Stephanie Lee Andujar (born July 15, 1986), nicknamed StephA, is an American actress, director, producer, writer, singer, dancer and songwriter. She is known for her comedic and dramatic roles. Starring in the Academy Award-winning film ''

Precious Precious may refer to: Music * Precious (group), a British female pop group Albums * ''Precious'' (Chanté Moore album), 1992 * ''Precious'' (Conrad Sewell album), 2023 * ''Precious'' (Cubic U album), 1998 * ''Precious'' (Ours album), 200 ...

'' (2009), '' Pariah'' (2011), ''See Girl Run'' (2012), ''Babygirl'' (2013), '' A Walk Among the Tombstones'' (2014), and the film ''

Marjorie Prime ''Marjorie Prime'' is a 2017 American Science fiction, science-fiction film written and directed by Michael Almereyda, based on Jordan Harrison's play of the same name. It stars Jon Hamm, Tim Robbins, Geena Davis, and Lois Smith. Footage was scre ...

'' (2017). Her television career includes CBS's ''

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 ...

'' (2018), NBC's '' Law & Order: SVU'' (2007), nurse drama ''

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French , from Medieval Latin , "price paid, wages", from Latin , "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social, and legal contexts. In the social and le ...

'' (2010), and '' Blindspot'' (2015). Andujar received praise for her performance in ''

Orange is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

'' Season 2 (2014) as young Miss Rosa. Stephanie also starred in theatre performances from ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'', ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'', and ''

The Good Woman of Setzuan ''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin and Ruth Berlau. The play was begun in 1938 but no ...

''.

Early life and education

Andujar was born in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on July 15, 1986.Stephanie Andujar Biography , https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2837910/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 , imdb.com Her father, Hector Andujar, was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

and her mother Carmen Andujar (of Puerto Rican descent) is an NYPD School Safety Agent, born in Chelsea, New York. She has an older sister Melanie Andujar and a younger brother Hector Andujar Jr. Her family first resided in

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 ...

, then to

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, finally settling back to the neighborhood in Manhattan. While being raised in Chelsea-Elliot Houses housing projects, Andujar started acting at the age of 12, when her parents enrolled her at a Beacon after-school arts program. At 13, she landed the part of the Scarecrow in the musical ''The Wiz''. While performing in ''The Wiz'' a talent manager noticed her and signed her up immediately. Her drama teacher Derrick Tyes pushed for her to audition for drama schools. She was then accepted at

Talent Unlimited High School Talent Unlimited High School is a public high school of the performing arts located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. History The school started as a pilot program in January 1973. Students took academic courses at their hom ...

where she performed in more than 10 drama productions. She obtained her Business Degree (2009) at

Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

in New York City.

Career

In 2007, while attending

, Stephanie auditioned for a role in '' Law & Order: SVU'' and booked her first role as Latrice Munez. She then auditioned for ''

Push Push may refer to: * A type of force applied to an object Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 201 ...

'', which was being turned into a film directed by

Lee Daniels Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He made his directorial film debut with ''Shadowboxer'' (2005), followed by ''Precious (film), Precious'' (2009) which earned him Academy Award nomin ...

. That story became the 2009 film ''

'', and Andujar was cast as former heroin addict Rita Romero. She also played young Miss Rosa in ''

'' Season 2. Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly raved about her performance and stated, "Stephanie Andujar, who plays Young Rosa, is mesmerizing, and I want her to star in a prequel spinoff called ''Portrait of the Prisoner as a Young Bank Robber''." In 2016, Stephanie formed Andujar Productions with her family and produced a comedy web series "StephA: One Woman Show", playing over 10 characters. The show is based on Stephanie's life growing up in New York City and currently has 5 seasons.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andujar, Stephanie Living people 1986 births American film actresses Pace University alumni 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Manhattan American television actresses American actresses of Puerto Rican descent