Gina Torres
Gina Torres voices Ms. Moreno in Disney Jr.’s “Kindergarten: The Musical,” an animated musical series that follows 5-year-old Berti and her new friends as they navigate the experiences that come with starting school for the first time.
Best known for her fan-favorite role as Jessica Pearson in “Suits,” Torres became the first Afro-Latina to create, star in and produce a television series, “Pearson” in 2019. The role earned her an ALMA Award, an Imagen Award, the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Award for Outstanding Performance in a Television Series and the Visionary Award from the LA Femme Film Festival.
She began her onscreen career with roles in “Law & Order,” “One Life to Live,” “Any Day Now,” “La Femme Nikita,” “MANTIS,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Cleopatra 2525,” which earned her an ALMA Award.
Currently, Torres can be seen in “9-1-1: Lone Star,” for which she received the Actress Award for Television at the 2nd Annual Critic’s Choice Celebration of Latino Cinema & Television. Her additional television credits include “Firefly,” “Alias,” “Angel,” “The Catch,” “Hannibal,” “Revenge,” “Huge,” “The Shield,” “24,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Flash Forward,” “Gossip Girl,” “Boondocks,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “The Justice League” series and “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.”
Torres’s film credits include “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Serenity,” “Jam,” “South of Pico,” “I Think I Love My Wife,” “Hair Show,” “Five Fingers,” “The Perfect Find” and “Don’t Let Me Drown,” the critic’s choice at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009.
Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, Torres graduated from Fiorello LaGuardia School of Arts, where she studied opera and jazz as a vocal major. Within a year of graduating, she was cast in “Dreamgirls,” and her additional theater credits include “Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public,” “Face Value,” “Antigone,” “Amphitryon,” “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” “Julius Caesar,” “Blood Wedding” and the world premieres of “Sheila’s Day” and “The Heliotrope Bouquet.”
Torres speaks on the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the media and uses her free time to mentor Latinx and Afro-Latinx talent. She is also heavily involved with Feeding America and No Kid Hungry.