# Raquel Castro

Raquel Castro (born November 17, 1994) is an American actress and singer. She is known for starring in the 2004 film Jersey Girl as Gertie Trinké, the daughter of Ollie Trinké (Ben Affleck) and Gertrude Steiney (Jennifer Lopez), for which Castro won the Young Artist Award for the Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Younger. She was a contestant in the American version of The Voice.

## Background

Castro's father is Puerto Rican, and her mother is of Italian and Jewish descent.

## Career
### Acting

Castro made her acting debut in an episode of the television series, Third Watch. She then played the daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's characters in the 2004 film Jersey Girl, directed by Kevin Smith. She appeared in a 2005 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit entitled "Alien" and in the independent film Little Fugitive. Castro appeared in two second-season episodes of Liv & Maddie ("BFF-A-Rooney" and "SPARF-A-Rooney") as Liv's friend South Salamanca.
In 2006, she was cast as Nicole in the music video for the Ludacris song "Runaway Love" with Mary J. Blige, where she plays an abused self-conscious girl who runs away. She later was featured in the 2007 independent film, Tracks of Color. She has a role in The Ministers (2009), starring John Leguizamo. Raquel also spent quite a few years at a dance studio with her younger brother on Long Island.

### Singing

Castro was a contestant on the first season of the reality television singing competition program The Voice, She was selected in the Blind Audition round and was coached by Christina Aguilera. She progressed to the first round of the Live shows before being eliminated with Lily Elise in favor of Frenchie Davis and Beverly McClellan.
Castro recorded a cover of Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" and posted it on YouTube. Castro has also listed Christina Aguilera and Selena as her idols and major influences.
Castro released her first single titled "Diary". According to her YouTube page, the song was written by Alyssa Bonagura and Ted Bruner. It was produced by J Chris Griffin. It was released on iTunes and CDBaby on February 1, 2012. She has uploaded the music video for "Diary" on YouTube and recorded a dance remix of the song, released on March 11, 2012. The remix was released under the title "Diary (J Chris Griffin Remix)". She is also working on her debut album.
A single called "Game Over" was released on January 29, 2013. Castro wrote it with the help of the IDA Program.
In 2019, Castro provided vocals for the theme song to the Netflix Original Series Carmen Sandiego.
Castro was also on season 2 of NBC's Songland, where she presented her song "Wrong Places" to H.E.R., where she picked her song to put on her album.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | Jersey Girl | Gertie Trinké | Film debut |
| 2006 | Little Fugitive | Destiny | Remake |
| 2007 | Tracks of Color | Carmen | Short film |
| 2009 | America | Liza | |
| 2009 | The Ministers | Nereida | |
| 2010 | Brooklyn's Finest | Katherine | |
| 2016 | From Nowhere | Alyssa | |
| 2017 | Heavenly Charm | Izabella Sanchez | Starring role |
| 2017 | Ten | Lori | |
| 2019 | Already Gone | Carmen | |
| 2021 | This Is the Night | Anna Tocci | |
Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Third Watch | Moira Kenney | Episode: "The Greater Good" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Emma Boyd | Episode: "Alien" |
| 2011 | The Voice | Herself | Season 1 contestant; member of Christina Aguilera's team |
| 2011 | Wingin' It | JenJen | Episode: "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" |
| 2014 | Awkward | Shiri | Episode: "Touched by an Angel" |
| 2014–2015 | Liv and Maddie | South Salamanca | Episodes: "BFF-A-Rooney" and "SPARF-A-Rooney" |
| 2015–2016 | Empire | Marisol | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Songland | Herself | Episode: "H.E.R." |

## Discography
### Albums as part of Empire cast

| Year | Artist | Album | Notes |
| 2015 : | Empire cast | Empire: Season 2 Volume 1 | Track 9: "Runnin'" |
| 2016 : | Empire cast | Empire: Season 2 Volume 2 | Track 2: "Crown" |

### Singles

| Year | Song | Album | Notes |
| 2012 | "Diary" | Non-album single | |
| 2019 | "So Much More" | Non-album single | With ONEDUO |

### Music videos

| Year | Video | Director |
| 2012 : | "Diary" | Roman Dent |

### Songwriting credits

| Song | Year | Artist | Album |
| "Wrong Places" | 2020 | H.E.R. | Non-album single |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Group | Award | Result | Film |
| 2005 : | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Younger | Won | Jersey Girl |