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 telenovelas for her family. She was discovered by a modeling scout while working in a 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 2001, 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), De La Soul's All Good feat. Chaka Khan (2000), 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 & 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 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. In 2012, Ramirez appeared in two films, playing Selena in American Reunion, and a bicycle messenger in Premium Rush.

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 a guest judge on episode 5 of Cycle 14 of 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.

Since 2013, she has been part of the main cast of Devious Maids airing on the Lifetime network.

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".

Personal life

Ramirez and Soul Plane director Jessy Terrero dated until 2008. She became engaged in September 2011 to director John Amos Beverly Land (known as Bev Land professionally). The couple married on the beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on February 16, 2013. Land has a son, Kai (born 2001), with ex-wife Sharon Leal. On July 15, 2013, Ramirez announced that she was pregnant with twins. That December, she gave birth to fraternal twins, a son John and a daughter Gaia.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	25th Hour	Daphne
2004	Little Black Boot	Laurie Rodriguez	Short film
2004	Ecology of Love, TheThe Ecology of Love	Alila
2004	Cross Bronx	Mia
2004	She Hate Me	Alex Guerrero
2004	Fat Albert	Lauri
2006	X-Men: The Last Stand	Callisto
2007	Illegal Tender	Ana
2008	Ball Don't Lie	Carmen
2008	Fifth Commandment, TheThe Fifth Commandment	Angel
2008	Quarantine	Sadie
2010	Brooklyn to Manhattan	Jessica
2012	American Reunion	Selena
2012	Premium Rush	Vanessa
2015	Mojave	Detective Beaumont

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Caridad	3 episodes
2003	Run of the House	Lucy	Episode: "The Party"
2004	10-8: Officers on Duty	Inez	Episode: "Gypsy Road"
2005	Romy and Michele: In the Beginning	Elena	Movie
2006-2007	Sopranos, TheThe Sopranos	Blanca Selgado	5 episodes
2007	Fort Pit	Angela Hardwick	Movie
2007-2008	Heroes	Maya Herrera	Series regular (15 episodes)
2009	Solving Charlie	Veronica King	Movie
2010	Entourage	Alex	10 episode in season 7
2013-present	Devious Maids	Rosie Falta	Main role

Accolades

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2008	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Television Series	Heroes	Nominated
2014	Imagen Awards	Best Actress - Television	Devious Maids	Nominated
2015				Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]