Tessie Marie Santiago (born August 10, 1975 in

Miami, Florida 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 ...

) is an American actress of

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

descent.

Biography

Family and education

Tessie Santiago is a first generation American. Her parents and grandparents fled from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

after

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

took the power of the country in the early 1960s. Her grandfather was a sculptor. Santiago's father, Joe Santiago, was a musician and her mother's mother was described as a painter. (Santiago's mother, Tess Stebbins, went on to earn a college degree from

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Miami ...

as a working adult in Florida and is Executive Director of Medical Education at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Miller School of Medicine.) Santiago learned to play the piano at age seven. Santiago has two younger siblings, a brother and a half-sister. She attended

Miami Coral Park High School Miami Coral Park Senior High School is a secondary school located in the Westchester census-designated place of Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

, she earned a double major in film and theater arts and was able to study Shakespeare in London, England and Film Production with the

Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ( cs, Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) or FAMU is a film school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1946 as one of three branches of the Acade ...

(FAMU) in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic. At university, she starred in the independent film ''Echo'' and acted in several other student films. While working in Spain on the ''

Queen of Swords The Queen of Swords is a card in the Suit of Swords, part of the Minor Arcana set of the Tarot. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries, Tarot cards are utilized primarily for div ...

'', Santiago rescued and adopted a dog she named Zion. Santiago's favourite authors include

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (February 11, 1903 – January 14, 1977; , ) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

and

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

. She has reported aspiration to work behind the camera, both as a writer and a director. Santiago married actor

Carlos Bernard Carlos Bernard Papierski (born October 12, 1962) is an American actor and director, best known for his role as Tony Almeida in '' 24'', which he played from 2001 to 2006, and then reprised again in 2009, 2014 in '' 24: Solitary'' and 2017 in '' ...

in December 2013. They have a son, Jax, born in August 2018.

Career

Santiago made her television debut in 2000 in the syndicated action/adventure television series ''

'', playing Tessa Alvarado/The Queen. She went on to appear on television shows including the first 11 episodes of the first season of the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Good Morning, Miami ''Good Morning, Miami'' is an American sitcom created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. The series ran on NBC from September 26, 2002, to December 18, 2003, and centered around the personal and professional life of Jake (Mark Feuerstein), the exec ...

'', playing Lucia Rojas-Klein; and in episodes of '' Kitchen Confidential'', ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'', and '' One on One''. In 2001, Santiago landed a co-starring role with

Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She has played roles in films ''Shag'', ''Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', ''SLC Punk!'', ''The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Special ...

and

Kamar de los Reyes Kamar de los Reyes (born November 8, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Antonio Vega on the ABC soap opera, ''One Life to Live'', and as Raul Menendez, the primary antagonist of the 2012 video game, '' Call of D ...

in the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

TV-movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

The Way She Moves "The Way She Moves" is a song written and performed by Puerto Rican singer Zion and American singer Akon. Produced by Akon, the song was released as the lead single from Zion's debut solo studio album ''The Perfect Melody'' (2007). After temporaril ...

'', playing Christina Juarez, a

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

dancer with the dream of winning a dance exhibition. Santiago then played Sarah Marshall in the independent film ''

The Way Back Home ''The Way Back Home'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Vince Gill. It was released in 1987 by RCA Nashville and it produced four chart singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. In order of release, these were "Cin ...

''. In 2009, she starred in the movie ''

The Cell 2 ''The Cell 2 '' is a 2009 direct-to-video sequel to the 2000 film ''The Cell''. Directed by Tim Iacofano and written by Lawerence Silverstein, Alex Barder and Rob Rinow, the movie is similar in themes as the original, about an investigator who mus ...

'', a

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

spin-off of the 2000 film '' The Cell'', playing psychic investigator Maya Casteneda. She was a cast regular on the 2010 TV series ''Twentysixmiles'', playing Jennifer Calderon. She also had a role in the 2010 film '' Angel Camouflaged'' playing Desdemona. She guest starred in an episode of the TV series ''

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' (stylized ℞oyalPains) is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series was based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies. The ca ...

'' in 2010, reuniting with her former ''

'' co-star,

Mark Feuerstein Mark Feuerstein (; born June 8, 1971) is an American actor, writer, producer and director. He had an early, recurring role in several episodes of '' Caroline in the City'', playing the title character's new boyfriend, and later gained notice in a ...

. She appeared in 3 episodes of the TV series ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to some ...

'' in 2012.

Accolades

Santiago was nominated for a 2001

ALMA Award The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and ...

for "Outstanding lead actress in a syndicated drama series" for ''Queen of Swords'' together with

Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''. Carrere played C ...

and the winner

Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in t ...

. She was ranked #50 on the ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

'' Hot 100 Women of 2001 list.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* Fantasticon interview with Tessie Santiago in 2000 about the Queen of Swords on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8hBQgKpnSw * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Tessie 1975 births Living people 21st-century American women University of Miami alumni Actresses from Miami American people of Cuban descent American people of Spanish descent American television actresses