What Has A Martinez Been Up To Since Longmire?
"Longmire" fans know A Martinez for his portrayal of Jacob Nighthorse, the Cheyenne tribal committee member and casino owner whose self-interest occasionally conflicts with his professed goal to help his community. At the start of the series, his character is clearly the villain, but with each new season, viewers see more of his nuances and realize his unfair treatment by law enforcement. While many viewers still found Nighthorse despicable by the end of the show, some "Longmire" fans have defended him against what they see as Sheriff Walt Longmire's prejudice against him and the influence that this prejudice has had on his reputation (via Reddit).
Regardless of how "Longmire" fans feel about Jacob Nighthorse, there's no denying the integral role the character plays in the story, and A Martinez's performance helped carry the series to its end — twice. Deadline reported in 2014 that A&E had surprisingly opted to not renew "Longmire" for a fourth season despite its success, but Netflix swooped in to save the show for three more seasons before (again, surprisingly) pulling the plug once more in 2017.
While fans may have been devastated to see "Longmire" canceled a second time, the cast has quickly moved on to other projects, and like his castmates, Martinez has continued his success since the show's cancelation. Here's what A Martinez has been up to since "Longmire."
A Martinez continues acting on two soap operas
A Martinez is no stranger to drama. In addition to his role on "Longmire," the actor took on two soapier roles during the show's run, both of which he has kept to this day. Martinez joined the cast of "The Bay" for a single episode in 2014 as Nardo Ramos, the patriarch of the Ramos family, and after a few years' hiatus, Nardo became a recurring guest star in 2017.
But Martinez is probably better known for his other current soap opera role as Eduardo "Eddie" Hernandez on "Days of Our Lives." In 2015, he joined the show as the estranged father of Rafe (Galen Gering) and Gabi (Camila Banus). Although his character was taken to jail in 2017 (by his own son!), effectively removing him from the series, Martinez rejoined the cast in 2020 in time to convince his children to leave Salem for Mexico to escape some impending danger (via Soaps).
The characters of Nardo and Eddie are just the latest in a series of soap opera roles that Martinez has taken over the course of his career — he's also been on "Santa Barbara," "General Hospital," "The Bold and the Beautiful," and more.
He played a corrupt sheriff on Queen of the South
Although A Martinez was the main target of law enforcement on "Longmire," he was the law on "Queen of the South" — kinda. Martinez joined the series in 2018 as Sheriff Mayo, an Arizona officer who thinks his post makes him untouchable. He is criticized for disproportionately targeting Latinos while on duty, kills those who try to expose his corruption, and even kidnaps Teresa (Alice Braga) — a move not without its consequences.
In retaliation for the kidnapping, James (Peter Gadiot) shoots him, landing him in a coma, but they all reconcile and eventually end up working together in what can only be described as a hostile partnership. Ultimately, the alliance backfires on Sheriff Mayo, who is sent to jail after a video of him beating an inmate is leaked to the press. It turns out that Teresa has not forgiven him, as she arranges for him to be killed in jail.
Martinez gets all warm and fuzzy in a Christmas movie
Martinez dialed back the drama a little bit in the 2019 movie "Christmas on the Range," in which he played Brick McCree, the rival of Kendall (Erin Cahill) who wants to buy her family's ranch. When Brick's son Clint (Nicholas Gonzales) comes back home for the holidays, he and Kendall quickly hit it off, but his motives are unclear — is Clint's love a distraction from the ranch, orchestrated by Brick? In classic Christmas movie fashion, this initial uncertainty reaches a boiling point but is ultimately resolved in a happily-ever-after ending, wherein Clint and Kendall decide that they really do love each other and Brick realizes the error of his ways.
There are even more films featuring A Martinez coming down the pike. According to his IMDb page, the actor will appear in the mysterious romance film "Symphoria" and the action flick "Ambulance," both of which have not yet been released to the public.
"Longmire" may have joined the list of popular shows Netflix has canceled, but for A Martinez, it's clearly just a new beginning.