Tyler Sage Alvarez (born October 25, 1997) is an American actor, known for his series leading role as Peter Maldonado in Netflix's mockumentary series American Vandal.
Early life Alvarez was born in New York City, to a first generation Cuban American father, and a fourth generation Puerto Rican American mother. His father works for the Drug Enforcement Administration and his mother works as a nurse administrator for a private hospital. He had one older brother, Niko, who died in October 2018. Alvarez's parents divorced when he was a child and both subsequently remarried. He has two younger half-siblings, Alex and Brianna, from his father, and a younger half-sister, Sofia, from his mother.
Alvarez was educated at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in New York City, and at Jericho High School in Jericho, New York. He is fluent in Spanish.
Career Alvarez's first professional acting job was in a Totino's pizza rolls commercial. In 2014, he began starring as Diego Rueda, a human with magical powers, in Nickelodeon's teen sitcom Every Witch Way. The following year, Alvarez began portraying Benny Mendoza, the eldest son of Litchfield inmate Gloria Mendoza, in Netflix's comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black.
In 2017, he began playing the lead role of Peter Maldonado in Netflix's true crime mockumentary series American Vandal. He returned for the second season which aired in 2018. The series has since been cancelled by Netflix.
Tyler Alvarez also appeared in the YouTube satirical miniseries ¡Me Llamo Alma!, starring as Miguel.
In 2020, Alvarez made his off-Broadway debut with the Roundabout Theatre Company's play 72 Miles to Go. The production closed prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alvarez joined the cast of Netflix show Never Have I Ever as a recurring character in season 2.
In 2023-2024 he plays Ralph, a cholera ghost, in one episode each of seasons 2 and 3 of Ghosts.
Personal life On June 11, 2021, Alvarez publicly came out as gay on social media.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 2013 The House That Jack Built Young Hector Brothers in Arms Logan Short film 2018 Pretenders Doug 2020 John Henry Oscar 2022 Crush Dillon2023Sid is DeadJim Vega 2025 Pools Blake
Television Year Title Role Notes 2014–2015 Every Witch Way Diego Rueda 85 episodes 2014 Every Witch Way: Spellbound Diego Rueda Television film 2015 Talia in the Kitchen Diego Rueda Episode: "Every Witch Lola's" 2015–2017 Orange Is the New Black Benny Mendoza 5 episodes 2017 High School Lover Larry Television film 2017–2018 American Vandal Peter Maldonado 16 episodes 2017 Fresh Off the Boat Wes Episode: "Slide Effect" 2018 The Fosters Declan Rivers 5 episodes 2019 Veronica Mars Juan-Diego De La Cruz Recurring role 2021 Never Have I Ever Malcolm Stone Recurring role; season 2 What We Do in the Shadows Wes Blankenship Episode: "The Cloak of Duplication" 2022 Blockbuster Carlos Herrera Main role 2023-2024 Ghosts Ralph 2 episodes
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