Liza Colón-Zayas (born 1972) is an American actress and playwright.

Early life and education

Liza Colón was born and raised 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 ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1972 and began her career

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

. She broke into mainstream theatre when she wrote, produced, and starred in a one-woman show titled ''Sistah Supreme'', a semi-autobiographical play in which she chronicles growing up as a Latina woman in New York during the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Colón-Zayas has been a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, a New York-based traveling actors' group, since 1992. On stage, she originated the role of Norca in the off-Broadway productions of ''Our Lady of 121st Street'' and appeared in ''In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings'' (co-starring

Ana Ortiz Ana Ortiz (born January 25, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Having pursued a career in ballet and singing from a young age, she eventually attended University of the Arts. Ortiz began her acting career in theatre, in early 2000s starred ...

and directed by

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produc ...

). '' Time Out New York'' named the latter production one of the ten best plays of 1999. She has also appeared in television series such as ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and ''Blue Bloods'' episode 124, "Stomping Grounds" (in the latter, as Ana Baez, the sister of Detective Maria Baez). She guest starred in ''

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 ...

'' ( season 5, episode 8), as the mother of Yasmin Aragon, a snitch to the detectives investigating the "Santa Muerte killings." She came into the detachment to identify her daughter's body, after she was killed during a sting by Miami Metro Homicide. On the large screen, she played a passenger in the film '' United 93'' (2006) and Judge Angel Rodriguez in ''

Righteous Kill ''Righteous Kill'' is a 2008 American action thriller film directed by Jon Avnet and written by Russell Gewirtz. The film stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as New York City Police Department detectives on the hunt for a serial killer. It is the ...

'' (2008). In 2016, she played Dawn in the horror film '' The Purge: Election Year''.

Personal life

Colón-Zayas is married to actor

David Zayas David Zayas (born August 15, 1962) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his roles as Angel Batista on Showtime's series ''Dexter'' and Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama series '' Oz''. Early life Zayas was born in Ponce, Puer ...

, known for his role as Angel Batista on Showtime's ''

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * American actresses of Puerto Rican descent American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City Living people People from the Bronx 1972 births {{US-actor-stub