Natalie Morales

Natalie Morales (born February 15, 1985) is an American actress and director. She is known for her role as pediatric surgeon Dr. Monica Beltran on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2024–25). She starred in the ABC Family series The Middleman, the ABC sitcom Trophy Wife, the Fox legal series The Grinder, the NBC sitcom Abby's, the first season of White Collar, and the Netflix miniseries The Beast in Me. Morales also had recurring roles on Parks and Recreation, Santa Clarita Diet, Dead to Me and The Morning Show.

Her directorial debut film, the teen comedy Plan B, was released May 28, 2021, on Hulu. She also directed Language Lessons, a film she co-wrote with Mark Duplass. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and was released in September 2021.

Early life A native of Miami, Florida, Morales is of Cuban descent. She attended St. Agatha Catholic School and Southwest Miami Senior High School. She participated in the University of Miami's Dow Jones Minority High School Journalism Workshop.

Career Acting Morales had a guest appearance on CSI: Miami in 2006, and played a character in Pimp My Ride that year, a video game version of the MTV television series Pimp My Ride. Her first major role was in The Middleman, a sci-fi dramedy which aired on the ABC Family network for one season. She starred as Wendy Watson; the series was adapted from the comic book, The Middleman. Morales also starred in and executive produced a Web series, titled Quitters. The series was an official selection of the 3rd annual ITVFest (Independent Television Festival) in Los Angeles in August 2008.

In 2009, Morales joined the cast of the USA Network television series White Collar for the first season. She portrayed Lauren Cruz, a junior FBI agent. In May 2010, after her dismissal from the White Collar cast, Morales began recurring on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, as Lucy, the girlfriend of Aziz Ansari's character Tom Haverford and bartender at The Snakehole Lounge. Morales appeared in Oliver Stone's 2010 film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, a sequel to his 1987 film Wall Street. She was cast as Chelsea Handler's best friend in Are You There, Chelsea?. She left the series when the cast was replaced for creative reasons. Morales also appeared on Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama, The Newsroom, guest-starring as Kaylee, the girlfriend of Dev Patel’s character, Neal. In 2013, Morales joined the cast of Trophy Wife as Meg, Kate's best friend. In 2015, she joined the cast of the Fox series The Grinder. In 2017, she appeared in some episodes of the NBC series Powerless. Morales appeared as Detective Anne Garcia in the Netflix horror comedy series Santa Clarita Diet.

Morales was in the television series Abby's, an NBC multi-camera sitcom created by Josh Malmuth and executive produced by Parks and Recreation creator Michael Schur. Their third series for the network, it premiered on March 28, 2019. Later that year, Morales was cast as Michelle in the Netflix black comedy series Dead to Me, appearing in seasons 2 and 3.

In 2022, Morales was cast as Kate Danton in season 3 of The Morning Show. The following year, Morales was cast as pediatric surgeon Dr. Monica Beltran on Grey's Anatomy, appearing in a recurring role for two seasons. Her final appearance was in the show's season 22 premiere.

In 2025, Variety ranked Morales-lead movie My Dead Friend Zoe as one of the 10 Best Movies of the year. That same year, she was part of the main cast of the miniseries The Beast in Me, portraying the estranged wife of Claire Danes's character. She was also cast as Cassie in the Amazon MGM Studios rom-com You Deserve Each Other.

Directing In 2021, Morales directed teen comedy Plan B starring Victoria Moroles and Kuhoo Verma. The story revolves around two teens looking for the Plan B pill after a regrettable first sexual encounter. The film earned critical acclaim with critics praising Morales' direction including Linda Holmes of NPR who wrote, "The creators and the cast deserve enormous credit for how deftly the broader comedy here is balanced with genuine fear and frustration, and how unexpectedly parts of the film unfold. A lot of it is somehow structurally familiar but specifically surprising."

That same year she also directed the drama film Language Lessons (2021) which she co-wrote with writer-director Mark Duplass. They both star in the feature, which they filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is set over Zoom as a Spanish teacher (Morales) communicates with her student (Duplass). Katie Erbland, critic of IndieWire praised Morales' work on the film writing "Morales’ winning Language Lessons offers one of the best uses of the format yet, a 'Zoom film' that utilizes its constraints to craft an intimate, expressive two-hander, no fatigue in sight". The film had its debut at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021 to positive reviews, and was released in September 2021.

