Lauren Vélez
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Lauren Vélez (born November 2, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent and the twin sister of actress Loraine Velez.
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[edit] Early years
The twins' parents emigrated from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s and lived in the Brooklyn section of New York where the twins were born. Their father was a New York City police officer who eventually bought a house in the middle class neighborhood of Rockaway Queens and moved there with his wife and eight children. The sisters enjoyed setting up improvised plays and acting for the family ever since childhood. Lauren once played the part of a groundhog in a second grade school play, after which she decided to be an actor.
After graduating from high school, the twins both received scholarships to attend The Alvin Ailey Dancing School. They also studied acting at The Acting Studio with James Price and Lauren studied Shakespeare with Michael Howard. Lauren landed her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical "Dreamgirls". Loraine would often step in for her sister in Dreamgirls.
On Broadway, besides doing Dreamgirls, Lauren played understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods". She also performed Off-Broadway in the productions of "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Fasade".
[edit] Lauren's career
In 1995, Lauren landed her first major T.V. role. She was cast as "Nina Moreno", a policewoman in the TV series "New York Undercover". That same year, she also made her film debut as "Lisette Linares" in the movie "I Like It Like That" alongside Rita Moreno and Jon Seda. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and The Desi Award for "Best Lead Actress". The movie was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards and won a NYFCCA award. Another TV series in which she performed was HBO's jail drama, "Oz". She also acted in the feature film "City Hall", with Al Pacino.
In 1997, Lauren starred in "Buscando un Sueño" (In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish speaking film sanctioned by SAG.
On June 24, 2006 Lauren won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2006 Long Island International Film Expo for her performance as Roseanne Crystal in the independent feature film, "Serial".
This year, Lauren is playing a supporting role on Showtime's new series, "Dexter".
Lauren's filmography includes the following:
- I Like It Like That (1994) - Lisette Linares
- "New York Undercover" (1994) TV Series - Detective Nina Moreno (1995-1998)
- City Hall (1996) - Elaine Santos
- Buscando un sueño (1997) (In Search of a Dream)
- "Oz" (1997) TV Series - Dr. Gloria Nathan
- I Think I Do (1997) - Carol
- Thicker Than Blood (1998) (TV) - Camilla López
- The LaMastas (1998)
- "St. Michael's Crossing" (1999) TV Series - Vicki Solera
- Prince of Central Park (2000) - Rosa Sánchez
- Prison Song (2001) - Prison Counselor
- Love and Treason (2001) (TV) - Agent Susan Mestre
- Barely Buzzed (2005) - Maria Vásquez
- Serial (2006) - Roseanne Crystal
- Dexter (2006) - Lt. Maria LaGuerta
[edit] Currently
Currently both sisters continue to make TV and stage appearances.
