Early life

Paula Garcés was born in New York City on March 20, 1974. She grew up in Medellin, Colombia. At an early age she moved to East Harlem in New York City.

Career

Acting

She played Alvina in 1995's Dangerous Minds with Michelle Pfeiffer.

Garcés co-starred in Paramount Pictures' 2002 teen sci-fi adventure, Clockstoppers, starring opposite Jesse Bradford. She was then cast in Richard Benjamin's hip-hop comedy Marci X opposite Lisa Kudrow and Damon Wayans.

Garcés was next seen opposite Academy Award-winner Tommy Lee Jones in the Revolution Studios feature, Man of the House. In 2004 she starred in National Lampoon's Pledge This!. She was featured on CSI: Miami and starred in a four episode arc on NBC's Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as guest spots on HBO's hit series, The Sopranos and Oz. Garcés then landed a role as a cast member on The Shield.

Garcés appeared in New Line Cinema's 2004 feature film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, its 2008 sequel Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and the 2011 sequel A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, as Maria, the love interest and later the wife of John Cho's character.

Garcés was a series regular on the ABC drama series Defying Gravity, playing documentarian Paula Morales during its single 2009 season.

She was also featured in the video "Imagínate" with Wisin & Yandel, and rapper T-Pain.

Garcés has also co-starred on Guiding Light as Pilar Santos, and had a recurring role as Dr. Kelly Hernandez in the second season of the Syfy TV series Warehouse 13.

In May 2011, Garcés appeared in "Off the Beaten Path", the 11th episode of the first season of Breakout Kings.

In February 2013, Garcés appeared on the CBS series Elementary, playing villainous police officer Paula Reyes in the first season episode, "Details."

Aluna Comics

While attending a Comic-Con to promote one of her Harold & Kumar films, Garcés noted the huge Latino audience for superheroes, yet a lack of Latino characters in the genre. She created Further Lane Productions to issue a limited run comic book featuring the Latina superhero Aluna, later working with S2 Games to create, and voice, Aluna as a 2011 playable hero added to Heroes of Newerth, S2's multiplayer online battle arena video game. In time for the 2014 Comic-Con, she worked with sekretagent Productions and Allegory Media to produce a four issue Aluna comic book series.

Personal life

Garcés' first child is daughter Skye Mahoney, who was 21 as of June 2013. In 2002 she married Antonio Hernandez, an entrepreneur and producer. After two miscarriages together, Garcés and Hernandez welcomed a son, Antonio Andrés Hernandez, on 20 November 2013.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Hangin' with the Homeboys	Harassed Sister
1993	Life with Mikey	Janice
1995	Dangerous Minds	Alvina
1998	Harvest	Mina Fuentes
2002	Clockstoppers	Francesca
2003	Station Agent, TheThe Station Agent	Cashier
2003	Marci X	Yolanda Quinones
2003	Spin	Francesca
2004	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	Maria
2005	Che Guevara	Aleida
2005	Shore, TheThe Shore	Tina
2005	Man of the House	Teresa
2006	National Lampoon's Pledge This!	Gloria Torrez
2007	Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence	Princess (voice)	Short film
2008	Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	Maria
2011	Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, AA Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas	Maria
2011	Deception	Katrina Mendoza
2014	The Maid's Room	Drina
2014	Adult Beginners	Blanca

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Law & Order	Lucy Rivers	Episode: "The Secret Sharers"
1994	New York Undercover	Aria Nuriez	Episode: "School Ties"
1999	Oz	Isabella (uncredited)	Episode: "The Truth and Nothing But..." Episode: "Napoleon's Boney Parts"
1999-2001	Guiding Light	Pilar Santos	TV series
2002	Brothers García, TheThe Brothers García	Milagros	Episode: "West Side Stories"
2003	CSI: Miami	Carmen Abregon	Episode: "Simple Man"
2004	Sopranos, TheThe Sopranos	Felicia Galan	Episode: "Unidentified Black Males"
2005	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	CSU Tech Millie Vizcarrondo	4 episodes
2006-2008	Shield, TheThe Shield	Officer Tina Hanlon	32 episodes
2007	CSI: Miami	Anna Sivarro	Episode: "A Grizzly Murder" Episode: "Bloodline"
2008	Knight Rider	Kelli Haddigan	Episode: "A Knight in Shining Armor"
2009	Defying Gravity	Paula Morales	main series cast
2010	Warehouse 13	Dr. Kelly Hernandez	5 episodes
2010	Chase	Tia Archer	Episode: "Betrayed"
2011	Good Wife, TheThe Good Wife	Aida Rios	Episode: "Foreign Affairs"
2011	Breakout Kings	Debbie Myera	Episode: "Off the Beaten Path"
2013	Elementary	Paula Reyes	Episode: "Details"
2013	All My Children	Lea Marquez
2013	Devious Maids	Flora

[ Source: Wikipedia ]