An indigenous actor of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian roots, he brings heart and soul to everything he does. From the vulnerable and volatile to the quirky and awkward, honesty and unpredictability are a stamp on all his work — on screen, on stage, and on the mic.
Goya came up through the stage and the cypher — a stage actor and hip-hop/slam poetry artist long before the cameras found him. He earned his MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and was made a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio in 2010.
His theater work includes Jackie in the Actors Studio production of Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Motherf**ker with the Hat in Los Angeles, Raul in Extremities, and How I Survive off-Broadway. As a spoken word artist he released his debut album, Spit My Soul, in 2010.
That foundation — rigorous training, live audiences, and poetry — is what gives the screen work its pulse. Every character is built from the inside out.
"Whatever you've gone through, there's a place for your darkness. Once you find it, you get to use all of yourself."
— Goya Robles
Goya broke out as Yago in the critically acclaimed series Get Shorty opposite Chris O'Dowd and Ray Romano, and has been working steadily across television and film ever since.
In this award-winning dramedy directed by Marc Marriott, a Japanese businessman, Hideki (Arata Iura), travels from Tokyo to a Montana cattle ranch on a corporate turnaround mission — and finds his own life turned around instead. Goya stars as Javier, the ranch hand whose friendship helps Hideki see that there's more to live for than the bottom line.
Starring Arata Iura, Robin Weigert, Ayako Fujitani, Jun Kunimura, and Goya Robles. Winner of 10 festival awards.
For Goya, teaching isn't a side gig — it's part of the same calling. A former faculty member of the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, he brings the rigor of his Actors Studio training and the lived reality of a working career to every room he leads.
His message to students is the one that built his own career: don't wait for permission. Do passionate, dedicated work now — the opportunities follow the passion people see in you.
Goya's ongoing class — an experiment lab. A place where relaxation and sensory technique are practiced, and where artists can put up scene work or any original work they want to explore. Learn more at theplaygroundnyla.com.
A former faculty member at this renowned Method-acting conservatory, where he taught the craft to the next generation of actors.
Through Paint The Mic, Goya leads and curates community workshops rooted in craft — acting, improv, spoken word — created in service of the communities PTM works alongside, helping artists and neighbors alike find their voices.
A Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio with an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University, carrying that tradition into the next generation.
"If a real career opportunity will happen, it will come out of a passion people see in you."
— Goya Robles
Portraits, sets, and the moments in between. Filter below, then tap any frame to expand it.
Born from a need to take care of human expression.
Created by Goya — President of Tan Boys Productions — PTM gives poets, painters, and performers a platform to make original work together. But it's more than one night of performance and collaborative art: the participating artists also teach their craft to the community being served. Each year it partners with a non-profit serving a community in need, building the experience around a shared theme and turning art into direct impact.
A live, curated night of performance and visual art, all created in collaboration.
Artists and performers are paired and create together over months, with the PTM team behind them.
Every guest artist leads a workshop, sharing their craft beyond the stage.
Each theme guides our non-profit partner, elevating local organizations through funds, resources, and visibility.
PTM works in collaboration with the non-profit, which gives us access to the community they serve. The artists on that year's lineup don't just perform — they also donate their time to teach their craft, whether acting, painting, spoken word, or movement, directly to the affected community the non-profit supports. So every performer is also a teacher, and the people the cause serves become artists in their own right.
"This is a journey taken together. You are now part of the lineage of this family — and if you let it, it can be a transformative experience from the inside out." — Goya Robles, Creator of Paint The Mic
For bookings, press, and professional inquiries, please reach out through management.
