Patrick Rivera

Patrick "Rico" Rivera comes from a very unique background as a United States Marine Corps Aviator and 14 Year Veteran beginning at the first Gulf War. After first seeing Star Wars in 1977 (at age 9), he was bitten by the strong desire to be Luke Skywalker and fly X-Wings when he grew up! Then after seeing Top Gun while in high school, he switched from wanting to join the Air Force to the Navy to fly the F-14 Tomcat like Tom Cruise! However, during college ROTC he found out about Marine Corps Air and the highly exciting level of danger there is inherently built-in at flying at low levels at deafening speeds to protect the Marines on the ground. This was for him! Pat enlisted in the Marines while simultaneously pursuing his private pilot's license during college. Both experiences gave him the leg up he needed to counter his sup-par academic achievements and prove to the Corps he was an asset at multiple levels. Despite the great odds, Pat earned his coveted flight spot where he graduated #1 and was assigned the mighty EA-6B Prowler. Another one of Pat's favorite aviation-based movies is "Flight of the Intruder" due to the history and need for the EA-6B Prowler and why it became so important during and after the Vietnam War. So, "Star Wars", "Top Gun", and "Flight of the Intruder" each had a major impact on the shaping of this man's life at an early age. After an illustrious career with multiple personal awards including 5 Air Medals for combat action in flight, Patrick decided to give up his dream of flying in exchange to having a more stable home life. However, re-inventing one's self is not an easy task after giving up a dream for a good cause. Patrick moved into medical sales and worked alongside orthopedic and neuronal surgeons as a high level medical device sales rep but despite the appeal, it wasn't his new dream. If he can't fly a real X-wing fighter in the service, then just maybe there's time to fly one in a movie!! With all the new Star Wars based series and movies in development, now might be an opportune time! He JUST missed getting in on Top Gun 2. After serious consideration and some self-assessment, along with a lot of coaxing from friends and acting coaches, Pat decided to jump into acting to see if this old dream might still be doable. The best part of this dream would be to hopefully give back to society and maybe portray a strong character that can positively influence and inspire another child's dreams as Luke Skywalker and Maverick did for him! ;-) One can only hope and try. Patrick obviously has a very strong military background as well as familiarity with weapons of all types. He is also trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, and other hand-to-hand combat styles and can very easily portray any type of military, special forces, aviation, secret service, SWAT, and other similar roles. Patrick can also bring any type of medical or health care role to life with his multiple real life experiences from within the operating room with his surgeons. He has seen death up close, he has been close on multiple occasions to his own demise, and has felt loss at multiple levels. He has also experienced the highest levels of satisfaction and joy from earning his wings, to seeing both of his sons born and watching them grow up. All of this is easily transferred into his characters as needed, when needed. Patrick is also bilingual Spanish and resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife of 24 years and 16 year old son.