Actor Danny Ramirez dreamt of leaving Miami when he was eighteen. Having touched ground in the 305 for the second time in years on Feb. 16 after leaving to study acting in New York, he’s surprised he ever left.
To Ramirez, there’s no Miami without the ‘U.’ Ramirez has been a ’Cane’s football fan since first grade. Seeing Santana Moss, a ’Canes wide receiver, play one of his best games while on a Boy Scouts trip showed him heroes can come from Miami too.
Now, Ramirez is a Miami hero of his own. When Marvel approached him and asked how they could make his character Joaquin Torres more authentically from Miami, there was just one thing Ramirez had in mind.
“I told them, ‘He has to be a ’Canes fan’,” Ramirez said.
He urged them to put his character in a Hurricanes jersey, which did make it into a deleted scene, but they settled on having him sport a green ’Canes football shirt with the ‘U’ for a scene in the final cut.
Though Hollywood has embraced the rising star with his role in Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and the Emmy-nominated series “The Last of Us,” to him, there’s nothing like Miami.
“In Miami, I was able to be in an area that was basically the middle of Latin America. Everywhere I went everyone’s speaking Spanish,” Ramirez said. “Every third person is going to be the most charming person you’ve ever met.”
Miami hasn’t left Ramirez. Upon arriving to the University of Miami’s School of Communication’s broadcast studios to prepare for an interview with student media, he rushed toward a tray of pastelitos.
He quickly grabbed three guava pastries before getting touched up by his makeup artist.
“You feel at home yet?” she asked.
Ramirez went from getting interviewed by the University of Miami’s student media, to throwing the first pitch at Mark Light Field, hosting a meet-and-greet at the Bill Cosford Cinema and greeting guests at AMC Sunset Place at 9 p.m. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“This city has so much of that vibrancy that I used to fight against,” Ramirez said. “To be back and realize that a lot of it has shaped me as an artist in my identities is the cool part.”
Ramirez was at almost every football game during the 2024 to 2025 football season with quarterback Cam Ward (who he’s confident will be the number one draft pick in April).
When asked about football, he’d go on about the game-winning block in the ’Canes game against Virginia Tech and how he’s sure he developed a heart condition while watching the Syracuse match.
His love for the ’Canes and Miami knows no bounds. While the lengths he’d go to watch a ’Canes game are uncertain, one thing is: he’d really like an honorary degree.
“Shout out to anyone in charge of giving the masters,” Ramirez said. “Just at the end of the article be like, ‘Honorary degree? Maybe?’”
Ramirez is heading back to Los Angeles, yet his heart remains in Miami and will happily let the cardiac ’Canes make it skip a few beats.
Don’t miss Ramirez as the Falcon in “Captain America: Brave New World” and keep an eye out for all the references to his hometown and the U in the hit film.