Arisael Rivera was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and raised in The Bronx, NY.

 

Arisael got his start in acting when he was 10 years old appearing as Charlie Brown in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" at P.S. 32 in the Bronx.  He continued pursuing theater through High School eventually earning an American Theater Wing Scholarship for Acting.

 

Arisael went on to receive his BA in Theatre Arts from Brigham Young University working under talented professors such as Tim Threlfall, Reese Purser and the late Eric Samuelsen.  He was nominated twice for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship at KCACTF for excellence in acting.  He also placed 2nd in the Mayhew Playwriting Competition for his original work "Somos Sangre."

 

While attending BYU, he co-founded the non-profit theater company New Play Project.  He championed its mission to create “values driven theater” giving local Latter-day Saint playwrights a place to share their work.  His original one-act play "The Look" was published in the anthology, "Out of the Mount: 19 from New Play Project" in 2010.

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Arisael returned to New York and received his MFA in Acting from The New School.  While at The New School he studied and worked with a slew of talented professionals including Casey Biggs, Cotter Smith, Joe Grifasi, Marcia Haufrecht and the late Ron Leibman.

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Arisael has performed for various theater companies including Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Hale Center Theatre Orem, Opera House Arts, Cleveland Public Theater and The Public.

 

He has appeared in various TV shows and web series including "On the Case with Paula Zahn", "Fatal Encounters", "Method or Madness", "The Yearbook", "The Life of Jesus Christ: Bible Videos", and "Meet: The Web Series."

 

Arisael currently lives and works in NYC.