Actors of Color with MAJOR roles on Shondaland shows

Isaiah Washington was born on 3 August 1963 in Houston, Texas, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Grey's Anatomy (2005), Ghost Ship (2002) and Hollywood Homicide (2003). He has been married to Jenisa Marie Garland since 14 February 1996. They have three children.

Houston, Texas native Chandra Wilson began performing in musicals at the age of five with Theatre Under the Stars. She attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and later went on to acquire her BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts through which she spent four years at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Chandra's first series regular job was on ABC's Bob Patterson (2001) in the role of Claudia Hopper. She has made numerous other television appearances including guest-starring and recurring roles. She has also appeared in national television commercials for Blockbuster Video, Burger King, Scope, and the United Negro College Fund as well as numerous radio commercials.

Aside from film and television, she has several New York stage credits. Her portrayal of Bonna Willis in the production of "The Good Times are Killing Me" by Lynda Barry (both at the Second Stage and Minetta Lane Theatres) won her a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.

Some of her other stage credits include "Paper Moon: The Musical" at the Papermill Playhouse, "The Family of Mann" by Theresa Rebeck, "Believing" for the Young Playwright's Festival and the Broadway production of "On the Town" directed by George C. Wolfe.

James Pickens Jr. was born October 26, 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio. While attending college at Bowling Green State University, Pickens began pursuing an interest in acting. He graduated from BGSU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976. Afterwards, Pickens began work on the stage at the Roundabout Theatre in New York City. During his time on the stage, he starred in the Negro Ensemble Company's production of "A Soldier's Play" with famous Black American actors Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Ten years since graduating and beginning his career in acting, Pickens first came to the screen as an ambulance driver in F/X (1986). In that same year, he appeared on the soap opera Another World (1964) from 1986-1990. Pickens also made several appearances on the popular romance drama Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), and the comedy series Roseanne (1988) among a steady line-up of work during the 1990s.

Throughout his extensive work on television, Pickens is best known to audiences as Dr. Richard Webber, on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2005). It is also the same role in which he would reprise on the spin-off series Private Practice (2007) two years later. In later years, namely beginning in the 2010s, Pickens could also be seen in the sports drama 42 (2013) starring Harrison Ford and Chadwick Boseman. Outside of acting, Pickens spends much of his time around horses and often indulges in horseback riding roping cattle. As a competitive roper, Pickens is part of the United States Championship Roping team and often travels across country to various events. He is married to Gina Pickens (nee Taylor) and is father of two sons Carl and Gavyn who both are into the entertainment business.

Sandra Oh was born to Korean parents in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean, Ontario, Canada. Her father, Oh Junsu, a businessman, and her mother, Oh Young-Nam, a biochemist, were married in Seoul, Korea. They both attended graduate school at the University of Toronto. Sandra began her career as a ballet dancer and eventually studied drama at the National Theatre School in Montreal. She then starred in a London (Ontario) stage production of David Mamet's "Oleanna" and appeared as the title character in the Canadian television production The Diary of Evelyn Lau (1994), beating out over 1,000 applicants. Her list of awards includes the FIPA d'Or for Best Actress at the 1994 Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels at Cannes, France, two Genie Awards (the Canadian Oscar), a Cable Ace Award, a Theatre World Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2003, she married writer-director Alexander Payne and their first film together was the Oscar-winning Sideways (2004).

Equally at home on stage and on screen, award-winning actress Loretta Devine has created some of the most memorable roles in theatre, film and television.

Devine first captured national attention in the role of Lorrell, one of the three original "Dreamgirls" in Michael Bennett's classic award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. She followed that performance with a fiery portrayal of Lillian in Bob Fosse's critically acclaimed stage production "Big Deal." Subsequent work in George C. Wolfe's "Colored Museum" and "Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill," cemented Devine's status as one of the most talented and versatile stage actresses.

