April Lee Hernandez (born January 31, 1980) is an American film and television actress. She has also been credited as April L. Hernandez and April Hernandez-Castillo.

Personal life

Hernandez grew up near the Grand Concourse in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

. She is of Puerto Rican descent and has described herself as a "strong Latina." Hernandez studied

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient ...

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

, but dropped out to pursue a comedy career after being inspired by

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...

's off-Broadway production ''Mambo Mouth''. Hernandez is married to Jose Castillo. The couple have a daughter named Summer Rose, who is best known for playing Alma Rivera from

Alma's Way ''Alma's Way'' is an animated children's television series from Fred Rogers Productions created and executive produced by former ''Sesame Street'' actress Sonia Manzano and animated by Canadian animation studio Pipeline Studios. It premiered on P ...

. Summer was born on September 30, 2012.

Acting career

Television

Aside from performing

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

, she has also appeared in several commercials, as well as on the television series '' ER'', ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

'', and ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...

''. In June 2010 she was cast for the American cult series ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series '' Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British web series ''Diary of a Bad Man'' * Dext ...

''. She appeared in the television series ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no le ...

'' episode "Legacy", which aired on January 18, 2012, in which she played an attorney who had turned her life around after a checkered childhood.

Movie

She is known for her role in the 2007 drama ''

Freedom Writers ''Freedom Writers'' is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey and Mario. It is based on the 1999 book '' The Freedom Writers Diary'' by te ...

'', in which she played Eva, based on real-life

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

student Maria Reyes. Hernandez has said that she was "determined" to be cast in ''Freedom Writers''. She admires

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'', where she re ...

, and has stated that Lopez "opened the door for me so that I don't have to take certain roles" as a Hispanic-American actress.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
DTM Magazine article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, April Lee 1980 births Actresses from New York City American film actresses American actresses of Puerto Rican descent American stand-up comedians American television actresses Hunter College alumni Living people People from the Bronx American women comedians Comedians from New York City 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American actresses Converts to Protestantism from Roman Catholicism