Lauren Velez

Vélez landed her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical "Dreamgirls". Vélez also 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".

In 1995, Vélez landed her first major television 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 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," with Al Pacino. In 1997, Vélez starred in "Buscando un Sueño" (In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish language film sanctioned by SAG. Vélez played a supporting role on Showtime's series "Dexter", again playing a police lieutenant.

On June 24, 2006, she 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).