Elizabeth Rodriguez
Rodriguez at the 2015San Diego Comic-Con.
Born	New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Lehman College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present

Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She began her career appearing in filmsFresh (1994),Dead Presidents (1995),I Think I Do (1997) andBlow (2001). She played Detective Gina Calabrese in the 2006 film adaptation ofMiami Vice.

Rodriguez received aTony Award nomination and won anOuter Critics Circle Award and aTheatre World Award for her performance inStephen Adly Guirgis' 2011 playThe Motherfucker with the Hat. On television, Rodriguez starred as Aleida Diaz in theNetflix comedy-drama series,Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019). In 2015, she starred in the first season ofAMC's post-apocalyptic horror drama seriesFear the Walking Dead. She also had recurring roles inPower,Power Book II: Ghost andShameless and was regular cast member inPrime Suspect andEast New York. She also appeared in filmsThe Drop (2014) andLogan (2017). She co-wrote and starred in the 2022 comedy-drama film,Allswell in New York.

Rodriguez was born to Puerto Rican parents and raised inManhattan, New York City. She went to Brandeis High School andLehman College in the Bronx.^[1] She later spent two years at theWilliam Esper Studio in New York and worked as a hair stylist before acting.^[2]

While still studying, Rodriguez began appearing on-screen playing supporting roles in filmsFresh (1994),Dead Presidents (1995) andI Think I Do (1997).^[3] On television, Rodriguez made guest appearances inLaw & Order,Lifestories: Families in Crisis andCBS Schoolbreak Special, before playing the recurring role in the police drama series,New York Undercover from 1994 to 1995. She later made appearances inNew York News,NYPD Blue,Oz,City of Angels,Six Feet Under,ER,Third Watch andThe Shield. She co-starred in the 1998 thriller film,Return to Paradise and played Martha Oliveras in the 2001 crime drama film,Blow.^[3] In 2006, Rodriguez appeared as Gina Calabrese in the action film,Miami Vice byMichael Mann.^[4][5]

Rodriguez performed in a number of Broadway and off-Broadway productions, such asRobbers,Robbers,Beauty of the Father,A View From 151st Street, andUnconditional. From 2008 to 2009, Rodriguez played the role of Carmen Morales in the ABC daytime soap opera,All My Children.^[6] In 2011, she was nominated for aTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and wonOuter Critics Circle Award, as well as a Theatre World Award, for her role on Broadway play inStephen Adly Guirgis'sThe Motherfucker with the Hat.^[7] In 2011, she had a series regular role on the short-lived NBC police drama series,Prime Suspect.^[8] She was nominated for anImagen Award for her role in the feature filmTio Papi (2013), and the same year had secondary role in theSide Effects directed bySteven Soderbergh.

In 2013, Rodriguez began appearing in the recurring role ofAleida Diaz in theNetflix comedy-drama series,Orange Is the New Black; she was promoted to series regular in 2015. Along with the rest of the cast she receivedScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in both 2015 and 2016.^[2][9] Rodriguez also had recurring roles as Paz Valdes in theStarz drama seriesPower from 2014 to 2020, and as Special Agent Chavez in theNBC police proceduralGrimm from 2014 to 2015. In 2014, she appeared in the crime filmsGlass Chin andThe Drop.^[10][11]

In 2015, Rodriguez was cast in the series regular role on theAMC post-apocalyptic dramaFear the Walking Dead, the companion series forThe Walking Dead.^[12] She left the series after the first season. The following year she had a recurring role in the Lifetime comedy-drama series,Devious Maids. In 2017, she appeared inHugh Jackman's finalWolverine filmLogan directed byJames Mangold and starred in the second season of Hulu crime drama,Chance. In 2018, Rodriguez appeared in the teen drama film,Skate Kitchen.^[13] From 2019 to 2020 she had the recurring role in the Showtime comedy-drama series,Shameless.^[14]

In 2020, Rodriguez won aObie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress and aDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play nomination for her performance inHalfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven.^[15] In June 2021, Rodriguez voiced Rafa Martez in theStar Wars: The Bad Batch episode "Decommissioned".^[16]

In 2022, Rodriguez co-wrote, produced and played the leading role in the comedy-drama film,Allswell in New York. The film premiered at theTribeca Film Festival and Rodriguez received Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film Award.^[17][18] The film received positive reviews from critics.^[19] She also starred as aVanessa del Rio's mother in the biographical drama film,Queen of Manhattan byThomas Mignone^[20] From 2022 to 2023 she starred in the CBS police drama series,East New York.^[21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toElizabeth Rodriguez.

• Elizabeth Rodriguez atIMDb
• Elizabeth Rodriguez at theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• Elizabeth Rodriguez onTwitter

• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• American film actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• Living people
• American actresses of Puerto Rican descent
• Hispanic and Latino American actresses
• Lehman College alumni

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