David Rees Snell (born August 20, 1966) is a television actor cast as Detective Ronnie Gardocki, on the FX Networks' crime drama The Shield. When The Shield was picked up by FX, Snell was initially hired as a supporting cast member on the show. He was told, that the writers had no plans for developing his character, due to him only being a last minute addition to an already large cast of actors. However, after merely a few episodes, his character was made a permanent member of the tactical unit aka The Strike Team. Snell has subsequentially appeared in almost every episode since, with his character garnering a sizable following amongst fans of the show. When his screen time expanded even further, during the fifth season, he became a full-time cast member. Snell is also a voice actor, who has appeared in such short films as P1 and Draw the Pirate. He also had a speaking role in the video game Need for Speed: Undercover. Back on TV, he co-starred in the 2006 Hallmark TV movie Desolation Canyon with fellow The Shield cast member Kenneth Johnson. More recently, he was cast in a recurring role as a terrorist during the fourth and final season of The Unit. Recently he could be seen guest starring on Hawthorne, Numb3rs, Lie to Me and Criminal Minds.