Beautiful Latina Nadine Velazquez was beginning to make a habit of playing sexy supporting role on the big and small screen that emphasized little more than her sultry good looks. But in a turn of good fortune that every actor anticipates, she was given the chance to show off her comedic skills as well as her obvious assets when she won the coveted role of Catalina, the lazy, sweet hotel maid, on the hit NBC comedy, “My Name is Earl” (2005- ).
A first generation Puerto Rican America, born Nov. 20, 1978, she grew up in a multi-ethnic neighborhood in Chicago, the middle child of three daughters. A self-described hyper active kid, she was a cheerleader and a high school thespian, who performed as the angriest juror in the classic play “The Twelve Angry Jurors.” At the ripe old age of 13, she was inspired by her favorite TV series “Punky Brewster” (NBC 1984-88) to march into a Chicago talent agency in an effort to get her acting career off the ground. The agent, who saw potential in the teenager’s exotic features, told her to return with her mother, which she did, but declined to sign her immediately. Velazquez’s mother took that as no. Velazquez took it as a maybe.
By the time that she graduated high school, Velazquez decided on the safer bet, majoring in marketing at Columbia College in Chicago and putting her acting dreams on hold. Fate intervened when Velazquez got a part-time job as an assistant at the same talent agent that she had tried to get signed to years before. Her new employer encouraged her to start going on auditions, which her Velazquez promptly did, landing her first gig in a McDonald’s commercial. After that, Velazquez was inescapably hooked. She got the bachelor’s degree, but not long after, she packed up her Honda Civic and headed to Los Angeles in 2001.
Not long after landing in L.A., Velazquez began securing small roles in films like “Biker Boyz” (2003), playing the girlfriend of Larenz Tate, and in the romantic comedy “Chasing Papi” (2003) as a temptress who nearly gets beaten up by Sophia Vergara. She followed that with a recurring role as Anna on the popular daytime soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS 1987- ) before snagging an enviable guest appearance on the hot HBO series “Entourage” (2005- ). In 2004 the sultry brunette received her official seal of hotness when Maxim magazine ranked her #93 on their “100 Sexiest Women” list. (two years later, her heat factor jumped her up to #39).
In 2005, Velazquez’s career had the biggest push to date. She almost accepted a recurring role on what would become the hit drama “Prison Break,” (FOX 2005- ), but turned it down for the plum role of Catalina on “My Name is Earl.” The off-beat comedy about a petty crook who, after winning the lottery, is hit by a car, and comes to believe bad karma is responsible for his bad luck, starred Jason Lee playing a man on a mission to right all the wrong that he has done. Along the way, he has the help of his simpleton brother, Randy (Ethan Suplee) – a man not so secretly smitten with Catalina – while Catalina attempts to help the brothers with their sometimes far-fetched plans, by acting as the dim voice of reason. Originally the character was a Russian maid, but when the show’s creator, Greg Garcia, saw Velazquez’s audition tape, he was so impressed that he changed the character to a Latina.
After her first year on the show, her star continued climbing. USA Today named her as one of “Five Rising Stars to Watch Closely” in 2005. That same year she was also named as one of Variety’s “Ten Actors To Watch.” Despite her packed schedule Velazquez managed to take on additional roles in the films “A Day in the Life” (2006) and the thriller “Rogue” (2007).