Film roles soon followed including a poignant turn as a single mother opposite Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Gregory Hines in Waiting to Exhale (1995) which earned Devine her first NAACP Image Award for 'Best Supporting Actress.' Devine also won an NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Penny Marshall's The Preacher's Wife (1996). Devine received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress for her work in "Women Thou Art Loosed." Devine was featured in the Academy Award-winning film "Crash" and the hit movie of "Dreamgirls." Some of her additional film credits include appearances in the successful "Urban Legend" franchise, "I Am Sam" opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Sean Penn, "Kingdom Come," "What Women Want," "Punks," "Hoodlums," "Down in the Delta" and "Stanley and Iris."

Devine's more recent film credits include co-starring roles in "This Christmas" and "First Sunday" both of which opened Number 1 at the box office. Devine voiced the character of "Delta" in Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." She appeared with Chris Rock in Sony Screen Gems remake of "Death at a Funeral" and "Lottery Ticket" for Alcon/Warner Brothers. Devine portrayed "The Woman in Green" in Tyler Perry's adaptation of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls." In 2011, Devine starred in two leading roles in the film "Jumping the Broom" with Paula Patton, Laz Alonso and Angela Bassett and in the Tyler Perry directed film "Madea's Big Happy Family," both films earned top spots at the box office, respectively. Devine followed up her box office hits with a strong lineup of independent films including Robert Townsend's "In The Hive" which earned Devine a NAACP Image Award nomination for "Best Actress in a Motion Picture", "You're Not You" alongside Hilary Swank, James Franco's "The Sound and the Fury" and the Kristen Wiig dramedy, "Welcome to Me."

On television, Devine became a critical darling in her Emmy award-winning role as "Adele" on ABC's hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy." Devine's credits include numerous series roles on shows such as "The Cosby Show" spin-off "A Different World," Eddie Murphy's stop-motion animated series "The PJs," David E Kelly's "Boston Public," ABC's "Eli Stone" and alongside Jennifer Love-Hewitt on Lifetime's "The Client List." She most recently starred on NBC's critically acclaimed sitcom "The Carmichael Show" and co-starred in the 3rd season of BET's "Being Mary Jane" as the titular character's main antagonist, "Cece." Devine continues to voice "Hallie the Hippo" on Disney Channel's Peabody Award-Winning animated series, "Doc McStuffins," and will next star in the Netflix family series, "FAMILY REUNION" which will feature an all-black cast and crew.

With a career spanning three decades, Devine has earned much praise and accolades for her work on both the big and small screen. For her work as "Adele" on "Grey's Anatomy," Devine earned both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, a Gracie Allen Award for "Outstanding Female Actor in a Featured Role," a nomination for "Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series" from the Critics' Choice Television Awards and a NAACP Image Award and a NAACP Image Award nomination. In total, Devine has won nine NAACP Image Awards and has received a record twenty-four nominations. Devine has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Pan African Film Festival and the NAACP Theatre Awards and the Thespian Award from the LA Femme International Film Festival.

Devine graduated from the University of Houston and later received a Master of Fine Arts from Brandeis University. She also received a Doctorate of Humane Letters as well as a Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Houston.

She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Sara Ramirez was born in Mazatlán, Mexico, on August 31, 1975, and moved to the United States at 7 after their parents' divorce. Sara is a graduate of The Juillard School (1997). Ramirez made their Broadway debut in the Paul Simon musical The Capeman (1998) before winning a Tony Award for their portrayal of the Lady of the Lake in the 2005 production of Spamalot.

Ramirez appeared as Dr. Callie Torres in 239 episodes of the ABC hit Grey's Anatomy, and has gained acclaim for their role as Che Diaz in the Sex and the City reboot, "And Just Like That..."

