Career
Her most notable roles are as María LaGuerta on Showtime"s Dexter, Detective Nina Moreno on Fox"s New York Undercover, Doctor Gloria Nathan on Home Box Office"s prison drama, Oz, and Elena on American Broadcasting Company"s comedy-drama, Ugly Betty. Lauren and Lorraine"s parents moved from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s and lived in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, where the twins were born. The twins enjoyed setting up improvised plays and acting for the family, and they participated in nearly all their high school productions, such as, Fiddler on the Roof.
After graduating from high school, they each received scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey Dance School.
In addition, Lauren studied Shakespeare with Michael Howard. Vélez landed her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical Dreamgirls.
Vélez also played understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Stephen Sondheim"s Into the Woods, and she performed Office-Broadway in the productions of Much Ado About Nothing. In 1995, Vélez landed her first major television role.
She was cast as Nina Moreno, a policewoman in the television series New York Undercover.
That same year, she also made her film debut as Lisette Linares in the movie I Like lieutenant Like That, alongside Rita Moreno and Jon Seda. Another television series in which she performed was Home Box Office"s jail drama, Ounces She also acted in the feature film City Hall (1996), with First Rate (at Lloyd's) Pacino.
In 1997, Vélez starred in Buscando un Sueño (English: In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish language film sanctioned by Screen Actors Guild. Vélez again played a police lieutenant, in a supporting role on Showtime"s series Dexter.