Nina Lisandrello is an American actress, known for her role as Tess Vargas in the television series ''

Beauty & The Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...

''. She has guest starred in ''

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 on ...

'', '' Conviction'', '' Nurse Jackie'', and '' FBI''.

Early life

Lisandrello was born in Encino, a district of Los Angeles, California. At the age of 10 years she did a TV commercial for

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

. This commercial is what later helped her to become a SAG Foundation member. Lisandrello's mother is the singer and songwriter Helena Springs.

Career

She first appeared on TV screens playing Serena Mallory in the short lived TV series '' Conviction''. She went on to guest star in some other TV shows such as ''

'', '' Mercy'', '' Nurse Jackie'', and a made-for-TV movie called ''Washingtonienne''. Parallel to her work in television she has also been seen in some films: in the indie ''Pre'', in the comedy ''

The Best and the Brightest ''The Best and the Brightest'' (1972) is an account by journalist David Halberstam of the origins of the Vietnam War published by Random House. The focus of the book is on the foreign policy crafted by academics and intellectuals who were in Pr ...

'', and in the horror movie '' The Bleeding House''. Her big break came when she was cast as Tess Vargas in The CW's remake of ''

Beauty & the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...

''. Even though the series has received "generally unfavorable" reviews, Lisandrello is so far the only star in the show to receive positive feedback from a TV critic. Mary McNamara of '' Los Angeles Times'' said "the only point of light is provided by Catherine's partner, Tess, who, as played with great common-sense appeal by Nina Lisandrello, clearly deserves to be on a better show." On January 21, 2013, in Brazil, she won Best Supporting Actress in a Best of 2012 Awards promoted by Brazilian cable channel Universal Channel.

Filmography

References

* * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lisandrello, Nina Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from New York City American film actresses American television actresses People from Encino, Los Angeles 1980 births