Nadine E. Velázquez (born November 20, 1978) is an American actress and model known for her roles as Catalina Aruca on ''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Ja ...

'' and Sofia Ruxin on ''

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leagu ...

''. She has also appeared in films such as ''

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

'' (2007), ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' (2012) and ''

Snitch Snitch may refer to: * Informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the la ...

'' (2013), and was a cast member on the TV series '' Major Crimes''.

Early life

Velázquez was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. She is of Puerto Rican descent. After graduating from Notre Dame High School for Girls, she earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

from

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and gradua ...

in 2001. She has a brother named Nelson.

Career

Velázquez has appeared in print ads, television, and film. Her first acting role was a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

commercial as a drive-through lady. She was originally cast as

Fernando Sucre Fernando Sucre, played by Amaury Nolasco, is a fictional character from the American television series, '' Prison Break''. He is introduced to the series in the pilot episode as the prison cellmate of the series protagonist, Michael Scofield (pla ...

's girlfriend,

Maricruz Delgado This is a list of characters in the American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits. Overview : = Main cast (credited) : = Recurri ...

, in the

Fox television The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

series ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) and Michael Scofield ( Wentworth Miller); Burrows has been sentenced ...

'' but took the role of Catalina Aruca in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series ''

'' instead. Her first film roles were in the movie ''

'' with

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years ...

and Jason Statham, and in the

Oxygen Network Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel prima ...

original

television film 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 ...

'' Husband for Hire''. She was one of the actors in the 2006 monologue show ''Skirts & Flirts''. In 2006, she was named #39 in the annual ''

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 list. Velazquez was one of the judges in the

Miss Universe 2008 Miss Universe 2008 was the 57th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition. At the end of t ...

beauty pageant and the host for the

Miss USA 2009 Miss USA 2009 was the 58th Miss USA pageant, held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Kristen Dalton of North C ...

pageant. In 2011 Velazquez appeared in the pilot of ABC's ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by ...

'' as Gloria Martinez, one of Charlie's hired "Angels". Her character was killed off after a few minutes of screen time and was replaced by

Minka Kelly Minka Kelly (born June 24, 1980) is an American actress and model. Her first starring role was in the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2009) and she has also appeared on the shows '' Parenthood'' (2010–2011), ''Charlie's Ang ...

. She appeared in a recurring role in FX's fantasy football sitcom ''

'' and on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

's comedy-drama ''

Hart of Dixie ''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of ...

''. In 2012, Velazquez appeared in the movie ''

'', playing flight attendant Katerina Marquez, a supporting role opposite the main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

character played by

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

. In 2013, Velazquez reunited with her former ''My Name Is Earl'' cast members for a guest appearance in ''

Raising Hope ''Raising Hope'' is an American sitcom that aired from September 21, 2010, to April 4, 2014, on Fox. Following its first season, the show received two nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Martha Plimpton was nominated for Outstanding ...

''. Velazquez joined the main cast of the TNT series '' Major Crimes'', beginning with season two. She plays Emma Rios, a DA, who is a romantic interest of

Raymond Cruz Raymond Cruz (born July 9, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his starring role as Detective Julio Sanchez in the series ''The Closer'' and its spinoff '' Major Crimes'', as well as his recurring role as drug lord Tuco Salamanca in ...

's Julio Sanchez. Cruz played Paco, her boyfriend, on ''My Name Is Earl''. On March 8, 2021, it was announced that Velazquez was to join the cast of ABC's music series ''

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

'', alongside

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

, Eve and

Naturi Naughton Naturi Cora Maria Naughton (born May 20, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Naughton is best known as one-third of the R&B group 3LW and for her acting roles in the films '' Fame'' and '' Notorious'', in which she played rapp ...

. In May 2021, it was announced the show was being picked up for a full series. On October 1, 2021, the first promo single from ''Queens'' (“Nasty Girl") was released featuring Velasquez alongside the cast: Brandy, Eve, Naughton and Velazquez. A music video, directed by

Tim Story Timothy Kevin Story (born March 13, 1970) is an African American film director. He is best known for '' Barbershop'' (2002), the ''Fantastic Four'' (2005) and the ''Ride Along'' franchise. He has been nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Ou ...

, was released on the same day. This was followed on October 18, 2021 by another rap song from the ''Queens '' soundtrack: “The Introduction”, which was co-written by

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

. ''

'' debuted on October 19, 2021 and reviews were largely positive; Caroline Framke for Variety praised the quartet’s musical offering, calling their raps “sharp and distinct ��making clear their talent as both individuals and a swaggering collective”. Angie Han for The Hollywood Reporter called the show “Impressive ��lavish ��magic”.

Personal life

Velazquez married

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Marc Provissiero in 2005. They divorced in 2011.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velazquez, Nadine 1978 births Actresses from Chicago American film actresses Female models from Illinois American television actresses American people of Puerto Rican descent Living people Columbia College Chicago alumni 21st-century American actresses Hispanic and Latino American actresses