Born in Brooklyn, NY on July 15, 1977, Parrilla grew up among famous and creative people – her father was Sam Parrilla, who played briefly for the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles in the early 1970s (he apparently died from foul play in 1994). Meanwhile, her aunt was television and stage veteran Candice Azzara and her mother was an accomplished artist. Parrilla found her calling as a youngster by performing in short movies she filmed on her family’s video camera. After graduating high school, she decided to make a go of acting and moved to Los Angeles, where she studied under acclaimed instructor Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Her first roles were small – a waitress on two episodes of the short-lived sitcom “Grown-Ups” (UPN, 1999-2000), and bit parts in the features “Very Mean Men” (2000) and the Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick “Replicant” (2001). Eventually, Parrilla graduated to more substantial roles, including the lead in “Spiders” (USA Network, 2000), a low-budget science fiction thriller about mutant arachnids terrorizing a group of journalism students.
Finally on her way, Parrilla began landing series work in 2001. Her first effort, “Semper Fi” (NBC, 2001), about life in a Marine boot camp, was produced by Steven Spielberg, but failed to land a spot on the network lineup. She had better luck on “Spin City,” which she joined during its fifth season, shortly after Michael J. Fox left and was replaced by Charlie Sheen. Feeling that her character – deputy mayor’s assistant Angie Ordonez – was underused, Parrilla left after just one season. She quickly racked up guest star credits on “JAG” (NBC/CBS, 1995-2005) and “The Shield” (FX, 2002- ), before joining the cast of writer Graham Yost’s drama “Boomtown,” which focused on the police, lawyers and medical professionals who deal with crime on a daily basis. Critically acclaimed but severely challenged in the ratings throughout its brief network run, “Boomtown” netted a host of awards and nominations, including numerous Television Critics Awards nods. Parrilla herself received an Image Award in 2003 for her performance as Teresa Ortiz, a paramedic and later police recruit who harbored romantic feelings for a married detective (Donnie Wahlberg). Their relationship – along with the rest of “Boomtown’s” compelling storylines – was left unresolved by the show’s cancellation in 2003.
Back in the world of independent film, Parrilla logged time in two features while on “Boomtown” – the gambling drama “One Last Ride” (2003) and “Frozen Stars” (2003), for which she was top-billed. She then returned to television with recurring roles on “Six Feet Under,” playing a dog trainer who briefly becomes the romantic interest for Peter Krause, and “NYPD Blue” (ABC, 1993-2005), playing an officer who assists Detective Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) on a murder case. After a few guest shots on “24” as counter-terrorism agent Sarah Gavin, Parrilla joined the action-packed suspense series in 2005 for what was intended to be the majority of its fourth season, but was written out by the 13th episode after her character gets denied a promotion. She gave series work another try with “Windfall” (NBC, 2005-06), a character-driven drama about the impact that a huge lottery win has on the lives of several families, but the midseason show was axed after only a few episodes.
In 2007, Parrilla turned up in two important back-to-back episodes of “Lost,” playing Greta, one of the island’s mysterious Others and co-operator of the underwater “Looking Glass” station, which needed to be neutralized in order for the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 to send transmissions to the outside world. Parrilla’s character helped interrogate former rock star Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), who dove down to the station to execute the survivor’s plan. By the end of her second “Lost” appearance, however, Greta was dead by the hand of Mikhail (Andrew Divoff), and Charlie – one of the show’s beloved characters – died saving his companions. The following year, Parrilla was in a new series, “Swingtown” (CBS, 2008- ), playing one half of a sexually adventurous couple in 1970s suburbia who entice their new, straight-laced neighbors (Jack Davenport and Molly Parker) to explore a swingers lifestyle. The series, which began production prior to the 2007-08 Writers Guild strike, nearly came to an end before it ever got off the ground, but resumed filming in February 2008. The show premiered that June to mediocre reviews and subpar ratings.