Tessie Santiago

Tessie Marie Santiago (born August 10, 1975 in Miami, Florida) is an American actress of Cuban and Spanish descent.

Biography

Family and education Tessie Santiago is a first generation American. Her parents and grandparents fled from Cuba after Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Her grandfather was a sculptor. Santiago's father, Joe Santiago, was a musician and her mother's mother was described as a painter. (Santiago's mother, Tess Stebbins, went on to earn a college degree from Barry University as a working adult in Florida and is Executive Director of Medical Education at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.) Santiago learned to play the piano at age seven.

Santiago has two younger siblings, a brother and a half-sister. She attended Miami Coral Park High School graduating class of 1993.

A May 1999 graduate from the University of Miami, she earned a double major in film and theater arts and was able to study Shakespeare in London, England and Film Production with the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) in Prague, Czech Republic. At university, she starred in the independent film Echo and acted in several other student films.

While working in Spain on the Queen of Swords, Santiago rescued and adopted a dog she named Zion.

Santiago's favourite authors include Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin and Milan Kundera. She has reported aspiration to work behind the camera, both as a writer and a director. They have a son, Jax, born in August 2018.

Career Santiago made her television debut in 2000 in the syndicated action/adventure television series Queen of Swords, playing Tessa Alvarado/The Queen.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2001 The Way She Moves Christina Juarez Video Hits One TV Movie 2006 The Way Back Home Sara Marshall Independent Movie Break-In Joannie LifeTime TV Movie 2009 The Cell 2 Maya Casteneda direct-to-video 2010 Angel Camouflaged Desdemona 2021 Vivo Ticket-Taker Netflix Original film

Television Year Title Role Notes 2000–2001 Queen of Swords Tessa Alvarado/The Queen 22 episodes 2002–2003 Good Morning, Miami Lucía Rojas-Klein 11 episodes 2004 Curb Your Enthusiasm Chambermaid HBO Series 2005–2006 Kitchen Confidential Donna 5 episodes 2006 One on One Hannah 2009 One Hot Summer Anabel Aguilera Made-for-TV Movie 2010 Twentysixmiles Jennifer Calderon 6 episodes 2013 The Secret Life of the American Teenager Sonya 3 episodes 2015 Major Crimes Mrs. Riley 2017 Bizaardvark Gina Olvera 2017 Scandal Vice President Luna Vargas 9 episodes