Benjamin Bratt, a dynamic and rising young film and television performer, returns for his second season in Universal Television's Emmy Award winning, critically acclaimed crime/drama series LAW & ORDER for the show's seventh season.

Bratt plays Detective Reynaldo "Rey" Curtis, a, young police detective whose conservative views clash with his older, more liberal partner, Detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and who balances his family, including a young wife and three small children, with his consuming and dangerous job.

A native of Northern California, Bratt received a BFA degree with honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Following graduation, he was accepted into the Master's program at San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.) where he intensified his classical training and played the leads in several different studio productions.

Bratt won a starring role on the NBC series "Nasty Boys," where he first worked for LAW & ORDER Creator and Executive Producer Dick Wolf. His feature films include "One Good Cop," in which he played a young street-wise detective and "Bright Angel." Bratt has completed work on the independent feature, "Follow Me Home," for which he served as producer as well as star. The movie won Best Film at the 1996 San Francisco International Film Festival and was one of the 18 dramatic films chosen for competition at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.

The middle of five children from a multi-cultural background, Bratt's uniquely mixed heritage is reflected in darkly handsome looks that are as difficult to ethnically pinpoint as they are to typecast. He attributes his tight-knit family values to his mother's strong ties to the American Indian community and her Peruvian culture. He asserts, "My family is like a sanctuary to me. I can always turn to them for support and strength. I take comfort in knowing no matter which path I choose, my family stands behind me."