Valerie Cruz

Valerie Cruz is an American actress.

Early life and education Valerie Cruz is of Cuban ancestry.

She attended Florida State University and received a BFA theatre degree.

Career Cruz appeared in the film Cellular and played Grace Santiago, a main character in Nip/Tuck, but she left the show just after the first season. She has made guest appearances in series such as Grey's Anatomy and Las Vegas. In 2007, she appeared as Connie Murphy, a tough Chicago police detective, in SciFi Channel's adaptation of The Dresden Files. The show lasted for one season.

Cruz played Maria Nolan on the CW's Hidden Palms. In 2008, she appeared in the third season of Dexter, playing Syl Prado, the wife of assistant district attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits).

In 2009, she appeared in the horror film The Devil's Tomb and the HBO series True Blood, in which she played the part of Isabel. That same year, Cruz played Olivia in the film La Linea. In 2010 she became part of the cast of the ABC drama Off the Map, which was canceled by ABC on May 13, 2011. In 2011 she had a recurring role as a Homeland Security agent in the Syfy series Alphas.

In 2012, she played an evil doctor in the "Organ Grinder" episode of Grimm; the wife of a dictator in the "Enemy of the State" episode of Scandal; and an investigator for the football league in the episode "Spell It Out" of Necessary Roughness. She also starred on The Following as Agent Gina Mendez.

Awards 2008: Nominated, ALMA Award, Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series, for The Dresden Files on SciFi Channel 2009: Nominated, Screen Actors Guild Award, Best Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series, for Dexter

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2004 Cellular Detective Dana Bayback 2008 No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker Allison 2009 Olivia 2009 Dr. Elissa Cardell Direct-to-Video 2014 Barbara Stevens 2016 Custody Claudia Sanjuro 2016 My First Miracle Heidi 2018 Locating Silver Lake Luisa

Television Year Title Role Notes 2002 Strong Medicine Almira "Precautions" 2002 American Family Officer #1 "La Llorona: Part 1" 2002 Ms. Constanza Diaz "Heartless" 2003 Nip/Tuck Grace Santiago Main role (Season 1) 2004 Missing Karen Moore "Delusional" 2004 Crossing Jordan Madeline Pillsbury "What Happens in Vegas Dies in Boston" 2004 Las Vegas Madeline Pillsbury "Two of a Kind" 2005 LAX Carla "Mixed Signals" 2005 Grey's Anatomy Zona Cruz "No Man's Land" 2005 Inconceivable Vanessa Calder "The Last Straw" 2006 Invasion Colonel Sabrina Lopez "Re-Evolution", "The Last Wave Goodbye" 2006, 2013 Dexter Syl Prado Recurring role (season 3), guest (season 8) 2007 Hidden Palms Maria Nolan Recurring role 2007–2008 Lieutenant Connie Murphy Main role 2008 Dexter Sylvia "Syl" Prado 2008 Street Warrior Maggie Kuerner TV film 2009 Eleventh Hour Coco Delgado "Olfactus" 2009 Dollhouse Selena Ramirez "A Spy in the House of Love" 2009 True Blood Isabel Beaumont Recurring role 2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit U.S. Attorney Camilla Velez "Shadow" 2010 Criminal Minds Brooke Sanchez "Parasite" 2011 Off the Map Dr. Zee Alvarez Main role 2011 Dr. Sophie Perez "Dirty Little Secrets" 2011 Alphas Kathy Sullivan Recurring role 2012 Alyse TV film 2012 Grimm Dr. Levine "Organ Grinder" 2012 Scandal Carolina Flores "Enemy of the State" 2012 Necessary Roughness Vera Dade "Spell It Out", "Double Fault" 2012 Homeland Major Joy Mendez Recurring role 2013 NCIS Anna "Detour" 2014 Bosch Teresa Corazon "'Tis the Season" 2014–2015 Agent Gina Mendez Regular role 2015 Quantico Vera Rodriguez "God." 2017 Chicago Justice Miranda Sharp "Lily's Law" 2017 Doubt Commander Olivia Jimenez "Top Dog/Underdog" 2018 Renata Lopez "Pilot" 2018 Life Sentence Gina Recurring role2019The RookieElena Ruiz"The Checklist", "Free Fall" 2018–2021 Charmed Marisol Vera Recurring role (seasons 1–2), guest (season 3) 2022 Walker: Independence Teresa Davidson guest