Wikipedia

Roberta Colindrez

Roberta Colindrez is a Mexican-American actor and writer. She is best known for originating the role of Joan in the musical Fun Home. Additionally, Colindrez is known for roles in the TV shows I Love Dick, Vida, and Amazon Prime's A League of Their Own, as well as the films Ms. White Light (2019) and Cassandro (2023). Her main contributions to the film industry include portraying queer Latine characters and adapting them as her own to avoid stereotypes.

Roberta Colindrez
Colindrez at the 2019 Montclair Film Festival
Born
Mexico
NationalityMexican-American
Occupation(s)Actor, playwright
Years active2006–present
Known for

Early life

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Colindrez was born on May 28, 1986 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico with Argentinian and Honduran heritage,[1][2] Colindrez migrated from Mexico to Houston when she was 5 years old. Colindrez lived in Houston for six years then moved to Austin, Texas[3] when she was 10 years old.[4] She first realized she wanted to become an actor at age 12, when she and her brother took a theater class together.[5] She went to Westwood High School, and went on to the Texas State University in San Marcos where she graduated with bachelor's in acting.[6] She later moved to New York City. [7] While trying to find work as an actress, she also worked in restaurants and once as a janitor in a church. Colindrez eventually joined the New York Neo-Futurists. [8]

Career

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Colindrez made her off-Broadway debut in 2006, in the Neo-Futurist revue Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. She appeared in several short films and regional theatre productions after that, and in 2011 she wrote and starred in the film Otis Under Sky. In 2013, she began playing Joan, a "confident young lesbian",[5] in the musical Fun Home off-Broadway.[5] The show closed in early 2014, and after a cameo in the Academy Award-winning film Birdman, Fun Home opened on Broadway in 2015, where it won five Tony Awards and was nominated for seven more.[5]

Colindrez has also made guest appearances on several television series and her performance on I Love Dick as a butch artist was described as a "breakout" in an interview with Vanity Fair;[7] showrunner Joey Soloway described Colindrez's performance as "masterful", portraying "a queer cowboy masculinity".[7]

In 2018, Colindrez joined the cast of HBO's The Deuce about the life of sex workers in New York City in the 1970's to 1980's as the character Irene.

In 2019, Colindrez joined the cast of Latino TV drama Vida as Nico, a mixologist. Although Colindrez had some reservations about joining the show, she was ultimately excited to have this role to be celebrated as queer, and show queer Latin American experiences.[9]

She also does voice acting work, most notably in the podcast Alice Isn't Dead.[10][11]

In 2020, Colindrez joined the cast of Amazon's comedy pilot A League of Their Own[12] about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s as the character Lupe. To prepare for this role, Colindrez trained with Justine Siegel, and thought she was "pretty good" at playing baseball during training.[13]

Colindrez also originated the role of the farmer in a 2022 workshop of the first act of the Césaire José Carroll-Domínguez's epic historical play Spreckles which premiered in the 2022 Beyond The Box performance festival in Marfa, Texas with the group 'Marfa Live Arts' in the Crowley Theater.

Colindrez also writes for the stage, preferring "dark, heavy, comedic nuance".[5]

Personal life

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Colindrez identifies as queer[5][14] and butch.[15]

Colindrez became close friends with Bobbi Salvör Menuez on the set of I Love Dick, which she found helpful when filming a sex scene with Menuez.[7] Menuez gave Colindrez a stick and poke tattoo as a memento of their friendship.[7]

Credits

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2008 One Dollar Poem Short
2011 Otis Under Sky Ursula Also writer
2013 Beautiful Dreamer Catherina Short
The Artist's Assistant Justine Short
2014 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Broadway Woman on Street
2019 Ms. White Light Lex Cordova [4]
Friends Like That Alex Short
2022 Unidentified Objects Lola Nelson
2023 Cassandro Sabrina

