personal lives — he married his girlfriend Deedee and they have three children together — keep him busy, but he has no plans to quit being a counselor, despite the newfound fame and attention his new job as a producer has brought him. The show is a look back for him, as he says that it “sets my life back about twelve to thirteen years ago. So at that time there were a small group of four to five people and I didn’t have as many devices – didn’t have as many methods to be able to get things done as I do now.” Boyd, however, plans on moving forward and continuing to help people.

William Boyd on Set with William Banks

The idea for The Cleaner came about during a conversation Boyd had with show creator Jonathan Prince. Boyd has always stuck with something a senator told him years ago, and that was if his addiction interventions could be shown or demonstrated on a larger scale, they would be able to reach out and help a lot of people. Speaking of it, he says “that always rings in my head when we’re doing things like what I’m sitting up here doing right now. My hope is that we can reach a vast amount of people. Even if it’s a small enough message to get someone to start thinking about that there is some sort of an idea that there is hope. It’s okay to — the bottom line for me is it’s okay to get help and it’s also okay to help somebody.” The show for him is another way of counseling people. If someone is struggling with addiction, or someone’s loved ones see an episode and decide they finally need to step in, so much the better. So long as people get the help they need.

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Grace Park Plays Akani Cuesta in The Cleaner TV Series

Asian-Canadian actress Grace Park, born March 14, 1974, has made a name for herself in the sci-fi world with her character Sharon Valerii, also known as Number 8, on the Sci-Fi Channel’s hit show Battlestar Galactica. Since the filming of the final episodes (the show is set to end in spring of 2009), she has guested on a number of shows and is now a regular on A&E’s The Cleaner.

Grace Park The Cleaner Scene Shot

Born in Los Angeles, Park moved to Canada at the age of 22 months. She grew up in Vancouver with her younger sister and parents in a middle class setting where she learned Korean, but otherwise had an average Western upbringing. In 1992, she graduated from Magee Secondary School, one of the largest public high schools in Vancouver.

After graduating from the University of British Columbia with a degree in psychology, she decided to take only a year off to try acting. She started out modeling, but was almost immediately cast in the Canadian teen show Edgemont as Shannon Ng. Edgemont lasted five seasons, and Park went on to guest star on such

Grace Park in Battlestar Galactica

shows as The Immortal, The Outer Limits, Dark Angel, Stargate: SG-1, Jake 2.0, The Dead Zone, and Andromeda, as well as landing small film roles in Romeo Must Die and Fluffy, before landing the role of Sharon “Boomer” Valerii in the remake of Battlestar Galactica in 2003.

Actress Grace Park In Public

Since then, she has played Lila Lee in the feature film West 32nd, a young woman who gets pulled into New York’s Korean drug underworld, and Hannah Moon, the sister of the lead character in indie film Run Rabbit Run (also featuring Battlestar Galactica co-star Tahmoh Penikett). Before landing the role of Akani Cuesta on A&E’s The Cleaner, she had a six episode arc as Special Agent Liz Carver on the crime drama The Border, and recently finished shooting the film Punctured, playing the part of Honey.

Park married her husband Phil Kim, a real estate developer, in 2004. They reside in Vancouver, although a great portion of her work nowadays takes her to Los Angeles. She speaks English and Korean and a small amount of French, and is learning Spanish. Her hobbies include traveling and extreme sports. She has been to France, India and South America, and her favorite sport is snowboarding.

Her favorite movies are Fight Club and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In 2006, Park was named #93 in Maxim Online’s Hot 100 List, something no doubt in part due to her steamy spread in March 2005’s issue of the popular magazine. In 2005, she made #81. Sharon Valerii, the role she is best known for, has been a critical part of Battlestar Galactica, fostering questions about how human the Cylons are in fact, and if they have the ability to make choices for themselves that lie beyond their original programming.Sharon has had one of the more painful character arcs on the show, as she battles through fighting against said programming, having a relationship with a human despite the heavy disapproval of those in the Colonial Fleet, and the mystery surrounding her daughter Hera, who seems to embody the human/Cylon conundrum.

