Dania Ramirez Biography

Dania Ramirez (born November 8, 1979) is a Dominican-American TV and film actress. She is recently known for playing Rosie in Devious Maids, Alex in Entourage, and Blanca during the last season of The Sopranos on television. She also played Callisto in the feature film X-Men: The Last Stand.

Personal life

Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At an early age, she decided to become an actress. As a young child, she would reenact telenovelas for her family. She was discovered by a modeling scout while working in a convenience store at the age of 15, and was cast in a small part in a soda commercial. Later, she decided to pursue acting seriously and studied at the Actor's Workshop in New York City under Flo Greenberg.

She graduated from Montclair State University in 1999, where her volleyball talents led her to be placed among the top five in career digs, digs/game, solo blocks and total blocks. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.

Ramirez and Soul Plane director Jessy Terrero dated until 2008. She became engaged in September 2011 to director John Amos Beverly Land (known as Bev Land professionally). The couple married on the beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Saturday February 16, 2013. Land brings to the marriage son Kai (9/13/01) with ex-wife Sharon Leal. She announced on July 15, 2013 that she was pregnant with twins.

Career

Music videos

Ramirez has appeared in several music videos, including Jay-Z's Streets is Watching (1998), LL Cool J's "Hush" (2005; directed by her fiancè, Jessy Terrero), Santana's "Into the Night" (2007), as well as "Cry Baby Cry" (a Santana and Sean Paul collaboration). Ramirez has also appeared in Wisin & Yandel's music video "Dime Que Te Paso", in which she played the main character, the wife and mother of a military man at war in Iraq who finds out her husband died at war. She was also featured in Hip-Hop group Sporty Thievz's video "Cheapskate" back in 1998.

Films

Ramirez appeared as an extra in the HBO film Subway Stories (1997), where she met filmmaker Spike Lee who later cast her in his film, She Hate Me (2004). She played older sister "Laurie" in the movie Fat Albert (2004). She was Callisto, one of The Omegas, in the comic book film X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). She went on to star in The 5th Commandment in 2008, a film written by and starring Rick Yune. In 2012, Ramirez appeared in two films, playing Selena in American Reunion, and a bicycle messenger in Premium Rush.

Television

Ramirez appeared as the minor character Caridad in the final episodes of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and as Blanca Selgado, a recurring role during the sixth season of The Sopranos.

Ramirez portrayed the character of Maya on the TV series Heroes. She was a guest judge on episode 5 of Cycle 14 of America's Next Top Model. She also guest starred as Alex, an employee of Turtle's and begins a relationship with Turtle in season 7 on the TV series Entourage.

Ramirez is currently part of the main cast of Devious Maids airing on the Lifetime network as Rosie Falta.

Other media

Ramirez has appeared in several magazine spreads. She has also been listed in several of the world's top publications' "Sexiest Ladies of the Year" lists. She has recently been added to the roster of models for CoverGirl Cosmetics. In March 2010, Ramirez and Queen Latifah launched the company's "Clean Makeup for Clean Water Campaign".

Filmography

List of film credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Subway Series	Unknown role	Extra
2002	25th Hour	Daphne
2004	Little Black Boot	Laurie Rodriguez
2004	'	Alila
2004	Cross Bronx	Mia
2004	She Hate Me	Alex Guerrero
2004	Fat Albert	Lauri
2005	Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning	Elena	TV movie
2006	X-Men: The Last Stand	Callisto
2007	Fort Pit	Angela Hardwick	TV movie
2007	Illegal Tender	Ana
2008	Ball Don't Lie	Carmen
2008	'	Angel
2008	Quarantine	Sadie
2009	Solving Charlie	Veronica King	TV movie
2010	Brooklyn to Manhattan	Jessica
2012	American Reunion	Selena
2012	Premium Rush	Vanessa

List of television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Caridad	3 episodes
2003	Run of the House	Lucy	1 episode
2004	10-8: Officers on Duty	Inez	1 episode
2005	Dr. Phil	Herself/Guest	1 episode
2006"2007	'	Blanca Selgado	5 episodes
2007"2008	Heroes	Maya Herrera	Main cast, Seasons 2 and 3: 15 episodes
2010	Entourage	Alex	Season 7, episodes 1-10: 10 episodes
2013	Devious Maids	Rosie Falta	Season 1-

Awards

List of awards and award nominations

Year	Award	Award category	Result	Title of work
2008	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Television Series		Heroes

See also

• List of people from the Dominican Republic