- His first role on stage was in college as villain Blick in William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize winning play The Time of Your Life.
- Was seen by Al Pacino's real-life Godfather, actor Sully Boyar, in The Indian Wants the Bronx as Gupta and Boyar said "You were as good as Cazale in that role", which Pla considers one of the greatest compliments he's ever received.
- Was an avid comic book reader and collector through most of his youth then, in high school, sold most of his collection keeping select titles. Still has all his Conan the Barbarian comics.
- Regarding directors he's worked with multiple times, he's done two feature films with James Wan, two with Mike Mendez, and four with Hank Braxtan.
- Started working Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway in New York City, then went to Los Angeles to work in Television and Film.
- Was in a workshop at HB Studios led by F. Murray Abraham who brought his Best Actor Oscar for Amadeus, handed it to Pla, and let him make his Best Actor acceptance speech.
- Considers his father the coolest guy he ever met.
- Used to watch Creature Features on TV as a kid in New York City which aired classic horror movies. He especially loved The Wolf Man because Lon Chaney Jr.'s Lawrence Talbot was such a sympathetic character who had done nothing to deserve the curse put upon him.
- His acting inspirations in his early years were Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino. Later, they were Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Anthony Hopkins.
- Is of Spanish and French ancestry.
- Auditioned for the role of Al Capone in Brian DePalma's film The Untouchables, which ended up being played by Robert De Niro.
- Speaks fluent Spanish.
- His fictional childhood heroes growing up were James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and Conan the Barbarian.
- The comic books he read regularly were Batman, Superman, Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Conan.
- A big fan of the Star Trek universe, especially The Original Series, The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, and Voyager.
- Starred in The Indian Wants the Bronx at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre in New York City in the role of Gupta which John Cazale had originated Off-Broadway, then soon after Pla switched to the role of Murph, which Al Pacino had originated opposite Cazale.
- Growing up, the TV shows he enjoyed watching were Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, and Batman.
- Was an English major in college that wanted to write a play and decided to take an acting class to research what it was like for the characters from the inside as an actor. Broke down crying onstage in his first acting scene and the bug bit him.
- Once sang Karaoke with Mike Myers.
- Sang Karaoke with Jim Caviezel at a wedding. They sang Taking Care of Business and New York, New York.
- Shared an elevator ride in a medical building with Lou Ferrigno who shook his head slowly, turned to Pla, and said "Man, it sucks getting old.".
- His first rock concert was KISS, during their Alive II tour, even though Pla wasn't familiar with the band. By a fluke, he called in to a radio program and won tickets for the show. He was mesmerized by their onstage theatrics which definitely influenced his later wanting to go into acting. He's now seen the band live three times.
- Was brought in to a party at Rob Lowe's house in full Dr. Evil makeup and costume and, with Lowe dressed up as Number Two, they riffed Austin Powers bits together.
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