In addition to their acting career, Sara is a singer/songwriter and activist in support of LGBT rights. They are a member of the True Colors United board of directors and the San Diego, New York, and San Francisco LGBT Centers. In 2015, they were awarded the Ally for Equality Award by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Gloria Garayua is an American born actress. She is most recognized from Seasons 4, 5, and 6 on "Grey's Anatomy" as Intern Graciella, and Season 3 of "How To Get Away With Murder" as Detective Davis, "Blanca" in "Fun With Dick and Jane" with Jim Carrey, and such series as "Reckoning" on Netflix, and much more. Gloria was born and raised in the Bronx in New York City. She received her B.F.A. in Acting from Long Island University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She is a proud member of the sorority Sigma Iota Alpha, Xi Chapter at C.W. Post. Both of her parents are from Ponce, Puerto Rico. She speaks fluent Spanish and intermediate French. She enjoys music, dancing, singing karaoke, and loves cats. She is the creator of an online video series for anyone interested in starting acting classes called "Acting For True Beginners". When she is not acting, she works as an acting teacher and audition coach. She has taught privately, and in group format at Azusa Pacific University, CAL State LA, El Camino College and various acting studios throughout LA.

Brandon Scott was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Dead to Me (2019), This Is Us (2016) and 13 Reasons Why (2017).

Candice Afia is known for Grey's Anatomy (2005), Patient Zero (2011) and The Mentalist (2008).

Moe Irvin is southern California native and a lifetime member of The Actors Studio having studied under the tutelage of the late Martin Landau. He is a lover of life, adventure, theater and craft. He has appeared in many guest starring roles and over 200 Commercials to date. He is co-starring and originating the role of Terrance Sampson in the 5 member ensemble cast of The Witness Room (2024) Off Broadway at The AMT Theater In Hell's Kitchen Manhattan. Written by Pedro Antonio Garcia and directed by Will Blum. His goal is to stay inspired by continuing to challenge himself in the work.

A 35-year member of the Screen Actors Guild and designated by a major publication as one of the "Top 50 Most Influential South Asians In the World," Nigam is a respected pioneer for having broken barriers so that a career in the entertainment industry is now deemed a viable profession for his community.

Nigam and Alec Baldwin recently partnered to launch the production banner Persona Entertainment to produce film and television content. Nigam is an executive producer on "Crescent City" in which he stars opposite Baldwin, Terrence Howard and Esai Morales. He is a producer alongside Baldwin on "Rust," a Western for writer/director Joel Souza and which stars Baldwin in the title role opposite Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles, and Travis Fimmel. Nigam is an executive producer on the newly released "97 Minutes" and has a starring role along with Baldwin and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He is also an executive producer on the recently released feature "Supercell" on which he has a supporting lead role alongside Baldwin, Skeet Ulrich and Anne Heche. Nigam was a producer on "Murder At Yellowstone" starring Gabriel Byrne, Thomas Jane and Richard Dreyfuss, and on Souza's "Crown Vic," serving as its lead producer with Baldwin and starring Thomas Jane, Luke Kleintank, Bridget Moynahan and David Krumholtz; the movie had its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival and subsequently released theatrically. Previously, Nigam served as the lead producer on the feature film "Bayou Caviar," Oscar Winner Cuba Gooding Jr.'s directorial debut in which Gooding also stars opposite Oscar Winner Dreyfuss, Famke Janssen, and Katharine McPhee; the movie was released theatrically. Prior to that Nigam was the lead producer, writer, and a lead actor alongside Jason Lee in the movie "Growing Up Smith" which had a theatrical release and garnered TIME Magazine's "Pick of the Week" designation.

Nigam is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. A veteran actor, he is known as "Pandit Raj" on Netflix in Mindy Kaling's "Never Have I Ever" and his recurring role as "Dr. Raj" on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" since the pilot episode. He recurred on HBO's "True Detective, Season Two" and has had over 50 prime time guest appearances in shows like "So Help Me Todd," "Animal Kingdom," "Battle Creek," "Revenge," "Children's Hospital," "Ghost Whisperer," "Lie To Me," "Crash," "Supernatural," "CSI," "CSI: New York," "Medium", "Huff," "Shark," "ER' and "NYPD Blue." He was one of the leads in the ABC miniseries "Tom Clancy's NetForce" and Showtime's "Silver Strand." In film, he is known for his memorable performances in "Trafficked" with Ashley Judd and as a supporting lead in Universal/Focus Features' "Bad Words" for director Jason Bateman. He will next be seen in "Of Gods and Kings" for director Joe Estevez. He has appeared as a supporting lead in Hallmark's "Back When We Were Grownups" with Faye Dunaway and Peter Fonda for director Ron Underwood; as a lead in 20th Century Fox's "The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest" with Rosario Dawson; and a supporting lead in Universal's "Speaking of Sex" with Bill Murray and director John McNaughton. Nigam has also appeared in blockbuster movies Warner Bros.'s "Terminator: Salvation" and Paramount's "Cloverfield."

