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Date December 25, 2007
Sandra Bullock's Speed 2 may have been a disaster for everybody but Enrique Murciano. The 1997 dud turned out to be positive for Murciano, who gave up Boston University law school for an acting career. "Speed 2 was my first audition, and I got it," he says, smiling at the memory of his one line. Eight years later, Murciano finds himself in better professional shape, co-starring opposite Bullock, who returns as FBI agent Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, opening March 24. In the comedy, the 31-year-old Murciano plays a Las Vegas FBI agent who assists Bullock's agent in her quest to track down kidnappers. So who is this guy? Murciano might be remembered for his appearance in 2000's Traffic as a young DEA agent. But more likely he's recognized these days as the co-star in the TV cop show Without a Trace. Soon he can add to his profile The Lost City, Andy Garcia's movie dealing with the 1958 Cuban revolution. "It's sort of the Cuban version of The Godfather," says Murciano, whose parents are Cuban. "What it is mostly, though, is the story of three brothers -- I play one -- and what they go through in Havana from the perspective of both sides of the revolution." So, as he takes stock, he can't help but acknowledge how far he's come from his post-Speed 2 days, when jobs were few and far between. "There were occasions early on when I was thinking, 'I guess I could always sell condos in Cancun,' " he says. "Now, I'm getting recognized at Foot Locker."