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Evelina Fernandez

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Evelina Fernández
Fernández speaks in 2016
Born
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation(s)Actress, playwright, screenwriter
Years active1987-present

Evelina Fernández is an American playwright and actress from Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Fernández is a second generation Mexican-American. Fernández's grandparents immigrated to the United States in 1910 from Jalisco, to escape the Mexican Revolution.[1] Fernández was born in Los Angeles but lived the first nine years of her life in Arizona before returning to live with her grandparents after her parents got divorced.[2]

Fernández first got involved in drama in the Garfield High School Drama Club.[3] She then attended California State University, Los Angeles, where she continued to pursue theater and became involved in the Chicano Movement.[3] Evelina was a founding member of the Latino Theatre Company (LTC) in 1985. She has remained involved for 30 years, writing several and performing in a dozen plays for the LTC.[4] The LTC currently has a 20-year lease with the City of Los Angeles to operate in the Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC).[5]

Career

Her first prominent role as an actress came in Luis Valdez's Zootsuit in 1978.[3] The play was the first play with a Chicano to be shown on Broadway however, Fernández was pregnant with her first child, Fidel, and could not perform in the Broadway production.[3] After Zootsuit, Fernández performed for El Teatro de Esperanza, performing at both the New York Shakespeare Festival and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.[1] Fernández then performed as Julie in American Me, a film about Chicano gang life and the prison system in the United States. She has since appeared as an actress in 28 movies, shows and film shorts.[6]

A theme of her work is to fight the common representation of Latino/a characters as victims.[7] Her frustration with the portrayal of Latino/a characters prompted her to write Luminarias, released in May 2000.[8] Luminarias is a commentary about race, sex and love from the perspective of single, chicana women. In addition to writing Luminarias, Fernández also produced and starred in the film as the actress of one of the protagonists, Andrea.[6][8]

Fernández wrote a loosely autobiographical trilogy called A Mexican Trilogy, which were put on at the LATC by the LTC.[4] The Trilogy is made up of Faith, Hope and Charity.[1] The titles were intended to be the names of the protagonists but in the end, were the themes of each of the play.[4]

Awards

Fernández has received several awards for her work. In 1998, she won the American Latino Media Arts Award for her work in the movie Hollywood Confidential.[9] In 2007 she was nominated for the Humanitas Prize for her work on an episode of the T.V. series Maya and Miguel. In 2000, the year that Luminarias was released, Fernández won the Nosotros Golden Eagle Awards for Outstanding Writer. Two of her works, Solitude and Dementia have made the Los Angeles Times Critic's Choice list.[10] Evelina has received two Ted Schmitt Awards from The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story and The Mother of Henry.

Personal life

Fernandez is married to the artistic director and one of the founders of the Latino Theater Company, Jose Luis Valenzuela.[9] Jose has directed many of the plays that Evelina has written and starred in. Valenzuela and Fernández have two children and live in Los Angeles.[5]

Filmography

Acting

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Danger Zone II: Reaper's Revenge La Zona Rosa Hostess
1990 Flatliners Latin Woman
1990 Postcards from the Edge Airline Employee
1992 American Me Julie
1994 A Million to Juan Mrs. Gonzales
1999 Luminarias Andrea
2001 Gabriela Sofia
2008 Moe Raquel
2013 Go for Sisters Ynez
2020 Going Rogue Christina Rivera

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Hill Street Blues Woman Episode: "Sorry Wrong Number"
1988 Aaron's Way — Episode: "A Healing Power"
1988 Run Till You Fall Evelina Television film
1988–1989 Roseanne Juanita Herrera 9 episodes
1990 Alien Nation Female Executive Episode: "Eyewitness News"
1990 Knots Landing Dr. Carroll 2 episodes
1990 Parker Lewis Can't Lose Registrar Episode: "Pilot"
1990 The New Adam 12 Mrs. Martinez Episode: "A Gang of Two"
1992 The Larry Sanders Show Julie Episode: "The New Producer"
1997 Hollywood Confidential Mrs. Navarro Television film
1997 Sparks Alonzo's Bride Episode: "A Bride for Alonzo"
1999 Women: Stories of Passion Rosie Episode: "Angel from the Sky"
1999–2001 Judging Amy Lana Reyes 3 episodes
2000 City of Angels Nurse Celia 2 episodes
2002 The Brothers García Mrs. Rizzo Episode: "School Daze"
2013 NCIS: Los Angeles Guadalupe Episode: "Drive"
2020 The Conners Juanita 2 episodes

Writing

Film

Year Title Notes
1999 Luminarias Also actor and producer
2008 Moe Also actor

Television

Year Title Notes
2004 Maya & Miguel Episode: "The Letter"
2014–2015 East Los High 14 episodes

References

  1. ^ a b c "Evelina Fernandez Finishes Her Trilogy of Mexican-American FamilyLatinHeat Entertainment | LatinHeat Entertainment". www.latinheat.com. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  2. ^ Szymkowicz, Adam (2013-12-19). "Adam Szymkowicz: I Interview Playwrights Part 627: Evelina Fernandez". Adam Szymkowicz. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  3. ^ a b c d "EVELINA FERNÁNDEZ – IN HER OWN WORDS". latinopia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  4. ^ a b c "Evelina Fernández and Her Contributions to Charity ‹ @ This Stage". thisstage.la. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  5. ^ a b Szymkowicz, Adam (2013-12-19). "Adam Szymkowicz: I Interview Playwrights Part 627: Evelina Fernandez". Adam Szymkowicz. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  6. ^ a b "Evelina Fernández". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  7. ^ "The Latino Theater Company's Premeditation". HowlRound. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  8. ^ a b ""Luminarias" ten years later: Dyana Ortelli and Evelina Fernandez remember". SeFija.
  9. ^ a b "Evelina Fernández". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  10. ^ "Evelina Fernandez's "HOPE" Mexican Trilogy at Kirk Douglas | LatinHeat Entertainment". www.latinheat.com. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
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