Suki Lopez (born October 7, 1990) is an American actress, dancer, and graphic designer. She plays

Nina Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq * Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, ...

on the

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''.

Early life and career

Lopez grew up in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Lopez began studying ballet at age three, at the Maria Verdeja School of the Arts. She participated in talent shows and school choir as a child, and performed in Spanish-language commercials that aired in Latin America. She studied dance at summer workshops with

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric O ...

and

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

. The first Broadway musical she saw was ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

'', which further inspired her to pursue acting as a career. Lopez participated in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

in high school. She attended

Our Lady of Lourdes Academy Our Lady of Lourdes Academy is a Catholic all-girls high school in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It has been managed by the Immaculate Heart of Mary since its 1963 foundation. In 2006, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy was named one of t ...

, where she performed in the Troupe 6273, and was cast in ''

Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical-romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve young ...

'' in her senior year. Lopez later moved to

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 ...

to study at the

Collaborative Arts Project 21 Collaborative Arts Project 21, known more commonly as CAP21, is a New York City professional musical theatre training conservatory and Off-Broadway theatre company. It has a core faculty with many associate faculty who are also working professional ...

acting conservatory. She appeared in a productions of the ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...

'' musical, and in a national tour of the musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

''. Lopez also performed on the Disney Cruise Line, appearing in the shows ''Disney Wishes'' and ''Disney's Believe''. She also understudied the role of

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

from ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', and performed as Belle from '' Beauty and the Beast''.

''Sesame Street''

Lopez joined the cast of ''Sesame Street'' during its 46th season in 2016, the first year that the show had moved to

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, marking her television debut. Her first audition was reading a scene involving a heart to heart conversation with someone performing as Elmo, and her second audition included singing and

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

with the

Murray Monster Murray Monster is a character on ''Sesame Street''. He is performed by Joey Mazzarino. History Murray is an energetic monster. Although unnamed, the character was referred to on the set as "FilFil," as his design is based on that of Filfil from ' ...

puppet. Her casting was part of a series of updates and changes to the show that coincided with the move to HBO. Lopez portrays

, works at the Sesame Street laundromat and bike store, and works as a babysitter for Elmo. ''Sesame Street'' promotional materials described Nina as "a young bilingual Hispanic woman who uses her wit, compassion, and charisma to help the furry residents of Sesame Street solve their daily dilemmas". Lopez said of the character: "Nina is a millennial, and she has a bunch of jobs. So I guess she is like me." Lopez watched and enjoyed ''Sesame Street'' as a child. Shortly after Lopez's character was introduced, a petition was circulated asking for Nina to be depicted as a college graduate.

Personal life

Lopez has one brother. Her first name means "love" in Japanese. She has also worked in

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

, as a

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and acting coach, and has run

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

accounts for various dance studios in

. While appearing in ''Sesame Street'', Lopez was also studying liberal arts at ''

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

'' in New York City.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Suki Living people American people of Cuban descent Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Actresses from Miami American television actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American women graphic designers American graphic designers Joffrey Ballet School alumni Joffrey Ballet dancers American Ballet Theatre dancers The New School alumni 1990 births