Nestor Gastón Carbonell (born December 1, 1967) is an American actor known for his roles as Luis Rivera on the sitcom Suddenly Susan, Richard Alpert in Lost, Frank Duque in Cane and Batmanuel on the short-lived live action sitcom, The Tick.
Carbonell was born in New York City of Cuban descent. He attended Deerfield Academy and went on to Harvard University in the late 1980s. His father, a business executive, is active in the Cuban community and has held senior positions at Pepsi.
Carbonell had recurring roles on Resurrection Blvd., The Tick, Strong Medicine, Kim Possible (as the voice of Señor Senior, Jr.), and Cold Case. He also guest-starred on Scrubs ("My Moment of Un-Truth"), House, Day Break, and Monk.
Carbonell played Richard Alpert for seven episodes in the third season of Lost, and the mysteries surrounding his ageless character were heavily discussed among the fan community. While producing the final episodes of the third season, Carbonell was cast in a starring role as Frank Duque on the new CBS series Cane. The writers modified their original story plan for the third season in anticipation for Carbonell's potential unavailability. Despite Carbonell's willingness to return to Lost, CBS president Nina Tassler ruled out another Lost guest appearance. Cane was canceled during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, freeing Carbonell from his contract with CBS. Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse said that Carbonell would reprise his role as Richard Alpert towards the end of the show's fourth season, as a result of Cane's cancellation. Carbonell made appearances in the episodes "Cabin Fever" and "There's No Place Like Home". Executive producer Carlton Cuse cited this as an unintended positive consequence of the strike.
In 2006 he appeared as assassin Pasquale Acosta in the film Smokin' Aces. In 2008, he appeared in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight as the mayor of Gotham City, the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins.
Nestor and his wife, Shannon Kenny, met while both were working on the movie Attention Shoppers.
