Early years

Lauren and Lorraine's parents moved from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s and lived in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, where the twins were born. They have five other sisters and one brother. Their father, a New York City Police Department officer, eventually bought a house in Far Rockaway, Queens, and moved there with his wife and eight children. The twins enjoyed setting up improvised plays and acting for the family, and they participated in nearly all their high school productions, such as, Fiddler on the Roof. After graduating from high school, they each received scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey Dance School. They both went on to study acting at the Acting Studio with its founding artistic director James Price, the protégé and personal friend of Sanford Meisner. In addition, Lauren studied Shakespeare with Michael Howard.

Career

Vélez landed her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical Dreamgirls. Vélez also played understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, and she performed Off-Broadway in the productions of Much Ado About Nothing.

In 1995, Vélez landed her first major television role. She was cast as Nina Moreno, a policewoman in the TV series New York Undercover. That same year, she also made her film debut as Lisette Linares in the movie I Like It Like That, alongside Rita Moreno and Jon Seda. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and The Desi Award for Best Lead Actress. The movie was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards and won an NYFCCA award. Another TV series in which she performed was HBO's jail drama, Oz. She also acted in the feature film City Hall (1996), with Al Pacino. In 1997, Vélez starred in Buscando un Sueño (English: In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish language film sanctioned by SAG. Vélez again played a police lieutenant, in a supporting role on Showtime's series Dexter.

On June 24, 2006, she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2006 Long Island International Film Expo for her performance as Roseanne Crystal in the independent feature film, Serial.

In 2010, she received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	I Like It Like That	Lisette Linares	Independent Spirit Awards for Best Female Lead
1995	The Cosby Mysteries	Claudine Palmeri	"The Hit Paradise" (Season 1, Episode 14)
1995-1998	New York Undercover	Det. Nina Moreno	TV series NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (1998) Nominated — Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (1997, 1998)
1996	City Hall	Elaine Santos	Nominated — NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
1997	Buscando un Sueño ("In Search of a Dream")
1997-2003	Oz	Dr. Gloria Nathan	ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series (2001) Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series (1999, 2000, 2002)
1997	I Think I Do	Carol	Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film
1998	Thicker Than Blood	Camilla López	Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in Made-for Television Movie or Mini-Series
1998	The LaMastas
1999	Strange World	Detective Arias	"Azrael's Breed" (Season 1, Episode 9)
1999	St. Michael's Crossing	Vicki Solera
1999	Taino	Laura
1999, 2002	Law & Order	Miss Torez (Defence Attorney), Bermuda Air Attendant	"Marathon" (Season 10, Episode 6) "Hitman" (Season 13, Episode 6)
2000	Profiler	Emily Sadler	"Clean Sweep" (Season 4, Episode 10)
2000	The Pretender	Emily Sadler	"Spin Doctor" (Season 4, Episode 10)
2000	Prince of Central Park	Rosa Sánchez
2001	Love and Treason	Agent Susan Mestre
2001	Prison Song	Prison Counselor
2003	Dragnet	Det. Denise Beltran	"Redemption" (Season 1, Episode 9) "For Whom the Whistle Blows" (Season 1, Episode 11)
2004	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Attorney Shamel	"Home" (Season 5, Episode 16) "Obscene" (Season 6, Episode 3)
2005	Strong Medicine	Dr. Vanessa Burke	"First Response" (Season 5, Episode 20)
2005	Barely Buzzed	María Vásquez
2005	Wanted	Faye Templeton	"The Last Temptation" (Season 1, Episode 12)
2006	Medium	Elena Cabrera	"Knowing Her" (Season 2, Episode 19)
2006-2007	Numb3rs	Claudia Gomez	"Undercurrents" (Season 2, Episode 23) "Hardball" (Season 3, Episode 8) "Contenders" (Season 3, Episode 16)
2006-2012	Dexter	Cpt. María LaGuerta	NAMIC Vision Award for Best Actress - Drama Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie (2007, 2008) Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2008 - 2011)
2007	Serial	Roseanne Crystal	Long Island International Film Expo for Best Supporting Actress
2008	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Officer Lois Melago	"Purgatory" (Season 7, Episode 11)
2009-2010	Ugly Betty	Elena	"Kissed Off" (Season 3, Episode 13) "The Courtship of Betty's Father" (Season 3, Episode 14) "There's No Place Like Mode" (Season 3, Episode 15) "Things Fall Apart" (Season 3, Episode 16) "A Mother of a Problem" (Season 3, Episode 18) "The Past Presents the Future" (Season 4, Episode 19)
2011	Breakout Kings	Carmen Vega	"Where in the World is Carmen Vega" (Season 1, Episode 13)
2011	HawthoRNe	Dr. Kat	"For Better of For Worse" (Season 3, Episode 1)
2011	Rosewood Lane	Paula Crenshaw
2014	Unforgettable	Aisha Conway	"Fire and Ice" (Season 3, Episode 10)
2016	Elementary	Zoe Marcado	"Art Imitating Art" (Season 4, Episode 20)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]