Liza Colón-Zayas (born 1972) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for playing Tina Marrero on the comedy-drama series The Bear, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2024.

Early life and education

Liza Colón-Zayas was born as Liza Colón in 1972 in the Bronx borough of New York City. She is of Puerto Rican descent. She earned her bachelor's degree in theater from SUNY Albany.

Career

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. Colón-Zayas has been a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, a New York-based traveling actors' group, since its founding in 1992. 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. In 1999, she appeared in the Philip Seymour Hoffman directed play, In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings. 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 Theatre. 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. On the big screen, she's appeared in United 93 (2006), Righteous Kill (2008), and the 2016 action horror film The Purge: Election Year. 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. In 2022, Colón-Zayas rose to significant fame after starring in Hulu's critically acclaimed drama comedy series The Bear as Tina Marrero. She has received critical praise for her portrayal, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Imagen Award. She starred in John Krasinski's live action animated fantasy comedy feature IF released in 2024. Her win of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2024 made her the first Latina to win a Primetime Emmy in that category.

Personal life

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

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Film and television

Theatre