In theater, Nigam starred alongside fellow-NYU alumnus and friend Philip Seymour Hoffman in the highly regarded production of "The Merchant of Venice," directed by legendary stage director Peter Sellars; the play ran at The Royal Shakespeare Company in London and The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Recently, Nigam created the role of Archit in "A Nice Indian Boy" for director Snehal Desai, which had its world premiere at East West Players (Los Angeles).

Nigam resides in Los Angeles, California.

Cress Williams is an American actor, known for his roles in Prison Break and Close to Home. His most recent roles include Mayor Lavon Hayes on The CW series Hart of Dixie and the title character on The CW's Black Lightning. Williams is also best known for his recurring role as Terrence "Scooter" Williams on Fox's Living Single and as Inspector Atwon Babcock on Nash Bridges.

Hector Elizondo was born in New York City, New York, where he was raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría Elizondo. Hector is of Basque and Puerto Rican descent, and "Elizondo" means "at the foot of the church" in Basque. His lifestyle in his days before acting was as diverse as the roles he plays today. He was a conga player with a Latin band, a classical guitarist and singer, a weightlifting coach, a ballet dancer and a manager of a bodybuilding gym. In his teens, he played basketball and baseball, and was scouted by the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates farm teams. After a knee injury ended his dance career, he switched to drama. Since then, he has frequently appeared on Broadway, most notably with George C. Scott in Arthur Penn's production of "Sly Fox" for which he received a Drama Desk nomination and for his role as "God" in "Steambath", which won him an Obie Award. Other theatre credits include; "The Prisoner of Second Avenue"; "The Great White Hope"; "Dance of Death" with Robert Shaw and "The Rose Tattoo" opposite Cicely Tyson. Countless starring roles in television include: Foley Square (1985); Medal of Honor Rag (1982); Casablanca (1983) (in which he recreated the Claude Rains role of police chief "Capt. Renault"); Freebie and the Bean (1974); Popi (1975) and as Sophia Loren's husband in the CBS special Courage (1986). Guest appearances include: Kojak (1973); Kojak: Ariana (1989); A Case of Immunity (1975); Baretta (1975); All in the Family (1971); The Rockford Files (1974) and Bret Maverick (1981). In addition, he also directed a.k.a. Pablo (1984), the first show to utilize seven cameras instead of the usual four. On the big screen, he has been seen in, among others, American Gigolo (1980); The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974); Cuba (1979); Valdez Is Coming (1971) and in four films directed by Garry Marshall: Young Doctors in Love (1982); The Flamingo Kid (1984); Nothing in Common (1986) and Overboard (1987). Elizondo starred with Dan Aykroyd and Michelle Pfeiffer in PBS' Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987) (based on a collection of John O'Hara stories) and made his debut as a stage director with a production of "Villa!" starring Julio Medina. In addition, he performed in the 50th anniversary production of "War of the Worlds" co-starring Jason Robards and the TV-movie Addicted to His Love (1988) with Barry Bostwick.

Jesse Wesley Williams born August 5, 1981 is a former high school teacher and activist turned actor/director. He's best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series Grey's Anatomy and his advocacy for the disenfranchised, highlighted by his internationally resonant acceptance speech for his 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. He also appears in the hit 2013 film Lee Daniels' The Butler as real life civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson. Previous roles include Holden in The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Officer Eddie Quinlan in Brooklyn's Finest (2009), as Leo, Lena's boyfriend, in the film sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) and as Isaac "Ike" Singer in Jacob's Ladder (2019).

Jason George was born on 9 February 1972 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Fallen (1998), Sunset Beach (1997) and Breaking In (2018). He has been married to Vandana Khanna since 10 July 1999. They have three children.

