Alyssa Diaz

Alyssa Elaine Diaz was born on September 7, 1985, in Northridge, Los Angeles, California, and is of Colombian and Mexican descent. She completed her education at Bishop Alemany High School. Diaz began her acting career with early appearances in television shows such as “The Brothers García” (2001) and “American Family” (2002). Her first significant role came in 2005 when she joined the cast of the CBS daytime soap opera “As the World Turns” as Celia Ortega, appearing in 59 episodes until August 2005. Early film work included the short film “Wednesday Afternoon” (2004) and a role in “How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer” (2005).

Throughout the late 2000s, Diaz continued to build her resume with guest roles in various high-profile television series, including “CSI: Miami” (2004), “The Unit” (2006), “Shark” (2008), “CSI: NY” (2009), “Southland” (2009–2010), and “Lie to Me” (2010). She also starred in television films like “Ben 10: Alien Swarm” (2009) and “The Jensen Project” (2010). A turning point in her career was in 2011 when she secured a starring role as Jasmine in the ABC Family series “The Nine Lives of Chloe King,” followed by a significant recurring role as Gloria Cruz on Lifetime’s “Army Wives” from 2012 to 2013, where she was promoted to a series regular for its seventh season. In film, she appeared in “Shark Night” (2011) and the remake of “Red Dawn” (2012).

More recently, Diaz has taken on prominent roles in major television dramas. From 2015 to 2018, she played Teresa in Showtime’s “Ray Donovan,” appearing in 24 episodes. She was then cast as Dariela Marzan, a series regular, on the CBS drama “Zoo” for its second and third seasons (2016–2017). In 2018, she joined the cast of Netflix’s “Narcos: Mexico” as Mika Camarena, appearing in 10 episodes. Since 2018, she has been a main cast member on the ABC series “The Rookie” as Detective Angela Lopez, a role that has earned her significant recognition and for which her real-life pregnancy was written into the show’s storyline. She also reprised her role as Angela Lopez in “The Rookie: Feds” (2023) and provided the voice for Renee Montoya in the animated film “Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two” (2021).