# Lauren Vélez

Luna Lauren Vélez (born November 2, 1964) is an American actress. Her most notable television roles are as María LaGuerta on Showtime's Dexter, Detective Nina Moreno on Fox's New York Undercover, Dr. Gloria Nathan on HBO's prison drama Oz, and Elena on ABC's comedy-drama Ugly Betty. She also starred as Rio Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

## Early life and education

In the early 1950s, Vélez's parents moved from Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, New York, where she and her identical twin sister, Lorraine Vélez, were born. The twins have five other sisters and one brother. Vélez's father, a New York City Police Department officer, eventually bought a house in Far Rockaway, Queens, and moved the family there. The twins staged improvised plays and acting for the family and participated in nearly all their high school drama productions, such as Fiddler on the Roof. After graduating from Beach Channel High School in 1982, they received scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey Dance School. They went on to study acting at The Acting Studio - New York with its founding artistic director James Price, protégé and personal friend of Sanford Meisner. Lauren also studied Shakespeare with Michael Howard.

## Career

Vélez landed her first performing job in the national touring company of the musical Dreamgirls. She was also an understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, and performed Off-Broadway in productions of Much Ado About Nothing.
In 1994, Vélez made her film debut as Lisette Linares in the movie I Like It Like That alongside Rita Moreno and Jon Seda. In 1995, Vélez landed her first major television role as Nina Moreno, a policewoman, in the TV series New York Undercover. 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 an NYFCCA award. Another TV series in which she performed was HBO's jail drama Oz. She also acted in the feature film City Hall (1996) with Al Pacino. In 1997, she starred in Buscando un Sueño (In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish-language film sanctioned by SAG. She played police lieutenant María LaGuerta, in a major supporting role on Showtime's series Dexter.
On June 24, 2006, Vélez 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.
In 2010, she received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | I Like It Like That | Lisette Linares | Independent Spirit Awards for Best Female Lead |
| 1996 | City Hall | Elaine Santos | Nominated – NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series |
| 1997 | I Think I Do | Carol | Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film |
| 2000 | Prince of Central Park | Rosa Sanchez | |
| 2001 | Prison Song | Prison Counselor | |
| 2007 | Serial | Roseanne Crystal | Long Island International Film Expo for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2011 | Rosewood Lane | Paula Crenshaw | |
| 2016 | Officer Downe | Chief Berringer | |
| 2016 | America Adrift | Cecilia Fernandez | |
| 2018 | The First Purge | Luisa | |
| 2018 | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | Rio Morales (voice) | |
| 2019 | Swallow | Lucy | |
| 2019 | Shaft | Bennie | |
| 2019 | Windows on the World | Eva | |
| 2020 | Ana | Camila | |
| 2021 | Rogue Hostage | Sunshine | |
| 2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Rio Morales (voice) | |
| 2023 | Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | Breanna Diaz | |
| TBA | Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse † | Rio Morales (voice) | In production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | The Cosby Mysteries | Claudine Palmeri | "The Hit Parade" |
| 1995–1999 | New York Undercover | Lourdes / Det. Nina Moreno | Guest role (season 1); Main role (seasons 2–4) NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (1998) Nominated — Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (1997, 1998) |
| 1997–2003 | Oz | Dr. Gloria Nathan | Guest (season 1), recurring role (seasons 2–6) ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series (2001) Nominated – ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series (1999, 2000, 2002) |
| 1998 | Thicker Than Blood | Camilla Lopez | Television film Nominated – ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in Made-for Television Movie or Mini-Series |
| 1999 | Strange World | Det. Arias | "Azrael's Breed" |
| 1999 | St. Michael's Crossing | Vicki Solera | TV series |
| 1999 | Law & Order | Ms. Torres | "Marathon" |
| 2000 | The Pretender | Emily Sadler | "Spin Doctor" |
| 2000 | Profiler | Emily Sadler | "Clean Sweep" |
| 2001 | Love and Treason | Agent Susan Mestre | Television film |
| 2003 | Dragnet | Det. Denise Beltran | "Redemption," "For Whom the Whistle Blows" |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Attorney Shamal | "Home", "Obscene" |
| 2005 | Strong Medicine | Dr. Vanessa Burke | "First Response" |
| 2005 | Wanted | Faye Templeton | "The Last Templeton" |
| 2006 | Medium | Elena Cabrera | "Knowing Her" |
| 2006–2007 | Numbers | Claudia Gomez | "Undercurrents", "Hardball", "Contenders" |
| 2006–2012 | Dexter | María LaGuerta | Main role (seasons 1–7) NAMIC Vision Award for Best Actress - Drama Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie (2007, 2008) Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2008–2011) |
| 2008 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Officer Lois Melago | "Purgatory" |
| 2009–2010 | Ugly Betty | Elena | Recurring role (seasons 3–4) |
| 2011 | Breakout Kings | Carmen Vega | "Where in the World Is Carmen Vega" |
| 2011 | Hawthorne | Dr. Kat | "For Better or Worse" |
| 2014 | Unforgettable | Aisha Conway | "Fire and Ice" |
| 2015 | South of Hell | Tetra | Main role |
| 2016 | Elementary | Zoe Mercado | "Art Imitates Art" |
| 2016–2017 | How to Get Away with Murder | Soraya Hargrove | Recurring role (season 3), guest (season 4) |
| 2017 | Madam Secretary | Natalia Moreno | "Labor of Love" |
| 2017–2018 | Blue Bloods | Special Agent Veronica Molina | "The Thin Blue Line," "By Hook or by Crook" |
| 2017 | MacGyver | Cassandra Glover | "Packing Peanuts + Fire", "CD-ROM + Hoagie Foil", "War Room + Ship" |
| 2018 | Murder | Capt. Lili Alvarez | TV film, pre-production |
| 2022–2023 | Power Book II: Ghost | Evelyn Castillo | Guest (season 2), recurring (season 3) |
| 2022–2023 | East New York | Tamika Martin | Recurring |
| 2024 | American Rust | Detective Angela Burgos | Main role (season 2) |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983–84 | Dreamgirls | Stepp Sister/Ensemble | Tour |
| 1985–87 | Dreamgirls | Stepp Sister/Sweetheart/Ensemble Michelle Morris (u/s) | Tour |
| 1988–89 | Into the Woods | The Witch (u/s) | Broadway |
| 2024 | The Other Americans | Patti | Arena Stage, Washington, D.C. |