Dania Ramirez

Before she became one of the few Dominican actresses working in Hollywood, the raven-haired, olive-skinned Dania Ramirez launched her career in her family's home of New York City at the age of 15. Reportedly approached by a modeling recruiter while working in a store as a security girl (collecting patrons' handbags), Ramirez soon established herself as a successful print model, then transitioned, sequentially, to commercials, television, and big-screen features. Ramirez met director Spike Lee when cast as an extra in HBO's omnibus feature Subway Stories (1997) -- a connection that spawned their collaboration on Lee's 2004 picture She Hate Me (in which she played the minor part of Alex Guerrero). Ramirez then signed on for supporting roles in such features as Fat Albert (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and Illegal Tender (2007). On the small screen, Ramirez played potential slayer Caridad in several episodes of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2003) and Blanca Selgado, a love interest of A.J. Soprano (Robert Iler) during the sixth season of The Sopranos (2006-2007). In fall 2007, she joined the cast of the smash-hit sci-fi series Heroes, playing the emotional and mysteriously deadly Maya Herrera.

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide