Elizabeth Rodriguez Biography

Elizabeth Rodriguez (born December 27, 1980) is an American actress. She received a Tony Award nomination, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award, as well as a Theatre World Award, for her performance in Stephen Adly Guirgis's 2011 play on Broadway, The Motherfucker with the Hat. Rodriguez is best known for her role as Aleida Diaz in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013-present). In 2015, she starred as a series regular on the first season of AMC's pre-apocalyptic drama series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Early life and education

Rodriguez was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City to Puerto Rican parents. She graduated from Lehman College in the Bronx and later studied acting with Maggie Flanigan at the William Esper Studio.

Career

1990s

While still studying, Rodriguez began appearing on-screen in small parts in films like Fresh (1994) and television shows such as New York Undercover, New York News, Law & Order, NYPD Blue and Oz.

2000s

She has appeared in a number of stage productions, television shows and independent films. She was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and won Outer Critics Circle Award, as well as a Theatre World Award, for her role on Broadway play in Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Motherfucker with the Hat. She was nominated for an Imagen Award for her role in the feature film Tio Papi (2013), and co-starred as Gina Calabrese in Michael Mann's feature film Miami Vice (2006). From 2008 to 2009, she played the role of Carmen Morales on the ABC daytime soap opera, All My Children.

2010s

In 2011, she had a series regular role on the short-lived NBC police drama series, Prime Suspect.

In 2013, Rodriguez began appearing in the recurring role of Aleida Diaz in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black; she was promoted to series regular in 2016. Along with the rest of the cast she received Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2015. Rodriguez also had recurring roles as Paz Valdes in the Starz drama series, Power, and as Special Agent Chavez in the NBC police procedural Grimm.

In 2015, Rodriguez was cast in the series regular role on the AMC post-apocalyptic drama Fear the Walking Dead, the companion series for The Walking Dead.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Fresh	Consuela
1995	Dead Presidents	Marisol
1997	I Think I Do	Celia
1998	Return to Paradise	Gaby
2001	Acts of Worship	Jan
2001	Blow	Martha Oliveras
2005	Four Lane Highway	Sasha
2006	Miami Vice	Gina Calabrese
2007	Tracks of Color	Sonia Martinez	Short film
2007	On Bloody Sunday	Older Isabelle
2008	'	Martel
2010	Pound of Flesh	Sgt. Rebecca Ferraro
2011	All Things Fall Apart	Mrs. Lopez
2013	Side Effects	Pharmacist
2013	Tio Papi	Cheeky
2014	Glass Chin	Rita Sierra
2014	The Drop	Detective Romsey
2015	11:55 Holyoke	Angie
2017	Untitled Wolverine film		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Lifestories: Families in Crisis	Erika	Episode: "POWER: The Eddie Matos Story"
1994	Law & Order	Elvira Juarez	Episode: "Old Friends"
1994-1995	New York Undercover	Gina	Recurring role (5 episodes)
1995	New York News	Tanya	Episodes: "Thin Line", "Broadway Joe"
1995	Inflammable	Tanya Santos	TV film
1995	Law & Order	Caridad Montero	Episode: "Rebels"
1995	NYPD Blue	Amalia Lopez	Episode: "UnAmerican Graffiti"
1997	Oz	Maritza Alvarez	Episodes: "God's Chillin'", "Capital P"
1998	Trinity	Del Bianco	Episodes: "In Loco Parentis", "Hang Man Down"
1999-2001	ER	Nurse Sandra	3 episodes
2000	NYPD Blue	Anita Rios	Episode: "Bats Off to Larry"
2001	Just Shoot Me!	Maria	Episode: "Finch and the Fighter"
2001	Six Feet Under	Sylvie	Episode: "Familia"
2002	Without Warning	Selena Sanchez	TV film
2002	Third Watch	Sergeant Chris Reyes	Episode: "The Chosen Few"
2002-2003	'	Lita Valverde	Episodes: "Cherrypoppers" and "The Quick Fix"
2008-2009	All My Children	Carmen Morales	Recurring role, 56 episodes
2009	Law & Order	Isabel Alvarez	Episode: "Boy Gone Astray"
2009	FlashForward	Ingrid Alvarez	Episode: "Playing Cards with Coyote"
2010	Cold Case	Gina Lopresi	Episode: "Bombers"
2011-2012	Prime Suspect	Det. Carolina Rivera	Series Regular, 5 episodes
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Carmen Vasquez	Episode: "Home Invasions"
2013-present	Orange Is the New Black	Aleida Diaz	Recurring role Series regular
2014-present	Power	Paz Valdes	Recurring role, 4 episodes
2014-2015	Grimm	Special Agent Chavez	Recurring role, 5 episodes
2015-2016	Fear the Walking Dead	Liza Ortiz	Season 1 (Main Cast; 6 episodes) Season 2 (Guest; 1 episode)
2016-present	Devious Maids	Josefina	Recurring role

Theatre

Title	Role	Notes
Robbers by Lyle Kessler	Cleo	American Place Theatre Directed by Marshall Mason
' by Stephen Adly Guirgis	Saint Monica	Joseph Papp Public Theater / Martinson Hall Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
Beauty of the Father by Nilo Cruz	Marina	New York City Center - Stage II Directed by Michael Greif
' by Bob Glaudini	Irene	Joseph Papp Public Theater / LuEsther Hall Directed by Peter DuBois
Unconditional by Brett C. Leonard	Jessica	Joseph Papp Public Theater / LuEsther Hall Directed by Mark Wing-Davey
' by Stephen Adly Guirgis	Veronica	Broadway Directed by Anna D. Shapiro
"Roger and Vanessa" by Brett C. Leonard	Vanessa	Actors' Gang Theatre, Los Angeles Directed by Silas Weir Mitchell
"Den of Thieves" by Stephen Adly Guirgis	Buchi	Black Dahlia Theater, Los Angeles Directed by Matt Shakman
"Unorganized Crime" by Kenny D'Aquila	Rosie	Elephant Theater, Los Angeles Directed by David Fofi
"The Power of Duff" by Stephen Belber	Sue Raspell	Geffen Theatre, Los Angeles Directed by Peter Dubois

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2011	Tony Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play	The Motherfucker With the Hat
	Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
	Theatre World Awards	Lunt-Fontanne Award for Ensemble Excellence
2013	Imagen Foundation Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Feature Film	Tio Papi
2014	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Orange Is the New Black
	Ovation Award	Lead Actress in a Play	Unorganized Crime
2015	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Orange Is the New Black