Alana de la Garza (born June 18, 1976) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Connie Rubirosa for the final 4 seasons of the initial run of on the NBC television series Law & Order, as well as in the spinoffs Law & Order: LA and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also portrayed Marisol Delko-Caine on CSI: Miami. In 2014 and 2015, she starred as Detective Jo Martinez in the ABC series Forever. From 2016 to 2017, she starred in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders as Special Agent Clara Seger. In 2019, she began starring as SAC Isobel Castille on FBI, a role she also plays on the spin-off series FBI: Most Wanted.
De la Garza was born in Columbus, Ohio, to a Mexican-American father and an Irish-American mother.[1] She was raised in El Paso, Texas.[2]
She won the "Miss Photogenic" title in the Miss El Paso Teen USA local beauty pageant. She became a special needs teacher and enrolled at the University of Texas at El Paso,[3] studying physical therapy and social work.
After graduation, she landed some small roles while living in Orlando, Florida, then soon after moved to New York City. [citation needed]
In 2001, she was featured in the music video for Brooks & Dunn's song "Ain't Nothing 'bout You". De la Garza also appeared in the music video "All or Nothing" released by the boy band O-Town in 2001. She obtained the role of Rosa Santos on the soap opera All My Children and guest-starring roles in JAG, Charmed, Two and a Half Men, and Las Vegas. She starred as Maria in the short-lived television series The Mountain. In 2006, she starred in Mr. Fix-It, co-starring David Boreanaz. She also guest-starred as an evil Kryptonian (named "Aethyr" in promotional materials) in the Season 5 premiere episode of Smallville and played the recurring role of Marisol Delko Caine on the CBS television series CSI: Miami. She has twice been featured in the "Girls of Maxim" online gallery.
In 2006, she joined the cast of NBC's Law & Order during the premiere of Season 17, portraying Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa. Her performance as ADA Rubirosa has been widely praised by critics.[4][5] In 2007, she earned a nomination for "Best Supporting Actress—Television" by the Imagen Foundation Awards. Following in 2008, she was nominated for an ALMA Award as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Television Series".[6] Later that year, she garnered an "Impact Award" for "Outstanding Performance in a Dramatic Television Series" by the National Hispanic Media Coalition.[7]
De la Garza played Assistant District Attorney (later DDA) Rubirosa for the final four seasons of Law & Order, a role she also played on the short-lived spin-off Law & Order: LA (2011). On January 22, 2014, she guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Connie Rubirosa. Rubirosa, who had recently departed the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, is now a federal prosecutor, heading up a joint task force on underage sex trafficking.[8] This is, to date, her final appearance in the franchise.
In July 2011, de la Garza reprised her role as Marisol Delko Caine,[9] on CSI: Miami's season 10 premiere.[10][11]
In February 2012, she was cast as a lead in the NBC medical drama pilot Do No Harm. She played Dr. Lena Solis, a neurologist.[12][13] In June 2012, de la Garza was added to the cast of Are You Here, the feature film debut of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.[14]
In 2014–2015 she co-starred as police detective Jo Martinez in the ABC television series Forever.[15] In September 2015, she began a recurring role as the new head of Homeland Security on Scorpion.[16] She appeared in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, starring as the female-lead opposite Gary Sinise.[17] In 2019 she was cast in season two of FBI as Isobel Castille.[18]
De la Garza married her longtime boyfriend, Michael Roberts, a writer, on May 31, 2008, in Orlando, Orange County, Florida.[19][20] They have a son[21][22]and a daughter.[23] She is a distant cousin of TV writer-producer René Balcer, sharing a common relative in Juan Cortina, a Mexican folk hero known as the "Rio Grande Robin Hood".