Juani Feliz (born January 3, 1989) is a Dominican-American actress. She is known for her roles as Isabela Benitez-Santiago in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

series ''Harlem'', Carmen in the

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series ''DMZ'', and Alejandra Lopez in FX's '' Fleishman Is in Trouble''. In 2022, Feliz was included in

People en Español ''People en Español'' was a Spanish-language American magazine published by Dotdash Meredith that debuted in 1996, originally as the Spanish-language edition of its publication ''People''. As of 2009, it was the Spanish-language magazine with the ...

's list of "50 Más Bellos" ("50 Most Beautiful").. She was nominated for the "Best Actor/Actress Abroad" award at the Soberano Awards in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

in both 2023 and 2024.

Early life

Feliz was born in the

and raised in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. She started acting at the age of 14 after getting involved in her first school play. She landed her first TV role at the age of 15 on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''. Her acting career took a backseat when she graduated high school and studied biomedical engineering at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. After college, Feliz worked at the

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (pronounced "veese") is a cross-disciplinary research institute at Harvard University focused on bridging the gap between academia and industry (translational medicine) by drawing inspirat ...

in Boston, where she worked on a clinical trial for a melanoma cancer vaccine and helped develop biomaterials and drug delivery systems. During this time she also completed a master's degree at Harvard. Despite her career in bioengineering, Feliz made her return to acting in 2016.

Career

Upon her return to acting, Feliz made her big screen debut in '' The Purge: Election Year''. Between 2016 and 2018, she guest starred on various TV series including ''

Blue Bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

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, One Dollar'' and had a major supporting role in the film '' Canal Street''. In 2017, she was one of the 12 actors chosen to be part of the ''ABC Discovers Talent Showcase''. In 2019, she filmed her first network pilot as a series regular on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

romantic drama ''Until The Wedding'' and filmed for a major supporting role in the upcoming feature film ''Quiet In My Town''. In 2020, Feliz won Best Supporting Actress at the Utah Film Festival for her performance in the indie short ''Below The Belt''. In 2021, she played Isabela Benitez-Santiago in Amazon's comedy series ''Harlem'', from Tracy Oliver and

Amy Poehler Amy Meredith Poehler ( ; born September 16, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her roles in sketch comedy, sitcoms and comedy films, she has earned acclaim and several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award (out of 26 nom ...

. In 2022, she played Carmen in the

limited series ''DMZ'', from

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, NAACP Image Awards, a British Academy Film Awards, ...

and Roberto Patino. Later that year, she played Alejandra Lopez in the FX limited series '' Fleishman Is In Trouble,'' Taffy Brodesser-Akner's screen adaption of her 2019 NYT best-selling novel. In 2023, Feliz reprised her role as Isabela Benitez-Santiago in the second season of ''

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

'' and guest starred in episodes of '' The Rookie: Feds'' and '' NCIS: Hawaiʻi'' . In 2024, she starred in

Alex Garland Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English author, screenwriter, and director. He rose to prominence with his novel '' The Beach'' (1996). He received praise for writing the Danny Boyle films '' 28 Days Later'' (2002) and '' Sun ...

's dystopian film ''

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

'' for

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. in 2025, it was announced that Feliz and

Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in '' Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O'Phelan in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television ser ...

would headline a potential spinoff of ''The Equalizer'' for CBS.

Personal life

Feliz is a member of the

LGBTQ community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individu ...

. She married her wife, Claribel Jimenez-Feliz a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

executive, in September 2021 in New York City.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feliz, Juani American LGBTQ actresses Dominican-American culture Harvard College alumni Living people Actresses from the Bronx Nationality missing 1989 births Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States