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2012–2014 Girls Tako 2 episodes
2014 F to 7th Baby Episode: "Down to Zero"
Gotham Female Detective Episode: "Pilot"
Unforgettable Pam Lisotta Episode: "Throwing Shade"
Boardwalk Empire Episode: "Golden Days for Boys and Girls"
2015 Late Night with Seth Meyers Self/Joan Episode: "Ed Helms/Alison Bechdel/Fun Home/Brad Wilk"
2016–2017 I Love Dick Devon 8 episodes[5][16]
2018 The Good Fight FBI Agent Grace Episode: "Day 492"
Home Roberta Colindrez Episode: "Home on the Range"
2018–2019 The Deuce Irene 12 episodes
2018–2020 Vida Nico 14 episodes
2019 Mr. Robot Happyhardonhenry806 Episode: "404 Not Found"
2019–2020 Vida Nico Silva 14 episodes
2020 Interrogation Detective Boyd Episode: "Det. Dave Russell vs Chris Keller 1983"[17]
Mrs. America Jules Episode: "Phyllis & Fred & Brenda & Marc"
Monsterland Shawn Greene Episode: "Plainfield, Illinois"[18]
2021 The Harper House Tonya Acosta (voice) 5 episodes
High Herstory The Storyteller/Ellen Ochoa 2 episodes
2022 A League of Their Own Lupe Garcia 8 episodes
2024 Eric Ronnie Miniseries[19]

Theatre

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Podcasts

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Yohana Desta (May 12, 2017). "I Love Dick Breakout Roberta Colindrez Is Raising Eyebrows and Breaking Barriers". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  2. ^ Alex Velázquez (July 31, 2018). "Queer Latinx Heartthrob Roberta Colindrez Joins the Cast of Vida". Into. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  3. ^ Leonelli, Elisa (April 22, 2020). "Roberta Colindrez". Cultural Weekly. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Leonelli, Elisa (April 22, 2020). "Roberta Colindrez". Cultural Weekly. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Roberta Colindrez". Change Makers. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  6. ^ Wakeman, Gregory (August 22, 2022). "Roberta Colindrez: From Class Clown to the Baseball Diamond". The Texas Observer. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e Yohana Desta (May 12, 2017). "I Love Dick Breakout Roberta Colindrez Is Raising Eyebrows and Breaking Barriers". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  8. ^ Wakeman, Gregory (August 22, 2022). "Roberta Colindrez: From Class Clown to the Baseball Diamond". The Texas Observer. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  9. ^ "Roberta Colindrez on Vida's Legacy, Depiction of Butch Bodies on TV". www.advocate.com. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  10. ^ Alex Velázquez (July 31, 2018). "Queer Latinx Heartthrob Roberta Colindrez Joins the Cast of Vida". Into. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Alice Isn't Dead". Night Vale Presents. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  12. ^ Petski, Denise (February 14, 2020). "'A League Of Their Own' Adds Chanté Adams, Roberta Colindrez, Melanie Field As Amazon Firms Up Pilot Cast". Deadline. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  13. ^ Escobar, Cristina (August 25, 2022). "Roberta Colindrez Defies and Inhabits the Gay-Latina Label in "A League of Their Own"". Popsugar. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  14. ^ Gwen Aviles (May 24, 2019). "Team behind Vida wants to 'complicate' queerness on TV". NBC News. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  15. ^ Kerry Manders (April 13, 2020). "The Butches and Studs Who've Defied the Male Gaze". New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  16. ^ I Love Dick at IMDb
  17. ^ "Interrogation" Det. Dave Russell vs Chris Keller 1983 (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb, retrieved November 1, 2020
  18. ^ "Monsterland Season 1, Episode 5 explained: 'Plainfield, Illinois'". Show Snob. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  19. ^ Otterson, Joe (February 3, 2023). "Benedict Cumberbatch-Led Netflix Limited Series 'Eric' Rounds Out Main Cast". Variety. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  20. ^ "It Makes a Sound". January 20, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2019 – via YouTube.
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