Marisa Ramirez

Model-turned-actress Marisa Ramirez got her big break on soap opera "General Hospital" (ABC, 1963-) before landing primetime roles in medical mystery "Mental" (Fox, 2009), historical mini-series "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" (Starz, 2011) and police procedural "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010-). Born in Los Angeles in 1977, Ramirez signed with a modeling agency at the age of 13 and went onto travel the world as a commercial model before switching her attention to the world of acting. Following minor roles in teen sitcom "USA High" (USA Network, 1997-99) and alien drama "Roswell" (The WB, 1999-2002) and a hosting gig on stunt show "Senseless Acts of Video" (MTV, 2000), Ramirez landed her first major gig when she was cast as Gia Campbell in daytime institution "General Hospital" (ABC, 1963-). Ramirez spent two years playing the crime-solving supermodel before leaving in 2002, going on to guest on "CSI: Miami" (CBS, 2002-2012), "Century City" (CBS, 2004-05) and "Dr. Vegas" (CBS, 2004) and star as former police officer-turned-paranormal investigator Evelyn Santos in the short-lived supernatural drama "Miracles" (ABC, 2003). After making her film debut in the campy zombie horror "All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos" (2005), Ramirez returned to the soap opera genre with a five-month stint as public relations consultant Carmen Mesta in "The Young and the Restless" (CBS, 1973-). Following her character's murder, Ramirez then turned up as her cousin Ines Vargas for a brief run before adding guest spots on "Shark" (CBS, 2006-08) and "Supernatural" (The WB, 2005-) and a minor part in feminist comedy "Itty Bitty Titty Committee" (2007) to her resume. Ramirez landed her second major prime-time role when she starred as Dr. Chloe Artis on medical drama "Mental" (Fox, 2009) and after one-off appearances in "Castle" (ABC, 2009-), "The Suite Life on Deck" (Disney Channel, 2008-2011) and "Rizzoli & Isles" (TNT, 2010-), she landed a third with the part of Lucretia's body slave Melitta in gladiatorial prequel "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" (Starz, 2011). Later that year, Ramirez was cast as detective Lina Flores in cop drama "Against the Wall" (Lifetime, 2011), a profession that she stuck with when she joined the third season of "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010) as Danny's partner Maria Baez, and the final season of "Body of Proof" (ABC, 2011-13) as Officer Riley Dunn. After playing prosecutor Jeff Ashton's wife Rita in the TV dramatization "Prosecuting Casey Anthony" (2013), Ramirez starred opposite Brian Thompson as Maria in the action spoof "The Extendables" (2014).