Liza Colón-Zayas

Liza Colón-Zayas was born as Liza Colón in 1972 in The Bronx borough of New York City.^[2] She is of Puerto Rican descent.^[3]

She earned her bachelor's degree in theater from University at Albany.^[2]

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.^[2]

Colón-Zayas has been a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, a New York-based traveling actors' group, since its founding in 1992.^[4] 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.^[5] In 1999, she appeared in the Philip Seymour Hoffman directed play, In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings.^[6][7]

One of Colón-Zayas' most memorable roles to theatergoers was 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 Theater.^[8]

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.^[6]

On the big screen, she's appeared in United 93 (2006), Righteous Kill (2008), and the 2016 action horror film The Purge: Election Year.^[9]

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.^[10][2]

In 2022, Colón-Zayas rose to significant fame after starring in Hulu's dramady series The Bear as cynical cook Tina Marrero. She received critical praise for her performance and won a Screen Actors Guild Award, Imagen Award, and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.^[11][12][13] Her Emmy win made her the first Latina to win a Primetime Emmy in that category.^[14] She starred as Janet in John Krasinski's live-action animated fantasy comedy feature IF, released on May 17, 2024.^[15]

In May 2025, Colón-Zayas was announced to have joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day as a currently unknown character.^[16] Brand New Day is set to release on July 31, 2026.^[17]

Colón-Zayas is married to actor David Zayas, known for his role as Angel Batista on Showtime's Dexter.^[18]

In 2024, she made history as the first Latina to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The Bear. In 2025, she was nominated again for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The Bear.^[28]

• List of Puerto Ricans