Personal life In January 2010, Morales fell down approximately 20 steps at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, landing face-first on a balcony wall. She sustained major facial injuries and underwent emergency reconstructive surgery following the accident.

On June 30, 2017, Morales stated on social media that she is queer.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2010 The Time Machine Natalie Short film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Churchill Schwartz Trader (Laura) Going the Distance Brandy 2011 6 Month Rule Sophie 2012 Freeloaders Red Dot Girl 2017 Battle of the Sexes Rosie Casals 2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Miss Calleros (voice)2019 Stuber Nicole Manning 2021 The Little Things Detective Jamie Estrada Language Lessons Cariño Also co-writer and director Happily Patricia Plan B Director 2022 I'm Totally Fine Jennifer 2023 Self Reliance Theresa If You Were the Last Savannah Gherrity No Hard Feelings Sara 2024 My Dead Friend Zoe Zoe Thelma the Unicorn Penelope Pizzaz (voice) 2025 Summer of 69 Robin Goode 2026 Brian TBA TBA Cassie Post-production Director

Television Year Title Role Notes 2006 CSI: Miami Anya Boa Vista Episode: "Darkroom" 2008 Quitters Natalie Web series 2008 The Middleman Wendy Watson Main role, 12 episodes 2009 Boldly Going Nowhere Ruby TV movie 2009 Rockville CA Isabel Web series, episode: "Shoegazed" 2009–10 White Collar Lauren Cruz Main role, 9 episodes 2010 The Subpranos Beatrice Ramirez Web series, episode: "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" 2010–15 Parks and Recreation Lucy Recurring role, 12 episodes 2011 The Cape Kia Episode: "The Lich (Part 1)" 2012 The Newsroom Kaylee 2 episodes 2012–13 90210 Ashley Howard 5 episodes 2013–14 Trophy Wife Meg Gomez Main role, 14 episodes 2014–15 Girls Clementine 3 episodes 2015–16 The Grinder Claire Lacoste Main role, 21 episodes 2017 Grace and Frankie Melissa Episode: "The Musical" 2017 Powerless Green Fury 2 episodes 2017 Crashing Stephanie Episode: "The Baptism" 2017 Imaginary Mary Rebecca Episode: "In a World Where Worlds Collide" 2017 Making History Mona Episode: "The Duel" 2017–19 Santa Clarita Diet Anne Garcia 11 episodes 2017–18 BoJack Horseman Yolanda Buenaventura (voice)Mindy Buenaventura (voice) 4 episodes 2018 Alex, Inc. Serena Bans Episode: "The Rube Goldberg Contraption" 2018 Room 104 Jess Episode: "A Nightmare" 2018 Dream Corp, LLC Patient 6 Episode: "Woomba" 2019 Abby's Abby Main role, 10 episodes 2019 Sunnyside Celeste Episode: "Pants Full of Sandwiches" 2019–25 Harley Quinn Lois Lane (voice) 8 episodes 2020–22 Dead to Me Michelle Gutierrez Recurring (seasons 2-3) 2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride Inigo Montoya Episode: "Chapter Ten: To the Pain!" 2020–25 Solar Opposites Mrs. Perez / various (voice) 14 episodes 2021–22 Mr. Mayor Susan Alvarez-Craw 2 episodes 2021–23 Rugrats Betty DeVille (voice) Recurring role 2022–25 Firebuds Val Vega-Vaughn (voice) 6 episodes 2022 The Young and the Restless Talia Morgan Episode #1.12500 2023 History of the World, Part II Cavewoman Episode: "I" 2023 The Morning Show Kate Danton 4 episodes (season 3) 2024–25 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Monica Beltran Recurring (seasons 20–21); Guest (season 22)13 episodes 2025 The Beast in Me Shelley Main role; 8 episodesGolden Globe Award for Best Limited or Anthology Series or, Motion Picture Made for Television — Nominated (2026)

+ Music videos Year Title Role Artist Notes 2024 Penny & Me Director Hanson Moonlight version

+ Video games Year Title Role Notes 2006 Pimp My Ride Aiyan Video game