I was born in Chicago on a snowy winter morning on November 20th, and raised there West of Bucktown. My parents had three daughters and so, having no brothers, we learned to terrorize my father. I am the middle child and was exactly what you'd think I might be. I was hyper, I was a clown, and I was sensitive. Today I'm all of the above, except I've refrained from bouncing off the walls. When I was 10 years old I knew, without a doubt, what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a gymnast. Not knowing how to get me involved in my dreams, my parents bought me a ballerina Barbie. So I practiced flipping on and off the mattress and did cartwheels in my yard. In fifth grade I joined the cheerleading team and I learned a few tricks. Everyday I practiced the splits until one day, on a warm Sunday afternoon, still in my Sunday church dress and shiny white shoes, it happened. Alas, the split! I did the split everyday of my life until it became embarrassing, and even now on occasion I will try just for the hell of it. Okay, moving on…..at
thirteen I decided I wanted to be an actress. I'd seen Punky Brewster,
I'd seen Webster, I saw Annie and it was time to either be an orphan or
an actress. Certain my parents were indeed who they said they were, I
decided I wanted to join other families by playing pretend. At 13, I walked
into a talent agency in Chicago and had a nice chat with a beautiful agent
named Myrna. Myra told me to come back with my mother and so I did. Mom
didn't take to Myrna all that much. I think she was scared of letting
her baby enter a world she had never known, and so my dreams were postponed.
In high school I acted in school plays. My first play was Twelve Angry
Jurors and guess what? I played the angriest of them all. By 18 years
old, when it was time to choose a college, I chose Columbia College in
Chicago. I thought I was going to study acting, but by then a "real"
career, Marketing, had settled in my conscious. I needed a part-time job,
so I went back to that talent agency and landed a job as Myrna's assistant.
While working for Myrna, she encouraged me to pursue my childhood dreams,
realizing I was too old to do flips off a balancing beam, I got myself
a headshot and Myrna started submitting me for jobs. A few months later,
I booked my first job for a McDonald's commercial. I said, "Welcome
to McDonald's. May I take your order?", and I was hooked. Next came
other commercials and print, I joined an acting troupe and got to do some
stage work. Meanwhile, I finished college with a BA in Marketing. In October
2001, I packed my Honda Civic and drove to Los Angeles. It hasn't been
a rosy road, but thankfully Los Angeles has been good to me. I've worked
in both tv and film (IMDB)
and have been featured in magazines. Last year I was named one of Five
Rising Stars to Watch Closely for USA Today and —Nadine Velazquez |