Deborah Kaye Allen was born in Houston, Texas, to African-American parents, Vivian Elizabeth (Ayers), a poet and art director, and Andrew Arthur Allen, an orthodontist. As a child, Debbie, her older brother, Andrew (called Tex), and her older sister, actress Phylicia Rashad, lived in Mexico to escape US racism. Their mother decided to live there to give the Allen children a brief experience of not having to endure the chronic racism and segregation that was typical of Texas during the 1950s. Debbie and Phylicia are fluent in Spanish.

Debbie graduated from Jack Yates Senior High School in Houston, TX in 1967. She graduated cum laude from Howard University in 1971 with a BFA in Classical Greek Literature, Speech, and Theater from Howard University. She used her experiences from attending Historically Black College Howard to inform her production and direction of the TV show A Different World (1987).

Although her parents divorced, Debbie remained extremely close to her father until his death. With Phylicia she has production company "D.A.D." which stood for "Doctor Allen's Daughters". Her Pulitzer-nominated poet mother Vivian is, the artistic and free spirit that has influenced and encouraged the remarkable creativity that so marks Allen as a performer.

Jerrika Delayne Hinton is an American actress, best known for her role as Stephanie Edwards in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy.

She graduated in spring 2003 with honors from Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts with a bachelor of fine arts degree in liberal arts, where she studied theatre, directing, and play-writing and received the Rosenfield Award for Playwriting.

Hinton began her career appearing in stage productions. She has made her film debut playing Khandi Alexander's character's daughter in the 2006 independent drama Rain. The following years, Hinton guest-starred in several television series such as Gilmore Girls, Everybody Hates Chris, Zoey 101, Ghost Whisperer, Gossip Girl, Lie to Me, Bones, and Scandal. Other film credits include Broken Angel (2008) and The Roommate (2011), and well as Ion Television movie A Christmas Kiss (2011).

In September 2012, it was announced that Hinton had been cast as new intern Stephanie Edwards for ninth season of Shonda Rhimes medical drama series Grey's Anatomy.

Gaius Charles was born in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Salt (2010), Friday Night Lights (2006) and The Messenger (2009).

Kelly McCreary was born on 29 September 1981 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Grey's Anatomy (2005), Castle (2009) and Baby, Baby, Baby (2015). She has been married to Pete Chatmon since May 2019. They have one child.

Taye Diggs was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was raised in Rochester, New York. He is the son of Marcia (Berry), a teacher and actress, and Andre Young, a visual artist. When he was a child, his mother married Jeffries Diggs, whose surname Taye took. He received a BFA degree in musical theater from Syracuse University. Taye made his show business debut in the ensemble cast of the five-time Tony Award winning play "Carousel." Taye Diggs is the oldest of five. His two brothers are musicians, one sister is a dancer and the other is going to college to be a veterinarian.

Audra McDonald was born on July 3, 1970 in Berlin, Germany as Audra Ann McDonald. She's an actress and singer, best known for her many roles on Broadway. Her mother was a university administrator and her father was a high school principal stationed in West Berlin with the U.S. Army. She has a younger sister and grew up in Fresno, California. She graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and went on to study classical singing at Julliard, from which she graduated in 1993. A year later, she won her first Tony Award for her role in Carousel. In 1998, she released her first solo album Way Back to Paradise. She was nominated for her first Emmy Award in 2001 for her role in Wit (2001). In 2006, she debuted as an opera singer in a production of a one-act opera La Voix humaine at the Houston Grand Opera. By 2014, she had won 6 Tonys, becoming the first person to win the award in all 4 acting categories. She planned to make her West End debut in 2016 but postponed it in order to go on maternity leave, eventually debuting at the Wyndham's Theater in the West End in June 2017. She has made many TV and movie appearances, most notably in 4 seasons of Private Practice (2007) & in Disney's remake of Beauty and the Beast (2017). She also performs at concerts throughout the U.S. She was married to Peter Donovan from 2000 to 2009, they have a daughter, Zoe Madeline. Since 2012 she's been married to Will Swenson, they have a daughter, Sally James.