Sexy Grace Park

Most recently, Park has played Akani Cuesta on the A&E show The Cleaner, a show starring former Law & Order cast member Benjamin Bratt as William Banks, a character loosely based on the life of Warren Boyd, an addictions counselor who has helped numerous high profile clients such as Mel Gibson, Courtney Love, and Whitney Houston. Cuesta is a member of William “The Cleaner”’s team, and an independent, street-wise woman. The show, which shoots in Los Angeles, has recently been renewed for a second season.

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Jeff Fahey as Quinn in The Cleaner

heroin addiction and turn his life around. The bad, William met Quinn in prison. Quinn causes William’s son and wife to distrust and fight with him due to Quinn leaving a heroin needle at William Banks house after a party in their home. Initially, William’s son found the needle and used his teen angst to smoke some cigarettes. Melissa and SON confront Banks about the needle and eventually find out the needle user was Quinn. Quinn is apparently still using drugs and can pose as a bad influence or vibe to William. Towards the end of the Chaos Theory, William decides to never allow Quinn to come near his house, but agrees to help his old prison buddy recover from his drug addiction.

The actor Jeff Fahey, who plays Quinn in ‘The Cleaner’ has been in numerous movies, films, Broadway theaters, and soap operas. Most recently Jeff has been involved in the TV Series Lost as Frank Lapidus in 9 episodes. Jeff Fahey has also worked with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez in Grindhouse and Planet Terror. Jeff’s first big movie debut was in 1985 in Silverado, he played the villian Tyree. Oddly enough, he now owns a production company by the name of Tyree Productions. In 1992 be played the main role as Jobe Smith in the Lawnmower Man. Fahey’s first TV role was on One Life to Live as Gary Corelli in the early ’80s.

Jeff Fahey is the 6th child out of 13 brothers and sisters. He was born and grew up in the Buffalo area. At 17

Jeff took off to backpack in Alaska, traveled Europe, spent time in Israel, and danced for three years in Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet.

In 2008 and 2009 Jeff Hahey will be in the movies MatchMaker Mary, Knight Fever, and Darc.

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William Banks – Benjamin Bratt

Melissa Banks – Amy Price-Francis

Akani Cuesta – Grace Park

Darnell McDowell – Kevin Michael Richardson

Arnie Swenton – Esteban Powell

Ben Banks – Brett Delbuono

Lula Banks – Liliana Mumy

Mickey Efros – Gil Bellows

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He honed is acting skills at Lowell High School in San Francisco and went on to earn at B.F.A in theater at the University of California. At the University he joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. In 1987 Benjamin stared in the never aired show Juarez as Sgt. Rosendo Juarez. He followed that performance with a few guest spots and short lived TV shows. In the early 90’s he made appearances in movies such as One Good Cop, Bright Angel, Bound by Honor, Demolition Man, Clear and Present Danger and the River Wild.

Benjamin Bratt Starring in 'The Cleaner'

It wasn’t until 1995 that Bratt made his mark on television as Detective Rey Curtis in Law and Order, where he remained until 1999. After his departure from Law and Order he filmed the movie The Next Best Thing with Madonna which was a box office failure. He followed this with Red Planet, Miss Congeniality, and Traffic, which all fared well in theaters.

In 2004 he stared in another box office failure with Halle Berry in Catwoman but rebounded with The Great Raid in 2005 as Lt. Colonel Mucci. The movie took place at the end of WWII with Bratt’s character leading the 6th Ranger Battalion to liberate over 500 POW’s from Japan. The Great Raid also starred James Franco and Robert Mammone. In 2008 Benjamin returned to TV in the updated version of the Andromeda Strain, costarring Rick Schroeder, Eric McCormack, Christa Miller, Daniel Dae Kim and Viola Davis. The movie centers around a U.S. military satellite which crashes into a mid-western town and unleashes a future evil on the world. The only people who can stop it are Bratt and his team of scientists who are racing against a clock to find out how to destroy it.

Currently Bratt is filming the television show AE show The Cleaner in which his character, Ben Banks, change his life by controlling the addictions he has and helping others. His next movie, Misson Street Rhapsody, is currently in post-production and does not have a theatrical debut date. On a personal level after a high profile relationship with Julia Roberts for three years Bratt married actress Talisa Soto on April 13, 2002. They have two children together, Sophia Rosalinda Bratt (6 years old) and Mateo Bravery Bratt (2 years old). He is currently a supporter of the American Indian College Fund.

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