Liza Colón-Zayas (born 1972) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for playing Tina Marrero on the comedy-drama series The Bear.^[1][2][3]

Early life

She was born as Liza Colón in 1972 in The Bronx borough of New York City. She earned her bachelor's degree in theater from SUNY Albany.^[4]

Career

Colón-Zayas began her career off-Broadway. She broke into mainstream theatre when she wrote, produced, and starred in a one-woman show titled Sistah Supreme, a semi-autobiographical play in which she chronicles growing up as a Latina woman in New York during the 1970s and 1980s.^[4]

Colón-Zayas has been a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, a New York-based traveling actors' group, since its founding in 1992.^[5] On stage, she originated the role of Norca in the off-Broadway productions of Our Lady of 121st Street and the role of Haiku Mom in Quiara Alegría Hudes Pulitzer winner, Water By The Spoonful.^[6] In 1999, she appeared in the Philip Seymour Hoffman directed play, In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings.^[7][8]

One of Colón-Zayas most memorable role to theatergoers was as the "Church Lady" in Stephen Adly Guirgis's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Between Riverside and Crazy which played the Atlantic Theater Company in 2014 and then Second Stage Theater in 2015. Colón-Zayas earned a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress for her portrayal. She went on to play the role once more in 2022 on Broadway at Second Stage's Hayes Theatre.^[9]

In 2021, she was honored at the Dramatists Guild Foundation with the Madge Evans and Sidnet Kingsley Award. DGF’s longest-running award honors a mid-career dramatist and stage actresses for excellence in the theatre.^[7]

On the big screen, she's appeared in United 93 (2006), Righteous Kill (2008), and the 2016 action horror film The Purge: Election Year.^[10]

Colón-Zayas has also appeared in television series such as Sex and the City, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blue Bloods, Dexter, and many more. In 2019, she got her first recurring role on the short-lived OWN drama, David Makes Man, and in 2021, she joined the cast of the Emmy-winning drama, In Treatment, as Rita.^[11][4]

In 2022, Colón-Zayas rose to significant fame after starring in Hulu's critically acclaimed drama comedy series The Bear as Tina Marrero. She has received critical praise for her portrayal, including a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination and an Imagen Awards win.^[1][12][13]

She is set to star in John Kransinski's live action animated fantasy comedy feature IF in 2024.^[14]

Personal life

Colón-Zayas is married to actor David Zayas, known for his role as Angel Batista on Showtime's Dexter.^[1]

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Film and Television

Theatre