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Marcel Ruiz

Marcel Ruiz is a Puerto Rican actor and filmmaker who stars as Javi in Summer of Three, which he also co-wrote and produced.

Biography

Ruiz returned to Tribeca in 2026 with a father-son collaboration that won joint performance and screenplay awards.

The project moves him beyond the television and film roles that introduced him in One Day at a Time and Breakthrough.

Known for

Summer of Three

Ruiz stars as Javi and also works as a co-writer and producer.[1]

One Day at a Time

He played Alex Alvarez in the television revival.[4][7]

Career highlights

  1. Javi Role

    He plays Javi in Summer of Three

    Javi returns to Puerto Rico for his grandfather's funeral and forms a transformative bond with Luife and Kiki.[1][2]

  2. Writer Producer

    He co-wrote and produced the film

    Ruiz worked as writer, producer and lead actor on his first feature made with his father.[1][2]

  3. Performance Award

    The three leads shared a Tribeca performance award

    Ruiz, Paolo Schoene and Kiki Montilla jointly won best performance in a U.S. narrative feature.[6][7]

  4. Screenplay Award

    The three writers shared the screenplay award

    Tribeca honored Carlitos Ruiz-Ruiz, Marcel Ruiz and Mariana S. Belaval for the screenplay.[6]

  5. Prior Career

    One Day at a Time and Breakthrough came first

    Ruiz played Alex Alvarez on television before leading the film Breakthrough as John Smith.[4][7]

Good to know

The world premiere was on June 8, 2026

Tribeca listed Summer of Three as a world premiere, and Primera Hora reported that the film opened at the festival on June 8.[1][8]

Age during the Summer of Three interview

The Hollywood Reporter en Español described Ruiz as 22 in its June 29, 2026 interview about Summer of Three.[2]

No general release date was announced

In the June 29 interview, Ruiz said he did not yet know the film's next distribution step.[2]