Dania Ramirez

Dania Ramirez (born November 8, 1979) is a Dominican-American TV and film actor. She is most recently known for playing Alex in Entourage, Maya Herrera in Heroes and Blanca during the last season of The Sopranos. She also played antagonist Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Early life
Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At an early age, she decided to become an actress. As a young child, she would reenact Spanish soap operas for her family. She was discovered by a modeling scout while working in a Los Angeles convenience store at the age of 15, and was cast in a small part in a soda commercial. Later, she decided to pursue acting seriously and studied at the Actor's Workshop in New York City under Flo Greenberg. She graduated from Montclair State University in 1999, where her volleyball talents led her to be placed among the top five in career digs, digs/game, solo blocks and total blocks. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.

Career
Music videos
Ramirez has appeared in several music videos, including Jay-Z's Streets is Watching (1998), LL Cool J's "Hush" (2005; directed by her fiancè, Jessy Terrero), Santana's "Into the Night" (2007), as well as "Cry Baby Cry" (a Santana and Sean Paul collaboration). Ramirez has also appeared in Wisin y Yandel's music video "Dime Que Te Paso", in which she played the main character, the wife and mother of a military man at war in Iraq who finds out her husband died at war. She was also featured in Hip-Hop group Sporty Thievz's video "Cheapskate" back in 1998.

Films
Ramirez appeared as an extra in the HBO film Subway Stories (1997), where she met filmmaker Spike Lee who later cast her in his film, She Hate Me (2004). She played older sister "Laurie" in the movie Fat Albert (2004). She was Callisto, one of The Omegas, in the comic book film X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). She went on to star in The 5th Commandment in 2008, a film written by and starring Rick Yune. Ramirez will play a bicycle messenger in the upcoming film Premium Rush, directed by David Koepp. Ramierz was cast as Trisha in American Reunion, scheduled to be released in 2012.

Television
Ramirez appeared as the minor character Caridad in the final episodes of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and as Blanca Selgado, a recurring role during the sixth season of The Sopranos.
Ramirez portrayed the character of Maya on the TV series Heroes.
She was also the guest judge of hit reality tv show America's Next Top Model.
She also guest starred as Alex, an employee of Turtle's and begins a relationship with Turtle in season 7 on the TV series Entourage.

Other media
Ramirez has appeared in several magazine spreads. She has also been listed in several of the world's top publications' "Sexiest Ladies of the Year" lists. She has recently been added to the roster of models for CoverGirl Cosmetics. In March 2010, Ramirez and Queen Latifah launched the company's "Clean Makeup for Clean Water Campaign"
Source: en.wikipedia.org