Some Facts
She was a dancer for 14 years, taking lessons and eventually teaching (beginning at age 12) at her aunt's dance studio in Illinois.
In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, rollerblading and traveling home to Chicago to visit her family.
After high school, she traveled to Europe to model and lived in Italy and Greece.
She was inspired to pursue a career in acting after seeing another Latina actress, Rita Moreno, in West Side Story (1961).