Valerie Cruz has appeared in over 100 television episodes, including recurring roles on The CW series "Charmed," starring as the charmed one's mother 'Marisol,' ABC's "The Rookie" and the CW drama "Life Sentence" alongside stars Lucy Hale and Dylan Walsh. She has been a series regular on shows hailing from some of most prolific and critically acclaimed creators, counting among these credits, "Nip Tuck" for Ryan Murphy, "Off The Map" for Shonda Rhimes and "The Following" and "Hidden Palms" for Kevin Williamson. For her portrayal of 'Lt. Connie Murphy' in the SyFy Channel original series, "The Dresden Files," Valerie was honored with an Alma Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. While portraying the recurring role of 'Sylvia Prado' opposite Michael C. Hall during the Golden Globe nominated third season of the Showtime hit series "Dexter," Cruz was honored alongside the cast with a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble. Other notable recurring roles include 'Major Joy Mendez' on the award-winning Showtime series "Homeland," and fan favorite vampire 'Isabel Beaumont' on HBO's "True Blood." Valerie's extensive guest starring credits include celebrated shows such as "Scandal," "Law & Order: SVU," "Grey's Anatomy," "Bosch," "NCIS," "Criminal Minds," "Quantico" and "The Resident." She also starred opposite Viola Davis in the Lifetime Films original movie "Custody" for writer/director James Lapine. Cruz made her feature film debut in the action thriller "Cellular" opposite Chris Evans for director David Ellis. Subsequent film credits include the notable independents "The Line," opposite Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta, "The Devil's Tomb" opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ron Perlman, "The Loft" with Rachael Taylor and Karl Urban, and the film "Locating Silverlake" with Zelda Williams and Finn Wittrock.

Jonathan Castellanos is known for Off the Map (2011), Southland (2009) and Fortress (2021).

Nicholas Edward Gonzalez is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Alex Santiago on the Showtime television series Resurrection Blvd. and Dr. Neil Melendez on the ABC television series The Good Doctor. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Gonzalez is conversant in Spanish, having lived in a bilingual household. He attended Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, where he was an accomplished cross-country and track runner, winning the Texas State Championship in the mile and two-mile. After graduating in 1994 and turning down a presidential appointment to West Point, Gonzalez pursued an English degree at Stanford University in California. He spent two terms at Oxford University in England. The following summer, he returned to Europe on a research grant where he studied at Oxford and Trinity College, Dublin to complete his thesis on James Joyce's Ulysses. While at Stanford he had chanced on acting after taking an improvisational theatre elective and began taking part in student theater. He was approached to do a one-man theater piece called Gas by María Irene Fornés. Alma Martinez, an actress and Stanford professor, encouraged him to become a professional actor. Upon graduating from Stanford in 1998 Gonzalez decided to pursue acting and, with Martinez's help, connected with the theatrical movement in San Francisco. He was once encouraged to use his middle name Edward to conceal his ethnicity and go by "Nicholas Edward" but declined to do so.

A Chicago native of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, she made her professional stage debut at the age of seven in Paul Mejia's "Cinderella" at The Auditorium Theatre. By the age of twelve, she was dancing 20 shows a month as "Clara" in "The Nutcracker". She joined the Young People's Company, whose alumni include John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Lili Taylor and Aidan Quinn.

Aimee graduated from Northwestern University with a triple major in economics, journalism and French. While attending Northwestern University, she was put under a two-year contract with Paramount Television after Norman Lear hand-picked her to headline his pilot-in-development, The Chavez Family, and also played the lead role of Diana Morales in "A Chorus Line" for Broadway choreographer Mitzi Hamilton.

After Northwestern, she developed a television career in Los Angeles with Greetings from Tucson (2002), and had continued success as Andy Garcia's daughter and George Lopez's niece Veronica Palmero on George Lopez (2002). She is was at one point the only Latina in her generation to be on syndicated television.

In 2007, she was nominated for an ALMA and Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series.

Aimee also starred in Peter Berg's new high-octane medical drama Trauma (2009) on NBC.