Thursday, November 17, 2011

Betcha Didn't Know..?

Some of the most notable names from the dawn of film and television are of Latino descent. Here are some of them.

In this edition, up and coming stars of television.

Aubrey Plaza (1984– ) was born in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A., to a mother of Irish and English descent and a Puerto Rican father. An actress and comedienne, she has gained popularity through her deadpan-style comedy. She currently co-stars in "Parks and Recreation" as April Ludgate. She was named after the song "Aubrey" by Bread. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She has been performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also recently began performing stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. She starred in the online series "The Jeannie Tate Show," and starred as Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street. She also appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die. She played Seth Rogen's love interest, Daisy, in 2009's Funny People directed by Judd Apatow. She also had roles in the comedy films Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team. She appeared in a CollegeHumor short alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. In addition to her role as April Ludgate on "Parks and Recreation," she has a recurring role as "the Princess" in the comedic sci-fi web series "Troopers" on CollegeHumor.

Coté de Pablo
(1979- ), born María José de Pablo Fernández, is a Chilean actress and recording artist. She has won an ALMA Award for her role as NCIS Special Agent Ziva David in the television series "NCIS." She has also embarked on a career as a songwriter and vocalist. She was born in Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile, to an upper-class Catholic family. In the fifth grade, she found many people could not properly pronounce her first name of "María José" so she asked them to call her Coté (a common nickname for María José in Chile). When she was ten, her mother, María Olga Fernández, received a job in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., at a Spanish-speaking television network. There, she attended Arvida Middle School and New World School of the Arts where she studied musical theater. She then attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she studied music and theater and appeared in several plays. These aforementioned plays include And The World Goes 'Round, The House of Bernarda Alba, Indiscretions, The Fantasticks and A Little Night Music. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she picked up parts in the Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, a role in the show "All My Children," and in commercials. In 2005, de Pablo was about to make her Broadway debut in The Mambo Kings in 2005 as Dolores Fuentes, but the show closed after a short trial run in San Francisco. Two days after The Mambo Kings closed, she was asked to audition for NCIS. She was put alongside series star Michael Weatherly to test for chemistry during her second audition; he went off-script by brushing a hair back and commenting "You remind me of Salma Hayek," to which she stayed in character and "dismissed him completely." Afterwards, producer Donald Bellisario met with her when she was waiting for a cab to take her back to the airport and told her she got the part. The role is that of Ziva David, a former Israeli Mossad Liaison Officer, now a Special Agent for NCIS. She is also known for hosting some episodes of the show "Control" from 1994-95 on Univision, alongside host Carlos Ponce. As a singer, she performed a portion of Tom Waits's song "Temptation" on an episode of "NCIS." Her full performance of the song, including some lyrics in French, appears for the first time on NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack, which was released on February 10, 2009. She is also the singer in Roberto Pitre's "Vivo en vida" where she sings "Samba in Prelude" and "Cry Me a River."

Tyler Posey (1991- ), born Tyler Posey García al estilo latino in Santa Monica, California, U.S.A., the son of a Mexican mother and an Irish-Scottish-English-Native American actor. He is an actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Scott McCall in MTV's show "Teen Wolf." Working steadily in film and television for the last decade, he is also the frontman of the band Lost In Kostko, in which he sings and plays guitar. In his breakout role, he has been cast as the lead in the MTV television series of "Teen Wolf" (a re-imagining of the 1985 film of the same name), as the soft-spoken Scott, a high school student bitten by a werewolf, who has to keep his secret from his loved ones and keep them safe from impending dangers. Because of this role, he has received many comparisons to Taylor Lautner of The Twilight Saga. He, as a matter of fact, auditioned for, and was the runner up for the role of Jacob Black in Twilight, that later went to Lautner. He recently received the role of Doug in his new flick, White Frog, in which he co-stars with yet another Twilight star, Booboo Stewart, and the werewolf of "Wizards of Waverly Place," Greg Sulkin. Other film credits include roles in Collateral Damage; Maid in Manhattan; Veritas, Prince of Truth; and Legendary.

Michael Treviño (1985- ) is an actor born in Montebello, California, U.S.A. to a Mexican mother born in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico and a Mexican father born in Fresno, California, U.S.A. He is best known for his role as Tyler Lockwood in the CW series "The Vampire Diaries." He played the role of Jackson Meade, heir to Meade Milk, in the Disney Channel original movie Cow Belles. He has also appeared as a guest star on "Cold Case," "Without a Trace," "Charmed," "Bones" and "Commander in Chief." He also had a recurring role on "The Riches" on FX, playing high school student, Brent, in a four-episode story arc in Season 1, and in the third episode of Season 2. He played the role of Jaime Vega on the short-lived 2007 television series "Cane" and was cast as the character Ozzie, a student at West Beverly Hills High School, for a three-episode arc on the CW's "90210." He currently stars as Tyler Lockwood in the hit series "The Vampire Diaries" since September 2009 on The CW.

Lana Parrilla (1977- ) is a Puerto Rican actress, best known for her roles on the television series "Spin City," "24," "Boomtown" and "Miami Medical." She currently stars as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills in the ABC series "Once Upon a Time." Born in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A., she is the daughter of Sam Parrilla, a professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1970s. She had roles in a few movies, including Very Mean Men (2000), Spiders (2000), Frozen Stars (2003) and Replicant. She was first noticed in the mainstream when she joined the cast of "Spin City" in 2000, playing Angie Ordóñez for one season. After this, she joined Donnie Wahlberg and Neal McDonough in the 2002 series "Boomtown," for which she received the Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress, in which she played Teresa, a paramedic. She guest-starred in shows such as "JAG," "NYPD Blue" and "Six Feet Under." In 2005, She took a recurring guest role on the fourth season of "24" as Sarah Gavin, a Counter Terrorist Unit agent. After just six episodes, she was promoted to a main cast member. In 2007, she guest starred as a character called Greta in two episodes of the third season of ABC's "Lost." In 2010, she starred in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "Miami Medical" on CBS, which had a short run towards the end of the 2009-10 television season before being canceled in July 2010. She currently stars as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills in the ABC adventure fantasy television series, "Once Upon a Time," which debuted in October 2011.

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