Constance Marie has to be one of the industry's busiest actors, juggling two prime-time series: The 20th Century Fox TV / Greenblatt Janollari one-hour drama American Family, which airs on PBS and the new Warner Bros. / ABC half-hour sitcom, George Lopez. On the critically praised "American Family" (2002)_ , Marie stars alongside Edward James Olmos, Sonia Braga, Esai Morales and Raquel Welch, starring as "Nina", a daughter in the Gonzales family and a sexy legal aid attorney, whose liberal and political ideas are constantly challenged by her conservative father "Jess", played by Olmos. American Family is the legendary public broadcasting network's first-ever, original television series, with principle funding provided by PBS, CPB and Fox Television and international distribution being handled by Twentieth Century Fox. On George Lopez, Marie stars as "Angie Lopez", George's wife and the mother of his two kids. The new series stars stand-up comedian George Lopez and will air during the last half hour of Marie's other series, American Family. Most recently, Marie was seen starring as "Yolanda" in the highly celebrated Samuel Goldwyn film, Tortilla Soup, which opened in August of 2001. She played the daughter of Raquel Welch, who coincidentally stars as her aunt in the up-coming TV series. Marie's thriving career on both the small and big screen began when, as a teenager in Los Angeles' underground break-dancing scene, she was selected out of a group of 500 hopefuls to dance in 'David Bowie' 's Glass Spider Tour. Upon arriving back in Los Angeles, Marie was cast as a dancer in the movie Salsa. The film's choreographer introduced her to Steve Tisch, who gave Marie her very first acting job and an amazing one at that: a series regular role as "Penny" on CBS's Dirty Dancing. While TV was Marie's first job, she began to desire work in feature films, as well. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before Marie was working in features, starring as "Toni Sanchez" in the critically recognized 1995 Newline feature My Family, directed by Gregory Nava. The project was also the first of many times Marie has worked with fellow actor and good friend Edward James Olmos. Marie went on to win praise from fans for her portrayal of Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla's mother, "Marcella Quintanilla", in the blockbuster film Selena. Less than four years older than her on-screen daughter (portrayed by 'Jennifer Lopez (I)' ), the young and sexy Marie had to undergo four hours of extensive make-up in order for her to look like Selena's mom. The role in Selena catapulted Marie into on of the industry's most sought-after actresses, who has continued to work almost non-stop since. TV Producer Gary David Goldberg immediately offered Marie a role as Michael J. Fox's antagonist love interest, "Gabby", on the hit ABC series Spin City, a stint that helped the series achieve some of its highest ratings to date. Series regular offers were pouring in and Marie found herself starring as "Gabriella Diaz", on the top ten, "NBC Must-See-TV" series Union Square. The cancellation of the highly publicized Union Square allowed the in-demand Marie to quickly jump into another role, as "Detective Toni Brigatti" on the popular CBS series Early Edition, where she played series lead Kyle Chandler's love interest for two seasons. Marie's other credits include the Chris Mac Quarrie written NBC pilot The Underworld, opposite Kevin Pollack and the Mario Van Peebles-directed ABC pilot, Missing Persons. Marie is one the industry's few actors who has successfully established themselves as a key-player in both film and television. In addition to her numerous film and television starring roles, Marie recently co-starred in the surprise comedy hit See Spot Run and the 2000 Sundance Film Festival favorite Dancing in September. She has also had strong recurring roles on the series' Two Guys and a Girl for ABC, and For Your Love for the WB. Marie recently went back to her dancing roots to portray "Inez Cortez", a salsa champion on the hit FOX series Ally McBeal.
Is of Mexican descent.