Ana Ortiz

As a sassy single mom/sister to the title character on the campy dramedy Ugly Betty, this Hispanic actress finally found her breakthrough role after a decade in showbiz. Although she pursued ballet in her youth, she traded her dancing shoes for singing lessons due to the pain of being on pointe. A vocal major at New York's Fame school, the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, Ortiz switched her focus to acting in college, and honed her skills on the regional theater scene in both classical and contemporary plays. She made her TV debut with a bit part in Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman: The Movie, then began landing guest spots on various series (ER, Everybody Loves Raymond), usually, to her dismay, playing Latina stereotypes. Even more depressing, she signed on to three successive shows the sitcoms Kristin and A.U.S.A. and the critically hailed but low-rated Iraq War drama Over There that didn't make it past their freshman seasons. Around the time of her multi-episode arc as a sultry ADA on Boston Legal, she auditioned for Ugly Betty. Although she initially read for the title heroine a role Ortiz herself has said she was completely wrong and much too old for the producers asked her back for the big-sis spot, a dream part that allowed her to be sexy, acerbic and street-smart simultaneously.